Research

At the crossroads of the humanities and computer sciences, the project is part of the resumption of scientific activities on a site which, after more than a century of archaeological research, now presents the remains of an exceptional architectural ensemble set in the heart of the Alpilles massif.

The Glanum site, which has long been studied by the IRAA, lends itself perfectly to the digitization policies of the French Ministry of Culture, and we recently obtained funding to produce a photogrammetric model of the entire site in its environment.

Driven by a dual interest - scientific and heritage - we propose to use this 3D model to lay the foundations for a set of digital tools designed not only for representation, but above all for analysis and the production of knowledge.

3D Web, virtual reality, augmented reality, model qualification, three-dimensional analysis, AI, ontology modeling, are the avenues we will explore in order to identify new perspectives for the dissemination and production of knowledge to be explored in the longer term as part of an ANR project.

Partner(s):

• Università degli Studi di Sassari (Italy)

The aim of the E-cclesia project is the intellectual development, documentary compilation and historical analysis of an original corpus of texts and images relating to the architecture and decoration of Christian monuments in the West. Exploiting this body of documentation will enable us to thoroughly revitalize our understanding of church building as a major cultural phenomenon, particularly in the Mediterranean region from the 5th century onwards.

The E-cclesia project is multi-disciplinary in nature, with a large-scale focus on the cultural phenomenon of church building. Its feasibility and success depend on the creation of an international network of researchers specializing in philology, art, epigraphy and archaeology, and working in a wide range of geographical areas.

The AMORCE application is dedicated to the creation and structuring of this vast network. Over the course of the year, the partners will be brought together for workshops, during which the planned methodology will be put to the test on a test corpus (concerning the basilica space), to formalize the general historical framework of the questions and take stock of the resources and skills needed to implement a large-scale project on this theme. It will also produce the first results demonstrating the effectiveness of the questioning and the legitimacy of the consortium to carry out an ambitious and innovative project.

Partner(s):

• Center de recherches historiques (CRH - EHESS - Paris)
• Center for Advanced Studies in Medieval Civilization (CESCM - Poitiers)
• Center Jean-Mabillon (École nationale des chartes - Paris)

This project aims at establishing a chronology for the chahar taqs, one of the most emblematic architectural innovations in the Antiquity in Persia. Most of these constructions which have been attributed to Zoroastrian fire temples in pre-Islamic Persia later became an inevitable element in the religious and secular constructions in Islamic world. Many of these structures were built during the Sasanian Empire (3rd to 7th century CE) and continued to early Islamic era. Their architectural evolution and their functioning are however, very poorly known. This project, inspired from a previous successful radiocarbon-based investigation on a Late Antique monument (Sarvestan, see attachment), will try to establish a radiocarbon chronology for many chahar taqs of the Fars region in SW Iran. The results will help to understand these unique innovations in the history of architecture. They will also help the historians and archaeologists to obtain a better image on the function and role of these structures in the cultural evolution of SW Asia during the Late Antiquity and the transition of Imperial to Islamic Iran in 7th century CE.

Partner(s):

• Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient Ancien Laboratory (ARCHEORIENT - Lyon)
• Shiraz University (Iran)
• Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (Italy)

The CANARIAA project combines petrography, geochemistry and archaeology, with the aim of reconstructing the last route taken by the Paržine-Ilovik (Croatia) sized sailing ship. Preliminary results from the study of the rocks making up the ship's ballast have shown that this material probably originated on the Adriatic or Ionian coast of Apulia (Italy). A field mission will sample a set of Plio-Pleistocene calcarenites along the Puglia coast, whose petrographic, petrophysical (density, porosity) and geochemical (carbon and oxygen isotopes, trace elements) analysis will enable a comparison with the rocks in the ballast of the Ilovik Paržine wreck. This comparison will make it possible to constrain the location of the ballast sampling and loading site. This work, coupled with the results of the study of the cargo and ceramic furniture, as well as the analysis of the ship's structure, will also make it possible to hypothesize on the last route taken by the sailing ship and to constrain the estimation of the weight of the ballast and cargo.

The aim of the project is to carry out an integrated study (micropalaeontology, facies analysis, diagenesis, geochemistry) of the limestones of protohistoric sculptures from the Roquepertuse and La Cloche oppidums (Musée d'Histoire de Marseille). Samples will be taken from the works themselves, as well as from similar outcropping limestones, for microscopic thin sections and isotopic measurements (carbon and oxygen). Petrographic analysis of the thin sections and fieldwork will be carried out as part of an M1 STPE research internship. The aim is 1) to identify extraction sites and material supply circuits, 2) to understand the criteria that led to the choice of materials and 3) to identify robust limestone characterization criteria to help in the reconstruction of sculptures and the search for substitute materials.

Partner(s):

• Musée d'histoire de Marseille
• Interdisciplinary Center for Heritage Conservation and Restoration (CICRP - Marseille)
• Musée Granet (Aix-en-Provence)
• PACA Regional Archaeology Service
• Center des monuments nationaux

Metal seals are characteristic elements of public architecture in ancient Greece. The aim of this project is to set up a research teams bringing together archaeologists, architects and metal scientists to develop a methodology for analyzing these artifacts still in place at archaeological sites, particularly Delphi and Delos.

The ultimate aim, as part of a wider project, will be to provide information on the composition, strength and origin of the metal used in these staples, in relation to the archaeological data available for the buildings studied. This research will help complete a chrono-typological inventory of sealings in the architecture of these two sites.

Partner(s):

• Musée du Louvre (Paris)
• École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Strasbourg (France)

This project will consist of an analysis mission at the Rennes library. The aim will be to begin characterizing a richly illuminated manuscript from the late 15th century, based on paleographic, codicological and physico-chemical studies. This work would thus enrich the corpus we have studied to date.

Our Research is based on a global approach to the manuscript, which is studied as a historical witness, a textual support and a material object. In this way, we aim to shed new light on the organization of Parisian illuminators' workshops in the second half of the 15th century. Such an approach requires close interdisciplinary collaboration between the humanities and materials sciences, i.e. between medievalists and chemists.

Partner(s):

• Interdisciplinary Center for Heritage Conservation and Restoration (CICRP - Marseille)
• Laboratory of Molecular and Structural Archaeology (LAMS - Paris)
• Néel Institute (Grenoble)

The project aims to bring together a team of historians, archaeologists, palynologists and chemists to work on traditional beekeeping in the Mediterranean over the long term, and mainly in the ancient and medieval periods. By combining field, archival and laboratory research on the practice of beekeeping in terracotta hives, the aim is to be able to set up protocols that will enable us to work on the environment in which this beekeeping was practiced.

Partner(s):

• Institute for Research and Studies on the Arab and Muslim World (IREMAM - Aix-en-Provence)

The project is a continuation of previous inventory campaigns, and a necessary complement to the creation of as complete a catalog as possible of granite column shafts of ancient origin, and a map of their distribution within and beyond the Roman Empire. The combination of analysis of the geological origin of individual shafts or shaft fragments and archaeological contextualization will enable a better appreciation of secondary post-Antique movements and strategies for their re-use in the medieval and modern periods. Sicily and Calabria are particularly rich in granite shafts, with the particularity of the presence of a local quarry at Nicotera, whose visit is one of the objectives of the mission. The richness and originality of the medieval history of this area, where the vast majority of shafts are reused and transported from medieval times, allows us to address the question of the flow of prestigious materials at this time, in a major hub of Mediterranean maritime routes, in particular around the Strait of Messina.

Partner(s):

• Università di Catania (Italy)
• Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche (Pisa, Italy)
• Istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia (Rome, Italy)
• Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" (Italy)
• Università degli studi di Palermo (Italy)
• Accademia di Belle Arti di Catanzaro (Italy)

Recent developments in underwater wooden shipwreck dating methods, through the combined use of dendrochronology and radiocarbon (14C) dating, have greatly improved our ability to date this type of site. This technique, known as wiggle-matching, applied to ship timbers, makes it possible to fix in time dendrochronological sequences that are often floating, and thus to better determine the possible date of construction of the boat. At the same time, the increasing number of radiocarbon measurements on small organic elements, whose lifespan was very limited when the ship was wrecked or abandoned, such as dunnage or seeds belonging to crew members, should enable us to better date the event. The Lifeboat project aims to apply these two methods to the Hellenistic wreck Fort-Royal 1 (1st half of 2nd century BC, Cannes, France). This site, which is still loosely dated, offers a number of advantages that suggest a positive application of these two dating methods.

Partner(s):

• Département des recherches archéologiques subaquatiques et sous-marines (DRASSM - French Ministry of Culture)
• Ipso Facto Company