To encourage interdisciplinary practices and links between teams, the institute may grant environmental funding of €6,000 over 3 years for doctoral projects on archaeological themes, with priority given to the inter-doctoral school contract scheme of the doctoral college of Aix-Marseille Université. This grant supports doctoral students in their day-to-day research activities (purchase of small items of equipment, missions, etc.).
1st thesis registration - 2025
Doctoral schools - Sciences de l'environnement (ED 251) / Espaces Cultures Sociétés (ED 355)
Research units - Centre de recherche et d’enseignement des géosciences de l’environnement / Centre Camille Jullian
Supervision - François Fournier (director) et Hélène Aurigny (co-director)
Project summary - The identification of the provenance and properties of calcareous materials used in carved stonework is a major challenge in archaeometry and heritage sciences. In Provence, such materials have been exploited since Protohistory in various contexts monumental sculptures in Marseille and other surrounding sites. However, their characterization remains difficult due to several analytical limitations: a predominantly calcitic composition, low petrographic contrast, post-depositional alterations, and incomplete or spatially unbalanced regional geological databases. This doctoral research aims to develop an innovative methodology for the characterization of carbonate rocks, combining petrographic analysis, geochemical techniques (C-O isotopes, trace elements), and non-destructive methods (photogrammetry, RTI, optical and cathodoluminescence microscopy). It is based on a broad corpus of sculptures and architectural elements from southern Provence (Entremont, Roquepertuse, Saint-Blaise, Marseille...), dating from Protohistory to the Middle Ages, and made from a variety of calcareous materials (lacustrine limestone, Burdigalian, Urgonian, oolitic limestones, etc.).The objectives are to: Identify quarry sites and supply networks; Understand the criteria guiding stone selection in artisanal practices (mecanic qualities, aesthetic appeal, durability); Refine the criteria for reconstructing sculptural ensembles; Develop reliable and reproducible indicators for material identification and the potential sourcing of substitute stones in conservation and restoration contexts. By pushing beyond current methodological limitations, this project will contribute to a better understanding of lithic resource exploitation in the Province region and provide new insights for the conservation and enhancement of carved stone heritage.
1st thesis registration - 2024
Doctoral schools - Environmental Sciences (ED 251)/Chemical Sciences (ED 250)
Research Unit - Environmental Geosciences Research and Teaching Centre/Physics of ionic and molecular interactions
Supervision - Thibaut Devièse (director) and Vassilissa Vinogradoff (co-director)
Project summary - The CO-MET thesis project aims to develop an innovative analytical approach for extracting and characterising organic matter present in very small quantities in archaeological sediments and meteorites. Supercritical technologies will be used to minimise sample destruction and reduce the use of toxic solvents. The methodology, first applied to archaeological sediments and then to carbonaceous meteorites, will be optimised for small quantities of material.
This thesis project will facilitate the study of organic matter in environmental geosciences, geoarchaeology and astrochemistry, to answer a number of research questions, including the organisation of the activities of prehistoric populations within caves, and the organic composition of meteorites, thus opening a window onto understanding the type of organic compounds that were present 4.3 Ga ago during the emergence of prebiotic chemical systems on our Earth.
1st thesis registration - 2024
Doctoral schools - Engineering sciences: mechanics, physics, micro and nanoelectronics (ED 353)/Spaces, cultures, societies (ED 355)
Research Unit - Mediterranean laboratory for European and African prehistory/Mechanics and Acoustics Laboratory
Supervision - Pierre Magniez (director) and Philippe Lasaygues (co-director)
Project summary - Substantial essence was one of the most vital objectives for prehistoric man. To do this, they systematically broke the bones of their prey-herbivores, in particular the long bones, to extract this essential nutritional and domestic resource. This feeding behaviour has been well documented in most of the habitats occupied by hunter-gatherer societies since the Palaeolithic period, as well as by ethnographic studies. Analysis of bone fracturing methods is therefore a key factor in identifying the meat acquisition, consumption and carcass processing strategies of early human groups, and ultimately in understanding their cognitive and technical capacities and their socio-economic behaviour. However, to better understand this fracturing process, it is essential to have a good understanding of the mechanical properties of the material being exploited, in this case the bones of the prey of wild herbivores, as a function of their ontogeny (age, sex) and environmental factors (climate, seasons). This doctoral project will address a number of issues, including the influence of the morpho-structural and biomechanical properties of bones (porosity, amount of material, density, visco-poro-elasticity) on bone fracturing, using a multi-physical approach original to archaeological science (X-ray microtomography (µCT), ultrasound, micro-mechanics, nano-indentation) to identify the variability of signals according to bone type and portion, and their intrinsic factors on herbivores and their individual, intra- and inter-bone variations. An application will be made to bone assemblages, in particular from Palaeolithic sites, in order to gain a better understanding both of the breaking techniques used by prehistoric people (at the time of deposition to extract a vital resource: marrow) and also to better determine taphonomic biases (conservation of post-deposition material). The combination of actualist, quantitative and experimental studies on fossil stocks will provide a high-resolution reflection on human dietary strategies (prehistoric archaeology) thanks to a better understanding of the 'bone' material through the study of a triple osteological, experimental and archaeological corpus of deer and cattle.
1st thesis registration - 2022
Doctoral schools - Environmental sciences (ED 251)/Spaces, cultures, societies (ED 355)
Research Unit - European centre for research and education in environmental geoscience/Mediterranean laboratory for European and African prehistory
Supervision - Thibaut Devièse (director), Gwenaëlle Goude (co-director) and Pierre Magniez (tutor)
Project summary - The Late Pleistocene is characterised by abrupt and contrasting climatic and environmental instabilities. The general cooling that led to the last glacial maximum (21 ka BP) was interspersed with peaks of climatic warming (Dansgaard-Oeschger events) and episodes of cooling of the sea surface (Heinrich events). These climatic instabilities had an uneven impact on the environment (landscape, vegetation, etc.) in the different regions of Europe and certainly played a key role in the survival of many human and mammalian species, some of which became extinct during this period (50-20 ka BP). However, their dietary adaptability has never been accurately assessed, due to a lack of reliable chronometric data and biomolecular analyses. During the thesis, a multi-analytical methodology will be applied to a set of archaeological bones from two major sites in southern France: Portel-Ouest and Tournal (50-14 ka BP). The corpus of bones will include species with different diets (carnivores, omnivores, herbivores) and behaviours (overwintering species, with gregarious instincts), as well as individuals of different ages and sexes. Radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis of the entire sequence will be correlated with palaeoenvironmental data to provide a better understanding of dietary adaptation processes in a context of climatic instability.
1st thesis enrolment - 2021/Defence - 27/02/2025
Doctoral school - Environmental sciences (ED 251)
Research unit - European centre for research and education in environmental geoscience
Supervision - Pierre Magniez (director) and Bruno Arfib (co-director)
Project summary - The aim of this thesis research is to model air and water flows in the karstic hydrosystem of the Cosquer cave, in connection with the sea, to predict changes in water levels in the cave. The results should help inform the archaeological conservation choices to be made. To achieve this objective, the factors that control variations in air pressure and water level must be understood. This subject is based on hydro-climatic data (air pressure, temperature, water level, water conductivity, humidity, etc.) measured with probes placed in the cave since 2014, supplemented with meteorological and oceanographic data. Hydroclimatic monitoring of the Cosquer cave continued and was enhanced throughout the thesis.
The Institute's "Environnement de thèses interdisciplinaires" (Interdisciplinary Thesis Environment) scheme enables me to manage my own budget, which is essential to the development of my doctoral research and the establishment of interdisciplinary scientific collaborations. It enabled me to take part in excavations at the Portel-Ouest Palaeolithic cave (Ariège) and to study osteological material at the Tautavel European Prehistory Centre.