Join the division of Geography and Tourism of KU Leuven and the VUB MARI team (Multidisciplinary Archaeological Research Institute) for the FWO-funded Junior Research project “Terraces as a land management strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean: a long-term perspective” which aims to better understand the role of terraces for historical agriculture. Within this framework we are opening a call for a 4 year fully-funded doctoral position in Geomorphology and Geoarchaeology. Within the Terraces project, the PhD candidate is expected to assist in mapping historic terraces and creating a terrace typology for the study areas. This will be done in collaboration with archaeologists, based on detailed field surveys and remote sensing techniques. Next, we aim to (i) assess the impacts of these terraces on soil erosion and sediment fluxes at millennial time scales and (ii) to analyse to what extent these terraces contributed to higher and/or more reliable crop yields (taking into account e.g. their effect on soil thickness and their potential for irrigation). Also here, these objectives will be realized through a combination of fieldwork and by applying, adapting and integrating geomorphic and agronomic models. Overall, this research will contribute to a better understanding about the organization and decision-making related to the construction, maintenance, use and abandonment of terracing systems as well as their impacts on the landscape.
Plus d’informations :
[Website KU Leuven]