The LHEAAPS project aims to investigate the origins and evolution of Pastoral Iron Age societies in north-central Kenya through integrated analysis of patterns of human and livestock mobility, dietary practices, exchange networks, and responses to periods of known drought and increased rainfall over the last c. 1800 years. Through the innovative use of diverse bioarchaeological, archaeological and materials sciences approaches, these two PhD projects are intended to contribute to the reconstruction of exchange networks through archaeometric analyses of lithic and ceramic artefacts; and reconstructions of diet and herd management strategies (including seasonal and longer-term mobility of livestock) via combined zooarchaeology and isotopic analyses. These studies will contribute to wider syntheses and analyses aimed at demonstrating the value of understanding these pastoralist pasts as paths for planning more sustainable futures for the region's contemporary pastoralist societies. In doing so, the project aspires to respond to calls to build long-term sustainability and resilience into social-ecological systems in sub-Saharan Africa through provision of deep histories of human-environment interactions and holistic approaches to the reconstruction of past and present human responses to climate-induced socioecological vulnerability. The PhD will focus on reconstruction of the animal economies and herd management strategies on associated with Pastoral Iron Age sites across north-central Kenya, using a combination of standard zooarchaeological methods and isotopic analyses. This PhD will be co-supervised by Professor Lane and Dr Tamsin O'Connell. Training in these techniques and their application will form a core feature of the PhD.
Plus d’informations :
[Website University of Cambridge]