In the latest edition of the National Science Centre competitions, two projects submitted by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw were selected for funding. Dr. Robert Stark received a grant in the OPUS 23 competition, while Jerzy M. Oleksiak was awarded a PRELUDIUM 21 grant.
Dr Robert Stark’s project “Life in the Makurian Metropolis: A Bioarchaeological Inquiry into Medieval Old Dongola, Sudan” aims to deepen knowledge of the population of this capital of the medieval kingdom of Makuria through the study of individuals buried in a hitherto unexplored Christian cemetery. Bioarchaeological research, including isotopic analyses, will enable studies of, among other things, the population structure, diet, mobility and migrations of the population buried there. And the excavation and biocultural analysis of representative burial series from individual areas of the cemetery will provide an opportunity to assess the variability of burials, the chronological development of the cemetery and changes during use.”
Amount: 2 481 857 PLN
Jerzy Oleksiak’s project “Sail South to Reach the East – Berenike and Red Sea as a Lacking Puzzle of Late Antique Indian Ocean Trade”, which aims to study the unique ceramic material from Berenike and Senskis located in the Eastern Desert in Egypt. This material will serve as a tool to understand the economic interrelationship of the Eastern Desert settlements with the Indian Ocean world and will help to understand the dynamics of the relationship between the coast and the hinterland. Another task of the project is to discover from where the Late Antique sites sourced their most needed utilitarian ceramics. The project will offer new, reliable data illustrating the economy of the Red Sea region in the Late Antique period and the economic history of the Blemmyes people living in the studied settlements.”
Amount: 130 816 PLN
Congratulations to both winners!