{"id":49354,"date":"2020-10-15T13:12:41","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T11:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.icac.cat\/en\/?p=49354"},"modified":"2020-10-16T08:23:34","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T06:23:34","slug":"how-were-technological-innovation-and-knowledge-transfer-like-in-classical-times-a-new-msca-project-at-icac-will-study-the-importance-of-technological-progress-from-ancient-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/actualitat\/noticies\/2020\/how-were-technological-innovation-and-knowledge-transfer-like-in-classical-times-a-new-msca-project-at-icac-will-study-the-importance-of-technological-progress-from-ancient-times\/","title":{"rendered":"How were technological innovation and knowledge transfer like in Classical times? A new MSCA project at ICAC will study the importance of technological progress from ancient times"},"content":{"rendered":"

We welcome\u00a0Simona Perna<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0an archaeologist with a degree in Classical Culture, as a\u00a0Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie<\/a>\u00a0researcher at the ICAC. This fellowship (MSCA) is named after the great scientist and double\u00a0Nobel Prize winner. It is a very prestigious research fellowship programme from the European Commission that promotes mobility and innovative training among researchers at European and international level.<\/p>\n

MSCA grants <\/a>allow researchers to carry out their own research projects and at the same time receive specific training at the host institution.\u00a0This was one of the reasons for Dr Perna to come to the ICAC, a very dynamic research centre with internationally recognized experts in archaeometry and the study of lithic materials, with the\u00a0ArPA research group<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Archaeometric Studies Unit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The research project that\u00a0Simona Perna<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0now starting\u00a0at ICAC names\u00a0\u201cTechnological innovation and knowledge networks. Multidisciplinary approach to Roman Stone vases\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0and it will be supervised by Dr\u00a0Anna Guti\u00e9rrez Garcia-Moreno<\/a>, Ram\u00f3n y Cajal researcher and head of the\u00a0Archaeometric Studies Unit<\/a>\u00a0at the ICAC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Can you imagine what modern society would be like without the technology we have today?\u00a0When we talk about technology, we tend to think of devices like\u00a0smartphones.\u00a0But there are many different technologies that have evolved with human life and societies;\u00a0everyday objects and tools that today may seem the most natural thing in the world and that do not catch our attention, have a history of innovation behind them;\u00a0they were invented at some point and then meant a change in the ways of doing, working and, perhaps, behaving or relating socially.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy project studies the use of technology in the ancient world;\u00a0how it developed and what transformations at the social level it entailed.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Research project\u00a0Simona Perna<\/a>\u00a0is developing\u00a0at the ICAC has this issue as one of the fundamentals, taking into account that\u00a0innovation at a technological level always comes with transformations at the social level<\/strong>, at how we act and function as a society.\u00a0These processes, despite the differences, are constant in human societies.<\/p>\n

Specifically, Perna\u00a0<\/a>studies the elaboration and uses of Roman vases made of marble and ornamental stones<\/strong>.\u00a0The craftwork of the stone was based on ancestral traditions, passed down from generation to generation, in what Perna\u00a0<\/a>calls “networks of knowledge”. Stone materials were very difficult to work with and the craftsmen in charge were totally specialized, in the techniques of elaboration but also in the instruments, machines and tools they used.<\/p>\n

\"Cr\u00e0ter
Alabaster crater used as a\u00a0cinerary urn in a tomb from the Augustan period\u00a0 (1st century BC \u2013 early 1st century AC). Archaeological Museum of Naples.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the same time,\u00a0having marble vases with ornamental stones gave prestige and popularity to their owners<\/strong>. These pieces were highly sought-after objects and came to develop their own symbolism and usages.\u00a0When pieces and materials such as alabaster (originally from Egypt) were brought to Rome, local artisans did not know how to work\u00a0it.\u00a0With the growth of demand, therefore, not only\u00a0noble materials but the\u00a0knowledge and technologies of the artisans who worked\u00a0them had to be exported.<\/p>\n

Technology went hand in hand with trade, mobility and knowledge transfer<\/strong>. The production process of these Roman vases was very complex and the ornamental stones were prestigious, but it remains to be seen to what extent it was a luxury good.\u00a0This is one of the challenges that Simona Perna<\/a>\u00a0poses\u00a0with her project. She also wants to reconstruct the path of technological innovation behind these pieces and show whether craft production in Rome had its own technology or whether it had a\u00a0Hellenistic\u00a0or Egyptian\u00a0origin.<\/p>\n

The methodology with which\u00a0Simona Perna\u00a0<\/a>works\u00a0combines the study of production but also of social uses and the meanings of stone objects.\u00a0Her previous experience in studies of funerary urns makes it very interesting to study this particular aspect of\u00a0prestige and symbolism in marble craftwork.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My research methodology is a combination of what we call\u00a0ethnoarchaeology<\/strong>;\u00a0a combination of the theoretical study of an ancient object, with the practical comparison of the techniques of modern and ancient craftwork production centers, as long as we have valid evidence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The project started with a core sample of pieces that Perna\u00a0<\/a>had already located and the idea was to expand the sample volume with pieces from different European museums.\u00a0With the situation generated by the\u00a0coronavirus<\/strong>, however, many of these sites have closed or restricted access to their collections, and the possibility of making analytic works on marble samples is very limited.\u00a0This has forced Perna to redesign the research project and look for alternatives in the study process so that the research does not stop.<\/p>\n

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Meet Simona Perna and her research project in her welcome speech at the ICAC, next Tuesday, October 20, at 10.30 AM<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0by streaming<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Simona<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Simona Perna<\/a><\/h5>\n

Dr Perna\u00a0<\/span>graduated in Classics and Classical Archaeology at the University of Naples Federico II (2005) and completed her PhD in Roman Sculpture<\/span> at Royal Holloway University of London<\/span> (2015)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her research interests<\/strong> include de chaine op\u00e9ratoire<\/em> and consumption of material culture, particularly of stone artefacts, in antiquity as well as the materiality, semantics and agency of lithic materials in Roman society.<\/p>\n

Perna ha<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0held several associate lectureships in Classics and Classical Archaeology at numerous B<\/span>ritish Universities (2006-2011). She ha<\/span>s<\/span> also worked on the<\/span> \u201cCyprus Digitization Project\u201d<\/span> at the British Museum<\/span> (2010-2011).<\/span><\/p>\n

Her post-doctoral research<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0includes the project\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Alabaster<\/span>. Quarrying and trade in the Roman World<\/span>\u201d<\/span> (2014-2018) with Simon J. Barker<\/span>, collaborations to several<\/span>\u00a0international<\/span>\u00a0projects as a marble specialist (2014-<\/span>present<\/span>), a number of fellowships at the London Universities of Birkbeck<\/span> and Royal Holloway<\/span> and at the Catalan Institute of\u00a0<\/span>Classical\u00a0<\/span>Archaeology, where\u00a0<\/span>she<\/span>\u00a0currently hold<\/span>s<\/span> a Marie\u00a0<\/span>Sklodowska\u00a0Curie Research Fellowship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her\u00a0fieldwork experience<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>includes excavation<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>surveys\u00a0<\/span>in Italy (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Cumae, Orvieto), Greece (<\/span>Despotiko)\u00a0and Romania (<\/span>Apulum\u00a0and\u00a0Mahmudia<\/span>).<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Dr Perna is<\/span> currently working on technological innovation\u00a0and knowledge transfer<\/span>\u00a0in the Classical period<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>an edited volume based on the 2-day workshop on Alabaster\u00a0<\/span>she<\/span>\u00a0co-organised at the Norwegian Institute in Rome (May 2019)\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>a monograph<\/span>\u00a0on\u00a0<\/span>the manufacture and socio-cultural significance of cinerary<\/span>\u00a0urns\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>coloured stone\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>Roman\u00a0<\/span>funerary contexts\u00a0<\/span>for publication with\u00a0<\/span>Archaeopress\u00a0(Oxford).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We welcome\u00a0Simona Perna,\u00a0an archaeologist with a degree in Classical Culture, as a\u00a0Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie\u00a0researcher at the ICAC. This fellowship (MSCA) is named after the great scientist and double\u00a0Nobel Prize winner. It is a very prestigious research fellowship programme from the European Commission that promotes mobility and innovative training among researchers at European and international level. MSCA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":49330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[328,342,334,336,330,322,333],"tags":[521,522,677,678,516],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49354"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49384,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49354\/revisions\/49384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}