Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "Divergent pathways to early food production and early complex societies. Archaeozoological data from northeastern Africa." "Wim Van Neer" "Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation" "Food production was probably the most important development in human history, appearing first about 10,000 years ago. It launched a whole chain of other developments, beginning with the emergence of complex societies, displaying new features, such as social inequality. The developments finally resulted in our present-day, global and industrialized society. Many of its problems, such as the environmental ones, have very early roots. Because the Fertile Crescent is Europe's cradle of food production, many researchers are rusted in the models valid there, for example that stock keeping and farming were usually spread as one package. Research in other areas, like northern Africa, shows that the possible pathways are in fact very diverse and are determined largely by the natural environment. At the basis of the proposed project is the analysis of faunal remains from archaeological sites in the Egyptian and Sudanese Nile Valley. Four very specific themes, crucial in the framework of early food production and early complex societies, will be investigated: 1) the context of independent cattle domestication in Africa, 2) the regional variation in early food production, 3) elite and elite food production on the natural environment." "Agriculture, diet and nutrition in Greco-Roman Egypt. Reassessing ancient sustenance, food processing and (mal)nutrition." "Frédéric Leroy, Paul Erdkamp" "Interdisciplinary Historical Food Studies, Industrial Microbiology, Department of Bio-engineering Sciences, History, Archeology, Arts, Philosophy and Ethics, R&D centraal" "The AGROS project challenges the main assumptions underlying the current historical and archaeological paradigms of ancient diet and nutrition. It has long been held that one-sided and low-quality diets, largely comprised of foodstuffs with high levels of anti-nutrients and poor in micronutrients, resulted in chronic malnutrition. Recently, these views have been challenged on the grounds of being anachronistic since the modern nutritional data on which they are based are from ingredients, foodstuffs and preparation and processing practices modified by the 20th century Green Revolution and its aftermath. The AGROS project will remedy these knowledge gaps by producing the first empirical data on various nutritional parameters by studying a unique collection of archaeological plant and animal remains from Greco-Roman Egypt. It will also reconstruct ancient food processing and preparation techniques and recreate ancient foodstuffs. By measuring the (anti)nutritional changes at each step of the production processes of these foodstuffs, it will elucidate the relative changes that occur during historical food processing. The project brings together experts from the diverse fields of ancient history, archaeobotany, archaeozoology, papyrology, Egyptian archaeology, food biochemistry and microbiology, and stable isotope chemistry. Overall the fundamental research within this study has the potential to revolutionize how ancient diet and nutrition are approached." "Agriculture, diet and nutrition in Greco-Roman Egypt. Reassessing ancient sustenance, food processing and (mal)nutrition." "Katelijn Vandorpe" "Ancient History, Leuven, Université de Liège, Université de Namur, University of Michigan, Vrije Universiteit Brussel" "The AGROS project challenges the main assumptions underlying the current historical and archaeologicalparadigms of ancient diet and nutrition. It has long been held that one-sided and low-quality diets, largelycomprised of foodstuffs with high levels of anti-nutrients and poor in micronutrients, resulted in chronicmalnutrition. Recently, these views have been challenged on the grounds of being anachronistic since themodern nutritional data on which they are based are from ingredients, foodstuffs and preparation andprocessing practices modified by the 20th century Green Revolution and its aftermath. The AGROS project willremedy these knowledge gaps by producing the first empirical data on various nutritional parameters bystudying a unique collection of archaeological plant and animal remains from Greco-Roman Egypt. It will alsoreconstruct ancient food processing and preparation techniques and recreate ancient foodstuffs. By measuringthe (anti)nutritional changes at each step of the production processes of these foodstuffs, it will elucidate therelative changes that occur during historical food processing. The project brings together experts from thediverse fields of ancient history, archaeobotany, archaeozoology, papyrology, Egyptian archaeology, foodbiochemistry and microbiology, and stable isotope chemistry. Overall the fundamental research within thisstudy has the potential to revolutionize how ancient diet and nutrition are approached."