Interarheo

_____Archaeology was, from the very beginning, an interdisciplinary field which has developed in close connection with quaternary geology, anthropology, paleontology, ethnology, etc. It was especially after the Second World War when interdisciplinary research fields, situated in-between archaeology and different branches of natural and exact sciences, have emerged, giving birth to what we now know as, through a generically term, archaeometry (term coined in 1958 by professor Cristopher F.C. Hawkes, from Oxford University). In Europe and America, near universities have emerged museums, academical institutions, laboratories and scientific centers for applied archaeology research. One of the most advanced domains of archaeometry is archaeophysics, with remarkable results particularly in archaeological surveys and in the development of dating methods (see : M. J. Aitken, Physics and Archaeology, Oxford, 1971; idem, Science-based Dating in Archaeology, London-New York, 1990; idem, Chronometric Dating in Archaeology, New York, 1997). Through the collaboration with geological, geographical and biological fields of science, interdisciplinary domains, as Environmental and Habitat Archaeology (Environmental Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology), Paleoecology, Archaeobotanics, Paleoeconomics, Archaeozoology, Archaeoetnobotanics, Anthropology, Paleopathology, Paleodemograpgy, Funeral Archaeology, and by combining Archaeology with Ethnology, Etnoarchaeology and Social Archaeology have emerged. All these domains have today a well defined status, both in research programs, as well in didactic project, for MA and PhD, from prestigious universities across Europe and America (see: C. Renfrew, P. Bahn, Archaeology, Theories, Methods and Practice, London, 1996 and Archaeology Method and Theory. An Encyclopedia, Editor Linda Ellis, New York-London, 2000).
_____Through this project we seek to align Romanian archaeology to the international scientific standards. Therefore, the project desires to develop at the University of Iasi, grounded on an old and valuable tradition of interdisciplinary archaeological research, as well as on the basis of a powerful structure of research and development already existing in our university, Arheoinvest, a strong and viable center of interdisciplinary research in the field of archaeology, cultural heritage and artifact conservation, starting from the premises that this is the direction which has proven itself in the most advanced archaeological centers in the world, having positive results in the considerable growth of this science in historical reconstruction.
_____The Project stems from the already existant Interdisciplinary Research Platform in the Field of Archaeology, which integrates five modern interdisciplinary laboratories (Applied and Theoretical Archaeology, Geoarchaeology, Bioarchaeology, Archaeophysics and Scientific Investigation and Preservation of Cultural Heritage Artifacts), gathering specialists from different faculties of the University (History, Geography, Biology and Physics). The activity also depends on the technical scientific personnel which conducts scientigic analyses, for which we only need to purchase extra high-tech equipment, strictly to ensure better efficiency and accuracy.
_____At the same time, the project pursues European integration objectives for the Romanian research community, representing the Romanian academic institutions share to the efforts of an integrated European research and scientist formation structure. As such, through this project, which is destined both to the development of the Romanian national research system and its opening and integration into the international scientific community, we fully respond to the purpose of the PNCD II Program for 2007-2013.