Investigating adhesive making and ochre heat treatment in southern Africa and Europe

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Patrick Schmidt
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 565035191

Research into the meaning of ancient technical behaviours for human evolution is gaining increasing importance in prehistoric archaeology. Arguably, the most striking behaviour unique to early and modern humans is that they used fire to transform the properties of materials. In archaeology, these processes are sometimes termed “engineering” or “transformative techniques” because they aim at producing materials with altered properties. This research grant is associated with a Heisenberg research grant proposal that aims at investigating these technical behaviours. The aim is to associate two PhD students with the project who will be trained on the subject of early transformative technology in archaeological science. This research grand is intended to provide funding for their doctoral work.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants