Projects / Programmes
Anthropological and Spatial Studies
January 1, 2015
- December 31, 2021
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.03.00 |
Humanities |
Anthropology |
|
| 2.17.00 |
Engineering sciences and technologies |
Geodesy |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S220 |
Social sciences |
Cultural anthropology, ethnology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.04 |
Social Sciences |
Sociology |
social and cultural anthropology; anthropology of space, place and time; anthropological linguistics; archaeology; archaeoastronomy; remote sensing; geographical information systems
Researchers (13)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The research programme will keep its focus on archaeological and archaeoastronomical studies in Mesoamerica, socio-cultural anthropological studies in Papua New Guinea and Albania, and spatial and geomorphic analysis with remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). As such it comprises an interdisciplinary group of researchers, whose main aim is to globally advance new methods and new knowledge in their respective fields of expertise. Their common denominator is the study of spaces, places and times from their specific areas of competence. The researchers as individuals or as a group have published original academic work dealing with this topic (“Space, Place, Time” has since 2013 also been the title of their e-book series published by the ZRC Publishing House).
The basis of their research has always been extensive, on-going fieldwork and obtaining first-hand information on the ground. They will continue to work on specificities of previously unrecorded and unanalysed social, cultural and linguistic characteristics of people living in the Karawari River region of Papua New Guinea. Besides working on grammar and dictionary of this Papuan language, they will pay special attention to the emplacement of verses and the importance of ancient paths in a large corpus of all-night songs. The researchers know how to cooperate and interweave their specialities in order to advance their shared focus of research. The on-going archaeological research in Mesoamerica has been making constant use of technical skills of GIS and remote sensing specialists. This cooperation will persist not only in the study of astronomical significance of orientations in the Mesoamerican prehispanic architecture but also in the archaeological reconnaissance works in the Maya Lowlands based on theoretical knowledge and interpretation of aerial photography. The anthropological research in the southern part of Albania will focus on places, routes, movements and (im)mobility of its inhabitants, analysing how they conceptualise, talk about, and actually act in and through these modes of emplaced existence.
One of the joint aims of these studies is to bring abstract and technical knowledge of spatial analyses closer to the people. This is also one of the central concerns of the GIS and remote sensing specialists when dealing, for instance, with natural disasters: how to instantly and efficiently transmit the relevant information obtained from satellite technology to those facing a disaster. The users need useful, timely and easy-to-understand information about the type, extent and potential consequences of the hazard. While data processing should be made optimal, the knowledge of places, roads, technical equipment, and people’s habits within their living environments enhances communication between rescue authorities and the people, thus preventing further tragedies.
Significance for science
The proposed programme will enable the continuation of our interdisciplinary research and contribute towards the development in the scientific fields in which we have already achieved a high level of specialization and international recognition. Besides discovering a series of ancient Maya sites, including large and well preserved political centres, the programme leader has in many international publications argued for the scientific basis of archaeoastronomy and has provided a large body of concrete data in support of his claims. He has effectively become one of the leading experts in archaeoastronomy of Mesoamerica. When all planned measurements of ancient Mesoamerican buildings’ orientations will be completed as proposed in our research programme, we anticipate new discoveries leading to further developments in archaeoastronomical sciences, archaeology and anthropology.
In Papua New Guinea, the approach combining anthropological and linguistic studies has been brought to a level that supersedes the conventional studies in the respected fields. Several new areas, settlements, and people’s customs have been described and analysed for the first time ever. We expect that the on-going focus on space and time, as exemplified through the emplaced verses in all-night songs, will provide new insights with regard to customary life, social and cultural change, as well as new theoretical approaches to oral history and social and cultural anthropology on the whole.
Our studies in southern Albania have significantly advanced the general anthropological knowledge of people’s engagements with and attitudes towards places and movements. The innovative use of techniques of data processing and their applicability in social and cultural anthropology will provide not only the means for visualization, acquisition and analysis of spatial data, but will contribute towards resolving many questions central to anthropology, archaeology, environmental sciences, and human history.
Given the interdisciplinary focus of our programme, it must be emphasized that the development of new GIS and remote sensing methods and applications represents a major scientific contribution of our programme and holds important practical, theoretical and methodological implications. The developed methods of spatial data and image processing will advance the state-of-the-art not only in anthropological applications but also in remote sensing in general.
Significance for the country
Constantly actively contributing to the international scientific scene goes for us without saying, and this orientation will prevail also during the time of the proposed programme. We are convinced that in this way we contribute the most to Slovenia’s socioeconomic and cultural development. We continue to publish our studies and results in books and respected international journals, give seminars and invited papers at foreign universities and international workshops, symposia and conferences, and are engaged in teaching, supervising, and advising graduate students in Slovenia and abroad. We are appointed as referees for Slovenian and foreign scientific journals and as expert evaluators of international research projects, including those of European Commission (FP7) in the area of Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities. We are also recipients of prestigious foreign grants, fellowships, and different Slovenian and foreign awards. We also hold important editorial positions (editor-in-chief, book review editor, member of the editorial board) in Anthropological Notebooks, the journal of Slovene Anthropological Society, published in English and indexed by several databases including SSCI, and adding to the cultural development and promotion of Slovenia.
The results coming out of the diversity of thematic and geographic areas of our research and engagements with different societies and cultures, only contribute towards a better understanding of our own social and cultural realities. This pertains also to the questions associated with Slovenian natural and cultural heritage and historical processes, which have led to the present day social reality in Slovenia. On a more concrete level, we can say that our programme is directly involved in social, economic and cultural development of Slovenia. GIS and remote sensing methods developed by the members of our programme continue to be applied in resolving a variety of problems associated with information and communication infrastructure, economical issues, and preservation of natural and cultural heritage. The proposed programme provides the most innovative spatial techniques that can enable detection of elements in the landscape also in overgrown, degraded or hard-to-reach environment. In these kinds of situations, remote sensing represents a unique technology: it enables localization and documentation of archaeological and other culturally significant sites where classical field methods cannot be easily applied or are not feasible at all. The expected results of our programme will contribute to the archaeological and cultural knowledge of Slovenia and clarify many recent anthropogenic modifications of Slovenian landscape. Our results have always been disseminated among the professional public, including Slovenian companies, and provided them, through the methods for advanced processing of remote sensing data, with an internationally competitive position.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2015,
interim report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2015,
interim report
