Contact: Prof. Dr. Thomas Stöllner, duration: January 2011 until December 2014
The Leibniz Graduate School "Raw Materials, Innovation, Technology of Ancient Cultures (RITaK)" is a co-operation between the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Its aim was to conduct interdisciplinary research into the extraction, processing and utilisation of raw materials.
Mineral raw materials have had a decisive influence on human history. They are key drivers of cultural and economic development. This applies to ancient cultures, which we classify chronologically according to their use of raw materials for good reason (Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, etc.), and also applies to our current civilisation, which we may one day call the Silicon Age: Mining, metal extraction, sustainability, environment and economy, import and export are topics that are more topical than ever! This is why it is so important to research raw materials and their culturally and socially transformative role in the past in order to be able to draw comparisons with the present. Under this motto, the Graduate School RITaK has developed knowledge about the past and makes it available for current discussions and problem solving.
What strategies and mechanisms did people use at different times and in different cultures to extract raw materials and how were they processed? What ideas and concepts or even technologies and innovations were required for this? How far did the flows of raw materials and goods extend? And to what extent did landscapes and cultural areas change under the influence of new resources? These and other exciting questions were explored by the doctoral students in their doctoral theses at the Graduate School.
During their three-year research project, the young scientists from Spain, Austria, the United States of America and Germany received comprehensive supervision and diverse support from renowned scientists from a wide range of archaeological, historical and geographical-geological disciplines from nine DBM and RUB institutions. Other researchers from nine national and international institutions that are at the forefront of research in Europe accompanied the project as co-operation partners and opened up numerous opportunities for scientific networking and exchange.
Lena Asrih, Christoph Bartels, Lars Bluma, Petra Eisenach, Anton Gontscharov, Andreas Hauptmann, Thorsten Kaliebe, Michael Klaunzer, Ingolf Löffler, Stephen W. Merkel, Thomas Stöllner, Ünsal Yalcin
The Leibniz Graduate School "Raw Materials, Innovation, Technology of Ancient Cultures" (RITaK) is a co-operation between the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. It was funded by the Leibniz Association.