Climate Change, Pandemics and Transformation: a Climate-Historical Database for 3rd c. Roman Egypt

Vortrag von Victoria G. D. Landau (Basel) im Rahmen des Kolloquiums «Zur neueren Forschung in der Alten Geschichte» im HS 2021

When it comes to comprehensive historical research, it is typically deemed good practice to consider all possible factors influencing the time period at hand. Oftentimes, this ambitious undertaking can be hindered by something as simple as disciplinary boundaries and limitations, or lack of access to needed expertise. Utilizing the case study of Third Century Roman Egypt, a period featuring large-scale transformations across the Empire, our project team at »The Roman Egypt Laboratory« (2021–2025) in Basel has begun synthesizing the climate historical evidence in hopes of providing a clearer picture of the challenges faced by the population during this time, and their possible causes.

Due to the collaborative nature of the project, the opportunity of conducting a more comprehensive survey of the period's historical evidence is accompanied by a number of cross-disciplinary challenges (such as differences in dating, categories, and even technical vocabulary). This MA thesis has aimed to provide the necessary synergy by realizing the project's aim of conceptualizing an interdisciplinary database, thus facing the unique responsibility of effectively combining historical, archaeological and climate historical proxies within a single overarching chronological framework.

This talk will present the results of the three-part thesis, including a) a discourse on responsible database etiquette and handling (in the humanities and the historical sciences in particular), b) the development of a data(base) model while considering the challenges facing humanities databases and c) the analysis of a sample dataset for a selected timeframe within the proposed annual structure. Underlining the compelling opportunities that lie in combining the historical and natural sciences, the lecture will make the case for embracing the individualities of academic fields in a structured manner to make the most of interdisciplinary research.

Zoom-Link: https://unibas.zoom.us/j/67030432472?pwd=Y2JaeFM2OWJUL1ZjTXFGQUowaDBVUT09
Meeting-ID: 670 3043 2472
Kenncode: KollHS21

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