Prof Helena Hamerow one of four Oxford academics to receive ERC Synergy Grants to address complex scientific problems

We are delighted to share the news that Professor Helena Hamerow has received a prestigious a European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant 

Professor Hamerow will be one of the four Principal Invetigators leading a project called MEMELAND (Molecular Ecology of Medieval European Landscapes). This will investigate the impact of the agricultural transformation that took place during the Middle Ages on northern Europe’s landscapes and biodiversity. The team will analyse sedimentary DNA found at the bottom of lakes, which can preserve traces of human activity and reveal how the vegetation and animals present around the lake changed over time. The results will be used together with archaeological remains to examine the impact on biodiversity and land use of the spread of the mouldboard plough and crop rotation, the introduction of new plant and animal species, epidemics, and climate change.

Professor Hamerow said: ‘MEMELAND will transform our understanding of the impact of medieval farming by revealing plants and animals that are normally invisible in the archaeological record. It will allow us to situate excavated remains from medieval settlements within a wider eco-system, something I couldn’t have imagined doing even a few years ago’.

MEMELAND involves a collaboration between the University of Oxford; The Arctic University, Tromsø (the coordinating institution); Paris Lodron Universität, Salzburg; the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Zurich; and Charles University, Prague.