Paul Bacoup
Postdoctoral researcher (FSR Post-doc Fellowship) (UCLouvain, INCAL, CEMA)
Balkan and Aegean Prehistory – Timber in architecture (technology, archaeobotany, experimental archaeology)
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Post-doc Research Project
Post-doc Research Project
Timber in the Aegean Bronze Age (3200-1100 BC): from technical choices to social practices - Supervisor : Dr. Prof. Charlotte Langohr (F.R.S.-FNRS - UCLouvain, AegIS).
Research interests
Research interests
As an archaeologist and archaeobotanist, my research focuses on wood as a construction material. My work is structured around three major questions: What were the technical traditions in the use of wood in the Aegean-Balkan region from the beginning of the Neolithic (7000–6500 BCE) to the end of the Bronze Age (ca. 1100 BCE)? What economic strategies did societies adopt for managing their wood resources? How did the status of woodworkers, such as loggers and carpenters, evolved over time in this region?
These questions encompass a range of issues that allow for the reconstruction of socio-political and economic organization in prehistoric Aegean-Balkan societies through the study of woodworking techniques and operational sequences, while sitting these societies within their environmental contexts.
My analysis is grounded in an interdisciplinary approach that integrates technology, archaeobotany, and experimental archaeology. It draws on both my doctoral and postdoctoral research within the aforementioned chrono-cultural framework, as well as collective research projects in France focusing on Mesolithic and Neolithic woodworking. This includes studies on prehistoric watercraft and navigation in Western Europe during the late prehistoric period (10,000–3000 BC).
Field projects
Field projects
Malia, Greece (Crete) (2023-2024): "Earth construction techniques" research program (French School at Athens). Co-responsible of the timber work in the experimental building of a minoan house. Dir.: M. Pomadère, M. Lorenzon.
Petko Karavelovo tell site, Bulgaria (2017–present): Second and third phases of the second research program (National Institute of Archaeology and Museum). Responsible for the study and publication of architecture and botanical remains (Chalcolithic period). Dir.: A. Chohadzhiev
Dikili Tash tell site, Greece (2016–present): Third and fourth research programs (French School at Athens; Archaeological Society of Athens). Co-responsible for the study and publication of architecture (Bronze Age/Neolithic). Since 2019, trench supervisor in Sector 9. Dir.: P. Darcque, H. Koukouli-Chryssanthaki, D. Malamidou, Z. Tsirtsoni.
Hotnitsa tell site, Bulgaria (2016–2017): Second research program (National Institute of Archaeology and Museum). Responsible for the study of architecture and botanical remains (Chalcolithic period). Dir.: S. Chohadzhiev, A. Chohadzhiev.
Education
Education
2022-2023: Postdoctoral Fellowships at the CNRS (14 months - France - UMR 7041 ArScAn). Supervisor: Dr. M. Pomadère (Univ. Paris 1; ArScAn). ANR TiMMA Project (Timber in Minoan and Mycenaean Architecture; ANR-21-CE27-0029).
2023: Qualification by the French National Council of Universities (CNU) for the rank of Lecturer: Section 20 - Biological Anthropology, Ethnology, Prehistory.
2022: PhD thesis in Archaeology, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France). Title of the PhD dissertation: Timber in the Southern Balkans during the 5th Millennium BCE. Supervisors: H. Procopiou (Univ. Paris 1) and Z. Tsirtsoni (CNRS-France)).
2018 : Master's degree in "Archaeology, Sciences for Archaeology", University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France).
2014 : Bachelor’s degree in Art History and Archaeology, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France).
Choice of publications/conferences (5 max.)
Choice of publications/conferences (5 max.)
Bacoup P., Pomadère M., Lorenzon M., Loescher V. (2024) « Qui construisait les maisons en Crète ? Une approche expérimentale pour comprendre les chantiers minoens, in C. Cheval, O. Langlois, M. Lauwers, G. Palumbi, and H. Procopiou (eds.), Acteurs techniques, acteurs sociaux. Des vestiges matériels à l’organisation sociale du travail, de la Préhistoire à nos jours. 43es rencontres internationales d’archéologie et d’histoire – Nice Côte d’Azur, Nice, Éditions APDCA - CEPAM p. 177‑190.
Bacoup P., Taïeb J. (eds.) (2023) Actes des rencontres internationales « Journées bois. Échanges interdisciplinaires sur le bois et les sociétés » organisées les 18-19 octobre 2021 à l’INHA, Paris, ISTE, Archéologie, société et environnement, 3 [en ligne]. URL : https://www.openscience.fr/Numero-1-Journees-Bois.
Bacoup P. (2023) « Wood construction at the Copper Age tell site of Hotnitsa, north central Bulgaria: Four Late Chalcolithic case studies », Studia Praehistorica, 17, 103-131. URL : https://publications.naim.bg/index.php/stprae/article/view/377/284.
Bacoup P. (2022) « L’architecture en terre crue du tell chalcolithique de Petko Karavelovo (Bulgarie du Nord) : des choix de construction à la société », in : Léal É., de Chazelle C.-A., Devillers P. (dir.), Architecture et construction en terre crue. Approches historiques, sociologiques et économiques. Échanges transdisciplinaires sur les constructions en terre crue. Volume 5. Actes de la table-ronde de Montpellier, 23 et 24 octobre 2019, Montpellier, Éditions de l’Espérou, p. 37-59.
Bacoup P., Prévost-Dermarkar S. (2021) « Climatic conditions and technical choices in Earthen Architecture: The example of Dikili Tash site at Late Neolithic (Eastern Macedonia, Northern Greece) », in : Daneels A., Torres Freixa M. (eds.), UISPP XVIIIe world congress 2018 - SESSION IV-5 - Earthen Construction Technology, Oxford, Archaeopress, p. 55-77. URL : https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781789697230.
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Co-fondateur et co-éditeur de la revue sur l’archéologie expérimentale Le Bulletin de l’APERA
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