Crafts in the Roman Province of Noricum

CRAFTS as an institutionalised international co-operation, co-ordinated by Dr. Michel Polfer, Centre Universitaire de Luxembourg, aims at the investigation of the structures of Roman crafts in Italy and the north-western Roman provinces, supra-regional comparison of the results and subsequently publication as a manual in five to seven volumes within the series Monographies Instrumentum (Montagnac, F), every contribution written in the language of it`s region. Consequently, CRAFTS develops for the first time a complete edition of all sources available concerning Roman handicraft. The regional projects depend on financing by their national science foundations. With the project applied for here, the Roman handicraft in Noricum, which covers the biggest portion of the territory of today`s Austria, will be investigated. From the very beginning, CRAFTS offers the possibility to view the crafts of Noricum within an international project and within a geographically and economically extended area, thus revealing priorities of the individual provinces with more emphasis. The intensive co-operation of all the participating scholars is a basic requirement for this project as a whole. For the final publication, special attention will be paid to maps with chronological arrangements of the various crafts; so, besides the textual syntheses there will also be a clear graphical, supra- regional presentation of the results. The structures of the database and the working methods are obligatory for all members; this has been developed in annual meetings, which were promoted by the European Union (last at Augst, CH, in November 2002). The project`s course follows the ensuing structure: 1. Securing of the complete literature concerning crafts in Noricum as a database and establishing of a database for all find-spots of the province with a description of the specific finds and contexts relating to crafts, including references; concurrence of the databases of all members of the CRAFTS-project. 2. Study of files in the regional museums and of national heritage. 3. Estab-lishing of the first hypotheses based on the local results. 4. Comparison of the local results of all members and concurrence with the results of the Noricum project. 5. Final preparation of the manuscript for print. CRAFTS allows to establish a new access to the investigation of archaeological relicts and sheds new light onto the significance of handicrafts as an economical factor. Consequently therefore, the international collaboration from the very beginning as one of the most important means of the project is a warrant for it`s positioning beyond the limits of it`s own scientific community.

CRAFTS as an institutionalised international co-operation, co-ordinated by Dr. Michel Polfer, Centre Universitaire de Luxembourg, aims at the investigation of the structures of Roman crafts in Italy and the north-western Roman provinces, supra-regional comparison of the results and subsequently publication as a manual in five to seven volumes within the series Monographies Instrumentum (Montagnac, F), every contribution written in the language of it`s region. Consequently, CRAFTS develops for the first time a complete edition of all sources available concerning Roman handicraft. The regional projects depend on financing by their national science foundations. With the project applied for here, the Roman handicraft in Noricum, which covers the biggest portion of the territory of today`s Austria, will be investigated. From the very beginning, CRAFTS offers the possibility to view the crafts of Noricum within an international project and within a geographically and economically extended area, thus revealing priorities of the individual provinces with more emphasis. The intensive co-operation of all the participating scholars is a basic requirement for this project as a whole. For the final publication, special attention will be paid to maps with chronological arrangements of the various crafts; so, besides the textual syntheses there will also be a clear graphical, supra- regional presentation of the results. The structures of the database and the working methods are obligatory for all members; this has been developed in annual meetings, which were promoted by the European Union (last at Augst, CH, in November 2002). The project`s course follows the ensuing structure: 1. Securing of the complete literature concerning crafts in Noricum as a database and establishing of a database for all find-spots of the province with a description of the specific finds and contexts relating to crafts, including references; concurrence of the databases of all members of the CRAFTS-project. 2. Study of files in the regional museums and of national heritage. 3. Estab-lishing of the first hypotheses based on the local results. 4. Comparison of the local results of all members and concurrence with the results of the Noricum project. 5. Final preparation of the manuscript for print. CRAFTS allows to establish a new access to the investigation of archaeological relicts and sheds new light onto the significance of handicrafts as an economical factor. Consequently therefore, the international collaboration from the very beginning as one of the most important means of the project is a warrant for it`s positioning beyond the limits of it`s own scientific community.