BrainMap

Vasile Ersek

- Northumbria University

Researcher | Teaching staff | Scientific reviewer | PhD supervisor

Expertise & keywords

Unravelling the legacy of 7000 years of metal pollution in central-eastern Europe Call name: P 4 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie, 2020
PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-0914 2021 - 2023

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: ACADEMIA ROMANA FILIALA CLUJ

Project partners: ACADEMIA ROMANA FILIALA CLUJ (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website: https://lead7000.wixsite.com/lead7000

Abstract:

The advent of metal processing millennia ago changed the course of human history. First emergence of ore smelting in Europe occurred c. 7000 years ago in the Balkans, but lack of regionally representative environmental data precludes precise understanding of the long-term impact of such activities. Here we aim to assess the environmental legacy of this long-term history of metal processing by disentangling variability in (Pb) and other metal pollution in sites from eastern Alps to central Balkans. We will focus on high-resolution geochemical analyses (ICP-MS, xrf-core scanning) on ombrotrophic peat records, which are reliable recorders of direct atmospheric fallout of chemical particulates. We will apply Pb isotope provenance tracing to determine the sources and sinks of Pb pollution and the isotopic variability of several unconstrained Carpathian ore fields. In assessing rates of change, and tracing leads/lags in regional response we rely on radiocarbon dating and tephrochronology. All geochemical and isotopic data will be treated in mixing isotopic models and changepoint analyses. These data will enable multi-method multi-site assessments of past pollution, bringing the history of metal processing and environmental pollution in central-eastern Europe to a new level of understanding. Our results will add crucial evidence to the long-range and long-lasting legacy cast upon the environment by past metal processing in Europe for last c. 7000 years ago.

Crossing the Carpathians: environmental and cultural controls of the expansion of Neolithic cultures in SE Europe Call name: Projects for Young Research Teams - RUTE -2014 call
PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-1993 2015 - 2017

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA "ŞTEFAN CEL MARE" DIN SUCEAVA

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA "ŞTEFAN CEL MARE" DIN SUCEAVA (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA "ŞTEFAN CEL MARE" DIN SUCEAVA (RO)

Project website: https://sites.google.com/site/neolithicexpantion/home

Abstract:

The study of the origin and dispersal of Neolithic cultures has been the subject of heated debate since the seminal work of Childe (1942). To what extent the dispersal process was influenced by environmental factors is still debated, one of the issues being whether climatic conditions influencing agricultural practices could have affected the dispersal route, “blocking” some of the Neolithic societies in front of ecological barriers. Data from Neolithic sites in SE Europe shows that a continuous stream of people and cultures flowed through the Danube’s Iron Gates towards Central Europe, while in the eastern part of Europe this process was delayed, people and cultures “moving” around the Carpathians and crossing it with a delay of ca. 1000 years. The causes of this delay are still unsolved, and in this context, the aim of this project is to investigate the environmental conditions and the possible constrains they have put on the spread of Neolithic populations across the Carpathian Mts. in the processes of neolithization in Central Europe. We will address this issue by providing a spatial reconstruction of climatic and environmental conditions during the neolithization of the Carpathians and use it in combination with absolutely dated Neolithic cultures in the greater Carpathian region to develop models for the neolithization, under a combination of environmental and cultural influences.

Millennial-scale geochemical records of anthropogenic impact and natural climate change in the Romanian Carpathians Call name: Exploratory Research Projects - PCE-2012 call
PN-II-ID-PCE-2012-4-0530 2013 - 2016

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: ACADEMIA ROMANA FILIALA CLUJ

Project partners: ACADEMIA ROMANA FILIALA CLUJ (RO)

Affiliation: ACADEMIA ROMANA FILIALA CLUJ (RO)

Project website: http://www.veres-speo.academia-cj.ro

Abstract:

We plan to investigate at high-resolution and multiproxy past environmental conditions and human impact focusing primarily on mining-pollution evidence in several key areas from the Romanian Carpathians, and at Holocene scale. The research aims will be addressed and validated through high-resolution elemental chemical and isotopic analyses in order to disentangle signatures related to natural cycling of elements over millennia, as well as anthropogenically-derived contributions through resource exploitation (land, forestry, ores), combustion, mining and smelting activities. To our knowledge, this project is one the first such interdisciplinary undertaking in Romanian research, and includes conjectural chemical, isotopic, chronological and paleoenvironmental investigations of peat profiles and lake sediments. The expected results, in conjunction with existing geological, archaeological and archaeometric evidence, shall provide a comprehensive assessment on the history of metal-use development in the Carpathian region, estimates of baseline conditions, as well as new palaeoclimatological data. The expected results will have a strong scientific and societal impact, as it would be for the first time that links/feedbacks between natural causes and human impact would be explored in such a way in Romanian palaeoenvironmental research.

FILE DESCRIPTION	DOCUMENT
List of research grants as project coordinator
List of research grants as partner team leader
List of research grants as project coordinator or partner team leader
Significant R&D projects for enterprises, as project manager
R&D activities in enterprises
Peer-review activity for international programs/projects