Back to the past: when economics meets archaeology

If one had to summarize the research work carried out by the economist Federico Trionfetti and the archaeologist Rocco Rante, it would also be a story of encounters. An encounter between two scientific disciplines. On the one hand, archaeology, with its on-site excavations, its physical data, measurements of ancient cities and object discoveries. On the other, economics, with its models and its data processing. Then, the encounter with a place, the oasis of Bukhara, and two different eras: the past, made accessible by archaeology, and the present, through the analytical tools of of economics which give a new meaning to the archaeological finds. An encounter finally between two men, who with the coming together of different disciplines at a scientific conference started a dialogue between their fields to create something new.

Between sand and river

In the southwest of Uzbekistan, in the delta of the river Zerafšan, the oasis of Bukhara extends over 5,100 km², the equivalent of the department of the Bouches-du-Rhône. The conditions are favorable to life, and man has been settled there from the third century BC. But what is the interest of this oasis for scientists? For archaeologists, it is a treasure. The remains of human settlements make it possible to exhaustively reconstruct the cities, villages and sites occupied over vast periods of time. For economists, it is a source of numerous and original data.

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Dialogues économiques is a digital magazine published by the Aix-Marseille School of Economics (AMU, CNRS, EHESS, Centrale Méditerranée) A bridge between academic research and society, Dialogues économiques provides all citizens with the keys to economic reasoning. Articles are published every two weeks.