Launching FROM STONE TO HOME: A Five-Year ERC Project Begins

In September 2024, the ERC-funded project FROM STONE TO HOME officially began with its first workshop and start-up meeting at the National Museum in Copenhagen. This launch marked the beginning of a five-year interdisciplinary collaboration dedicated to exploring the biographies of polished stone tools and their role in shaping prehistoric societies across the Aegean.

The workshop brought together the full team of researchers for the first time. Archaeologists, geologists, and material scientists gathered to introduce their expertise, build connections, and begin exchanging ideas across disciplines. This gathering was more than a formal introduction—it served as a working session where participants aligned their research goals, shared perspectives, and laid the groundwork for an ambitious international collaboration.

Central to the discussions were the project’s core themes: sourcing jadeitite and nephrite, developing an open and transparent database, and addressing broader questions of value, wealth, and inequality in prehistoric communities. Participants debated how to define concepts such as “wealth” in archaeological terms, how to track the movement of rare raw materials, and how to integrate geological and archaeological data into a single research framework. These conversations emphasized the importance of collaboration not only across disciplines but also across regions, given the project’s scope covering Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, and beyond.

In addition to exploring theoretical and methodological issues, the meeting also set a clear path for the practical side of the project. Work packages were established, fieldwork campaigns were scheduled, and plans for geo-surveys and museum studies were outlined. Equally important was the decision to create a shared digital infrastructure, including regular online meetings, collaborative tools, and a project website, ensuring that the geographically dispersed team can stay connected throughout the project’s duration.

The launch event at the National Museum was more than just a starting point—it was the creation of a shared vision. By combining geological and archaeological surveys with advanced laboratory analyses, and theoretical reflection, FROM STONE TO HOME will investigate how polished stone tools reveal long-term patterns of resource use, value creation, and social inequality.

As the project moves forward, the momentum from this first workshop sets the stage for a sustained, collective effort. Over the next five years, FROM STONE TO HOME will provide new insights into how stone—sourced, worked, exchanged, and valued—shaped prehistoric communities from the Cyclades to Anatolia.