Theme 4 Trajectory of Socio-Ecosystems in the long term

This theme aims to understand the relationships between past human activities and environmental transformations on the islands, shores and watersheds of the Brest harbour and Iroise Sea area. This ambition is driven by three main questions: (1) What roles have Holocene global forcings played in the evolution of the biosphere, geosphere and hydrosphere at the scale of the ZABrI? (2) What were the responses of the biophysical sphere to past "press and pulse" perturbations? How can we detect the imprint of coastal societies on their environment over time? (3) How can archaeological evidence be interpreted in relation to past environmental changes and crises, and vice versa?

The work of theme 4 is based on interdisciplinary federating projects that aim to better understand past interactions between coastal societies and their environment. They also aim to bring the results of this work to the attention of a wider audience through scientific mediation. Several theses on the evolution of paleo-environments, bio-geo-hydrosphere interactions and archaeological work are in progress, as well as interdisciplinary research work combining history, sedimentology, archaeology and paleoclimatology. Examples include:

• the interdisciplinary chair ArMeRIE (Maritime archaeology and interdisciplinary environmental research) set up in 2020 in the form of a partnership between UBO and Inrap;
• the emblematic and unifying project SEALEX (The Sea as a Long term socio-Ecological Experiment) funded by the EUR ISblue;
• the emblematic and unifying project PACTE (PAst to Current land-sea Continuum: socio-ecosystem Trajectories derived from a regional pilot site) funded by the EUR ISblue;
• the project Live along the coast, live with the sea in the past " funded by the European project SEA-EU search.