From CORDIS:

Objective: The project aims at understanding the environmental and social context in which the agriculture emerged and evolved, from the first settlements until modern times, based on historical sources and archaeological remains. This understandings essential for interpreting the ongoing dilemmas and conflicts, whether political, social, economic or cultural, that are shaping the contemporary developmental processes in the region. We will aim to integrate archaeological and environmental information into a diachronic approach based on the compilation and subsequent comparison of available data from two periods: beginning of agriculture and present time. The project will focus on the study of several archaeological sites in Turkey and Syria dated at the beginning of agriculture as well as the region surrounding these sites. All this information will be used to implemental Geographic Information System (GIS) database.