GRAM is made up of all the teaching and research staff of the Archaeology area of the Department of Prehistory, Archaeology and Ancient History. Its field of research is the Mediterranean with a special focus on the Valencian Country from the 1st millennium BC to the 7th century AD. The members of the group carry out teaching, research (field, laboratory and bibliographic sources), teaching and dissemination tasks in each of its specific lines (Phoenician-Punic archaeology, Iberian archaeology, numismatics and classical archaeology), collaborating with each other and establishing contacts and agreements with other institutions, foundations, companies dedicated to preventive archaeology and with research staff from other areas of knowledge at the University and other research centres.
The aim is to study the historical evolution of the protohistoric societies of the Mediterranean peninsular area until their integration into the Roman Empire, the dynamics of this, as well as their economic, ethnological and symbolic interrelationships. There is also a commitment to transfer the knowledge acquired to society through participation in conferences, exhibitions, open days and actions on archaeological heritage.
Art History Studies of the Contemporary World: Image and Representation; Space and Memory; Visibility and Modernity.
The first axis investigates aspects related to individual, collective and serial human representation, as well as the importance of artistic literature.
In the second, artistic circumstances are dealt with from a spatio-temporal perspective, the democratisation of public space, the construction of the modern city, the birth and influence of spaces of artistic and cultural sociability, as well as the foreign gaze of foreign travellers.
And finally, the last axis explores the role of art institutions, official guidelines, the relevance of the female presence in the fine arts, the discovery of artistic manifestations by the public, art as collective memory (collections and museums) and the art-science relationship.
The members of the Arsmaya Group (GIUV2013-094) have been carrying out uninterrupted fieldwork in the field of art, archaeology and cultural heritage, both in Spain and in America, since 2000. The team includes experts in art and archaeology as well as specialists in architecture, restoration, physico-chemical analysis of materials and development cooperation.
Research activities in Spain have been directed towards intervention projects in historic buildings, archaeological research in the surrounding areas and the study of exhumed materials (ceramics, glass, coins, bone remains, etc.), mainly through the Projects: Iglesia Colegiata Santa María de Gandía y Plaza del Fossar (GV 2000-2004) and Iglesia de San Martín Obispo y San Antonio Abad de Valencia (GV 2008-2009), as well as other heritage documentation actions through the use of new digital technologies (Iglesia Arciprestal and Acueducto de Morella). In the Americas, archaeological research has been carried out in the archaeological area of Petén, Guatemala, with the aim of investigating and highlighting the rich cultural heritage of the Mayan urban settlements in the Mopán river basin. The centres studied intensively have been La Blanca and Chilonché. These works have been developed through the Project La Blanca and its surroundings (Spanish Ministry of Culture and Palarq Foundation, 2004 to 2019). Another research activity of the Group is the study of Maya architecture through the analysis of the compositional criteria, formal solutions, architectural typologies, construction systems and materials used in the construction of the buildings, as well as the iconographic analysis of the artistic manifestations with which they were ornamented, including the art of graffiti.
These actions have been carried out uninterruptedly since 2005 through numerous R+D+i projects granted by different institutions: Ministry of Education, Generalitat Valenciana, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain. This line of research also includes that developed in recent years on the application of the gender perspective in the interpretation of the spaces and uses of the buildings investigated, through the project Women, Art and Antiquity. Breaking clichés. In the field of archaeometry, the Group is developing two projects: Archaeometry of colour in the Mayan area and Archaeometry of cosmetics and perfume in Mesoamerica. The first project involves the physico-chemical characterisation of the mural paintings from the different settlements investigated. The second project aims to learn about the substances used in the ancient cultures of Mesoamerica to prepare the body pigments and aromas used by the elite.
The Group has also carried out numerous actions of transfer to society, especially those developed within the La Blanca Project (creation of an Interpretation Centre, open-air musealisation of the archaeological site, training and capacity building of local inhabitants in various activities related to tourism, conservation of cultural heritage and empowerment of women), which were sponsored by different institutions: Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Universitat de València, Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, University of Granada, Prince Claus Fund, BALAM Association, Guatemalan Institute of Tourism. Thanks to the incorporation in this last decade of New Technologies applied to pre-Columbian cultural heritage, through the project for Research Groups of Excellence Prometeo-Mayatech (Generalitat Valenciana 2016-2019 and 2020-2023), numerous ideal 3D restitutions of the buildings and objects investigated have been generated, both of La Blanca and Chilonché and of other important Mayan World Heritage cities, such as Quirigúa and Tikal in Guatemala, or Uxmal in Mexico, thus achieving greater dissemination of the results of these investigations to the general public (http://mayatech.artemaya.es/).
The group's research activity focuses on the analysis of creative industries and cultural markets from a multidisciplinary and transversal perspective that combines theories, principles and tools from economics, sociology, management, marketing and finance. This approach addresses the main effects of technological change, both on supply and demand, in a scenario that has allowed the emergence of new cultural markets. Thus, digitalisation has meant a reduction in the fixed costs of production, distribution and promotion for industry, leading to innovations in processes or products and services. In reference to consumers, we find, among other things, a change in consumer habits, with the reduction of costs in the search for and discovery of new products and services, and the breaking down of barriers to participation.
Specifically, the aim is to analyse both qualitatively and quantitatively the impact that social changes (diversity and democratisation) and technological changes (acceleration of the digitalisation of content) have had on the different agents that intervene in the different cultural markets. In this sense, the scope of the study contemplates analysis both on a sectoral level (music, audiovisual, video games, performing and plastic arts) and from a more aggregated perspective.
The members of the group have extensive research experience in the field of economics and management of culture, creative industries and the arts. In this context, they have developed research focused on analysing the use of ICTs and cultural participation, the extension of audiences and the new business models that have emerged as a result of technological change. In addition, some members of the team are linked to different academic associations as members of their scientific committees: International Association of Arts and Cultural Management, AIMAC, Montreal; International Music Business Research Association, IMBRA, Vienna; Workshop on Cultural Economics and Management, WCEM, Seville. At the same time, they have actively participated in the transfer of research results through the signing of numerous agreements and contracts with entities linked to the creative, cultural and social sector. Finally, some of the members of this team belonged to a group already registered in the Office for the Transfer of Research Results (OTRI) of the Universitat de València.
