The project seeks to advance understanding of bio-economic structures, those structures whose organisation and activities rest on the economic exploitation of living material and related ecological structures. It does so by examining the historical processes involved in the evolution of three regional economies and the commodification of their agro-biological heritage, specifically as it relates to sheep and the production of woollen textiles. The comparative and trans-national focus allows for investigation of the diversity of local responses to the transformation of agro-biological products into commodities traded on a global scale. The extended chronological perspective allows the investigation of the relationship between the creation of bio-economic value and the passage of time. The results of such investigations will serve as the basis for critical reflection not just on the construction bio-economic structures, but also on the construction of socio-cultural structures more generally. As such, the project unfolds at the intersection of historical, philosophical and sociological modes of investigation.