Workshop on the Analysis of Micro Particles in Archaeological Samples  

Congrès, colloques, réunions

 

6-8 décembre 2016
Leipzig

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

 

 

Proposé par le Max Planck Research Group on Plant Foods in Hominin Dietary Ecology

 

While microparticles are increasingly used to explore past environments and behavior, archaeological samples often include objects which remain unidentified, misidentified, or simply ignored. This workshop aims to bring together experts in the analysis of archaeologically relevant microremains such as pollen, phytoliths, starch grains, coccoliths, fibers, non-pollen palynomorphs, dung spherulites, parasite eggs, sponge spicules, insect parts, diatoms, and microcharcoal, to discuss the benefits of and challenges associated with studying these microparticles. In particular, we hope to create a network of researchers who can call upon each other's expertise to improve the accuracy of microparticle research.

 

Over the course of a 2.5 day workshop, we will have brief presentations from experts on the main forms of microparticles, covering how they form, how they are preserved or removed from the record, and sources of biases in their interpretation. We will also have microscope sessions where slides of each of these type of microparticle will be available for viewing, and short lab practical sessions to present some methods for isolating and processing these microremains. There will be poster sessions in which participants can present some applications of microparticle research to archaeological questions. We will have a question and answer session in which individuals can bring slides to share unknown or unrecognized objects to discuss with the group. Finally, we hope to turn the presentations and posters into an edited volume, as a handbook of microparticle research.

 

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