Theme:
2. Archaeological Sciences, Humanities and the Digital era: Bridging the Gaps
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Advanced Methodologies for Life History Reconstruction in Bioarchaeology
Content:
The growing use of advanced scientific techniques has been revolutionising the study of the past, offering nuanced interpretations that were previously unimaginable. Advanced analyses of human and faunal remains from archaeological or palaeontological horizons are nowadays a constant presence in bioarchaeological studies, providing a detailed reconstruction of individual life histories and biocultural adaptation strategies.
High-spatial resolution multi-isotope (such as 87Sr/86Sr, δ15N, δ13C, δ34S, δ18O) and multi- element (Sr, Ba, Zn, Mg, U, REE, etc.) analyses of human and faunal teeth and bones have become ever more common. Coupled with dental histomorphometry, palaeoproteomics and isoscapes, these methods have refined our understanding of people and animal diets, mobility, and nursing in the past, also allowing the quantification of the impact of diagenesis on the mineralized tissues. Furthermore, the use of laser-ablation mass spectrometry (LA-(MC)-ICP-MS) and multi-isotope analysis for detecting seasonal human and livestock mobility provides spatial-temporal patterns of behaviour with very high precision. These cutting-edge techniques interwoven with the archaeological record have dramatically improved our knowledge of the past. Nonetheless, our awareness of possible pitfalls within these methods is increasing. The proposed session offers the occasion to show diverse types of multidisciplinary projects, discussing outcomes and drawbacks, arising possible aspects that can be improved in the field. We welcome papers that provide the application of the previously mentioned advanced techniques in bioarchaeological studies from different archaeological areas and periods and particularly encourage papers that demonstrate the potential of maximising multi-factorial data even from a single sample.
Keywords:
multi-isotope analysis, isoscape, LA-(MC)-ICP-MS, palaeoproteomics, multi-trace element analysis, histomorphometry
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Alessia Nava (Italy) 1
Co-organisers:
Carmen Esposito (Italy) 2
Richard Madgwick (United Kingdom) 3
Federico Lugli (Germany) 4
Michael Buckley (United Kingdom) 5
Affiliations:
1. Department of Odontostomatological and Maxillofacial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
2. Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
3. School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
4. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Germany
5. Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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