It's California Archaeology Month!

Ah October, the time of autumn leaves, Halloween and ... archaeology?? 

Yes that’s right it’s California Archaeology Month!

Sponsored by the Society for California Archaeology (SCA), this October various historical societies and state federal government agencies around California will celebrate Californian archaeologists and all things archaeology!

So what is California Archaeology Month?

Observed in October, to integrate with California’s school curriculum on Native American and California history, California Archaeology Month is dedicated to promoting the preservation of the country’s heritage.

Exhibitions and presentations will take place around the state in order to reach out to the public with information regarding the nature and sensitivity of cultural and heritage resources in California and their accomplishments and challenges.

It aims to show that archaeology is not only a way for people to learn about their place in history but can increase interest in education and environmental concerns.

Find out more about the Archaeology Month on the SCA web page

How can you get involved?

Each year, the SCA publishes an Archaeology Month Poster using contributions from state and federal agencies and member donations, and also makes available a comprehensive Archaeology Month Resources Guide. The posters are distributed to local, state, and federal agencies and private entities to help promote the preservation of California’s archaeological heritage. You can order the poster from their website.

Or why not make Archaeology Month a state-wide celebration by having an event or activity in your county that highlights the fascinating things we learn from archaeology?

You can find ideas or how to volunteer and participate here.

Not wanting to miss out on the celebrations, we’ve given you free access to Volume 4 issue 1 of California Archaeology which you can find here.

Happy California Archaeology Month from CUDI!

For peat's sake! Colossal peat bog discovered in Congo

The BBC reported today that a "colossal peat bog" the size of England has been discovered in a remote region of the Congo. The bog is thought to contain over a billion tonnes of peat and "scientists say investigating the carbon-rich material could shed light on 10,000 years of environmental change in this little-studied region".

Dr Simon Lewis, from the University of Leeds, said: "It's remarkable that there are parts of the planet that are still uncharted territory." He added: "Few people venture into these swamps as they are quite difficult places to move around in and work in."

Satellite images initially hinted at the presence of the enormous tropical peatland, but an expedition, starting from Itanga village in April, confirmed it was there. The discovery team, from the University of Leeds, the Wildlife Conservation Society-Congo and Congo-Brazzaville's Marien Ngouabi University, had to contend with dwarf crocodiles, gorillas and elephants as they explored the area. However they said the biggest challenge was soggy feet.

Now they've found all this peat, what do they do with it?

'An Experimental Approach to the Disaggregation of Samples from Peat Deposits', by Joanna Bending and published in Volume 10 (2005) of Environmental Archaeology, explores how the analysis of plant macrofossils from peat deposits is a common procedure, but little work has been undertaken to assess the chemical and mechanical methods of disaggregating samples mentioned by researchers in their methodologies. 

In the article experimental work was carried out on material from a peat monolith from the Faroe Islands to ascertain the effectiveness of processing using a sonic bath, sodium carbonate and potassium hydroxide for disaggregating the samples. The amount of damage caused to different modern plant parts was also assessed. The results indicate that sodium carbonate and potassium hydroxide are the most effective methods of disaggregation. Damage to plant parts was caused more quickly by potassium hydroxide than sodium carbonate.

Read the full article for free >

'Colossal peat bog discovered in Congo' >

Rudolph, how did you get your nose so bright? PhD opportunities in reindeer archaeology

So it's a tenuous link, but Christmas is just around the corner, I wanted to write a festive blog post and this is as close as I could get. 

Fully-Funded PhD Research Project (UK/EU students only) Department of Archaeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen

Title: Caribou and the precontact Yup'ik: the isotope ecology and biogeography of a key subsistence species

Supervisors: Dr. Kate Britton, Dr. Rick Knecht, Dr. Vaughan Grimes (external, MUN)

Application deadline: Friday 6th December 2013

Start date: Flexible, but should be between February 1st and August 1st 2014 (a later start date in Autumn 2014 may be negotiable)

Details: This studentship is part of a new, large international AHRC-funded research project at the University of Aberdeen, Department of Archaeology, led by Dr. Rick Knecht – Understanding Cultural Resilience and Climate Change on the Bering Sea through Yup'ik Ecological Knowledge, Lifeways, Learning and Archaeology (ELLA). Focusing on the precontact village site of Nunnalleq (AD 1350- 1700) in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta, this community-based archaeology project aims to use both the products and processes of archaeological research to understand how Yup'ik Eskimos in coastal Western Alaska adapted to rapid climate change in the late prehistoric past, in order to inform and empower descendant Yup'ik communities struggling with contemporary global warming. 

This PhD studentship will focus on the isotope ecology and biogeography of caribou in late Holocene Western Alaska, a key subsistence species for the precontact Yup’ik. Caribou continue to play an important role in the seasonal subsistence menu today, but recent climatic shifts have influenced the seasonality, distribution and migrations of herds, impacting subsistence activities. The impact of larger scale climatic change on this species, such as that experienced during the Little Ice Age (a pre-modern global temperature excursion event), is not known, but may provide vital clues about future variability. 

Through the sequential-sampling and subsequent strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of archaeological caribou teeth, this project will reconstruct migratory behaviour of this species in different phases of the Nunalleq site, mapping variations in the behaviour of this prey species during the Little Ice Age. Archaeological data will be compared to the behaviour of modern herds in the region, in order to establish any broad-scale diachronic trends, providing insights into the long-term effects climate change may have on caribou in the Y-K Delta. Data will be compared with isotope data from on-going palaeodietary studies and procurement technologies at the site, relating possible changes in the ecology of this species to subsistence choices and technology. The importance of caribou to modern and archaeological groups in the Y-K Delta will be explored, with reference to their subsistence, technological and ideological roles. 

Analytical work will take place in laboratories at the University of Aberdeen, and at Memorial University, Newfoundland. 

We are looking for talented and ambitious researchers in the relevant discipline.

Your qualifications should include: 
• an undergraduate degree in Archaeology (or related discipline) with first class honours or upper second class honours (or equivalent) 
• a master's degree in Archaeology (or related discipline) with an excellent academic record 
• excellent command of English and good academic writing skills 
• experience of archaeological laboratory work is essential, experience with stable isotope analysis, zooarchaeology, and/or Arctic archaeology is highly desirable 
• student must be prepared (and eligible) to travel to the USA and Canada, and is expected to participate in archaeological fieldwork in Alaska  

In addition to the online form, applications should include the following: 
1) A personal statement introducing yourself, describing your motivation to conduct the research, and placing your interests/experience within the context of the project and the range of work conducted by the Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, and the ELLA project. 
2) A full CV demonstrating academic excellence, including publications and presentations (if applicable)  

The third supervisor on this project is Dr. Vaughan Grimes (external advisor, Memorial University, Newfoundland)  

The start date for this project is flexible, but should be between February 1st and August 1st 2014 (a later start date in Autumn 2014 may be negotiable.

Funding notes:

Available to UK nationals who have been normally resident in the UK for the three years prior to nomination for funding. If a student is a national of a Member State of the EU other than the UK, they are eligible for a full studentship award if they can establish a relevant connection with the UK and Islands, i.e. if they have been ordinarily resident in the UK throughout the three year period immediately preceding the start of their course. EU students who cannot establish a relevant connection may be eligible for fees-only award. For full details please visit this website.

 

Application Procedure 

Formal applications can be completed online

You should apply for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Archaeology, to ensure that your application is passed to the correct College for processing. Please ensure that you quote the project title and supervisor on the application form. You should also indicate that you are self-funded.

Informal enquiries can be made to, Dr Kate Britton (k.britton@abdn.ac.uk) or Dr Rick Knecht (r.knecht@abdn.ac.uk), University of Aberdeen. All general enquiries should be directed to the Graduate School Admissions Unit (cpsgrad@abdn.ac.uk). 

Why did the chicken cross the road? Archaeologists are about to find out...

You may have noticed there's been a lot of news concerning chickens lately, and it's for a good reason. A new research project looking at the history of chickens is hoping to shed light on how the relationship between people and chickens has developed over the last 8,000 years. The project will see researchers dive into archaeological records to investigate the history of the world’s most widely established livestock species, which is descended from the wild jungle fowl of South-East Asia.

 

The project will also investigate the ancient and modern cultural significance of the birds in, for example, religious rituals and cockfighting. Research will include metrical and DNA analysis of modern and ancient chicken bones to trace the development of different breeds. The results of the research will form the basis of a series of exhibitions in museums and other venues throughout the UK making up ‘The Chicken Trail’ that will tell the story of the chicken’s domestication in Europe and there are also plans to display some of the research findings in butcher shops. The project, entitled “Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human-Chicken Interactions”, was made possible with the help of a £1.94 million grant from the AHRC under the Science In Culture Awards Large Grants call. The project will also involve collaboration with academic colleagues across Europe and with poultry breeders and other interested members of the public.

Researchers from Bournemouth University, as well as the Universities of Durham, Nottingham, Leicester, Roehampton and York, will be examining when and how rapidly domesticated chickens spread across Europe and the history of their exploitation for meat and eggs. Bournemouth University is also offering two fully-funded PhD studentships on the subject - 'The Ecology of Chickens Past and Present' and 'Chickens and Archaeological Material Culture'.

These studentships are two of nine that are associated with the Cultural and Scientific Perception of Human-Chicken Interactions Project. This project is largely funded by the AHRC Science in Culture Large Grants scheme but, in addition, seven PhD studentships have been fully funded by four of the six universities involved in the project.

For further details of the projects and how to apply visit the Bournemouth University Graduate School website.