Microarchaeology

Although microarchaeological techniques are being increasingly applied to reconstructing humanenvironment dynamics within built environments from the Early Holocene onwards, its integration particularly in archaeological research programs based on historical periods, is far from systematic. The aim of this international conference is to bring together different perspectives derived from multi-proxy techniques applied to a varied range of archaeological contexts, from early built environments to complex urban societies in the Central-Western Mediterranean, but not limited to these. Further, it intends to (1) review current methodologies, recent applications, and advances in the study of the microarchaeological record; (2) to address the challenges of integrating highresolution approaches; (3) to evaluate the contribution of experimental and ethnoarchaeological comparative records; (4) to discuss the role of microarchaeological records in exploring major research questions; and (5) to suggest possible future perspectives and directions.

Coordination:
Marta Portillo (IMF-CSIC), Aroa García-Suárez (IMF-CSIC), Juan Francisco Gibaja (EEHAR-CSIC) & Antonio Pizzo (EEHAR-CSIC)

PROGRAMME

Thursday 26 May

Presentation
13.30-13.45. Antonio Pizzo (EEHAR-CSIC). Institutional welcome
13.45-14.00. Marta Portillo (IMF-CSIC), Aroa García-Suárez (IMF-CSIC), Juan Francisco Gibaja (EEHAR-CSIC).
Conference introduction

Session 1. Prehistory, ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology

14.00-14.30. Niccolò Mazzucco (Università di Pisa), Mario Mineo (Museo delle Civiltà), Daniele Arobba (Museo Archeologico del Finale, Istituto Internazionale di Studi Liguri), Rosanna Caramiello (Università di Torino), Laura Caruso (Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas, IPCSH-CONICET), Juan José Ibáñez (IMFCSIC), Lionello Morandi (Universität Tübingen), Millán Mozota (IMF-CSIC), Fiona Pichon (IMF-CSIC), Marta Portillo (IMF-CSIC), Maxime Rageot (University of Tübingen and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), Gerard Remolins (ReGiraRocs), Mauro Rottoli (ARCO Cooperativa di Ricerche Archeobiologiche), and Juan Francisco Gibaja (EEHAR-CSIC). A multi-proxy experimental and archaeological case study from Neolithic harvesting tools from the lakeshore village of La Marmotta, Italy [online]

14.30-15.00. Andrea Zupancich (IMF-CSIC), Emanuela Cristiani (Università La Sapienza di Roma), Juan José Ibáñez (IMF-CSIC), Avi Gopher (Tel Aviv University). Groundstone tools and dental calculus as means to investigate the use of wild plants in the Levant at the dawn of agriculture

15.00-15.30. Lionello Morandi (Universität Tübingen). Palaeoecological proxies for prehistoric pastoralism: experimental data and archaeological case studies from Liguria, NW Italy

15.30-16.00. Cristiano Nicosia (Università di Padova). Geoarchaeology in Bronze Age wetland contexts [online]

16.00-16.15. Discussion
16.15-16.30. Coffee break

16.30-17.00. Giulio Lucarini (National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Heritage Science, CNR-ISPC), Giuseppina Mutri (The Cyprus Institute), Anita Radini (The University of York). From environment to crafts: Highresolution interdisciplinary approaches to the study of prehistoric North African communities

17.00-17.30. Emanuela Cristiani (Università La Sapienza di Roma). On tartar and stones: cereal grain consumption and familiarity among mesolithic foragers of the Balkans

17.30-18.00. Alessandra Pecci (University of Barcelona). Combining chemical residue analyses as activity biomarkers: the archaeology of food production and consumption [online]

18.00-18.30. Aroa García-Suárez and Marta Portillo (IMF-CSIC). Bones, plants, and dirt: integrated geoarchaeological, archaeobotanical and ethnoarchaeological approaches to Neolithic open spaces

18.30-18.45. Discussion

Friday 27 May

Session 2. Classical and Medieval archaeology

09.30-10.00. Federica Sulas (University of Cambridge). Earthen houses in sub-Saharan Africa through soil micromorphology, geochemistry and phytoliths

10.00-10.30. Mario Gutiérrez-Rodríguez (University of Jaén). Geoarchaeology of urban transformation processes and waste management practices in Roman cities of Hispania and Mauretania Tingitana: integrating microarchaeological techniques in Classical Archaeology

10.30-10.45. Discussion
10.45-11.15. Coffee break

11.15-11.45. Yannick Devos and Luc Vrydaghs (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). Studying urban Dark Earth: recent examples from Belgium

11.45-12.15. Rowena Y. Banerjea (University of Reading), Jérôme Ros (CNRS, University of Montpellier), Nicolas Losilla (University of Granada), Alex Brown (Wessex Archaeology), Lionello Morandi (Universität Tübingen), Michelle Alexander (University of York ), Guillermo García-Contreras Ruiz (University of Granada), and Aleks Pluskowski (University of Reading). The Microarchaeology of Castlescapes

12.15-12.45. Welmoed Out (Moesgaard Museum), Federica Sulas (University of Cambridge and Aarhus University), Marta Portillo (IMF-CSIC), Renée Enevold (Moesgaard Museum), Loïc Harrault (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), Peter Mose Jensen (Moesgaard Museum), Søren Munch Kristiansen (Aarhus University), Karen Milek (Durham University), Peter Hambro Mikkelsen (Moesgaard Museum), Vana Orfanou (University College Dublin), Søren Michael Sindbæk (Aarhus University), and Merethe Schifter Bagge (Museum Skanderborg). Revealing the invisible dead: integrating bio-geoarchaeological approaches in an apparently ‘empty’ Viking-Age equestrian burial

12.45-13.00. Discussion
13.00-13.15. Conference closing