tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19671801108127250832024-01-23T10:16:36.781+00:00Castles and CoprolitesAn archaeological science blog by Dr Lisa-Marie ShillitoUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger267125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-3766784009655856882023-09-11T14:42:00.002+01:002023-09-11T14:42:50.259+01:00Human-environment interactions in the Hadrian's Wall Landscape<p>You wait a whole year for a blog post, then two come along at once etc. Following the existential musings of the previous post, I figured I'd better post some fun geoarchaeological stuff. I have been working with a number of colleagues on various projects for the past couple of years, that are loosely related, and fall under the general banner of Human-environment interactions in the Hadrian's Wall Landscape. Regular blog readers will remember in 2021 I talked about the new <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2021/04/environmental-archaeology-at-birdoswald.html">excavations at Birdoswald</a>. These have been progressing nicely, and we have uncovered all sorts of amazing finds and environmental material.</p><p>I have also been working with Dr Eline Van Asperen, and Masters student Damian Rudge, looking at long term changes in the environment, and whether these relate to Roman or earlier activities such as lead mining. In 2022 we were awarded a small grant from the <a href="https://www.royalarchinst.org/">Royal Archaeological Institute</a> to collect some peat cores with the aid of local volunteer groups. Eline analysed these for pollen, and Damian analysed them using pXRF (supported by ICP analysis with Dr Simon Chenery at the BGS). The pollen analysis is used to understand how vegetation has changed over time, and the pXRF and ICP provide information on the geochemical signals in the peat, which can relate to environmental change and human activity. Togther the team has produced some very interesting results on the nature and timing of landscape change, though we need a bit more data to assess the extent of these changes, and for it to be ready for publication. </p><p>At Birdoswald, we have been working over the past two years with wood charcoal specialist Dr Dana Challinor, who has been looking at the extensive charcoal deposits we have recovered from the site. Again, some exciting preliminary results, with a very interesting range of species being exploited for fuel. Some of the same species can be seen in the thin section micromorphology samples, which I have been working on. Most exciting, is that in thin section we can see not only the excellent preservation of wood charcoal, but some thick ashy deposits which are full of phytoliths!</p><p>Phytolith researchers will know that phytoliths have not been extensively studied in British contexts. There are lots of challenges, largely that the types of deposits which produce good phytolith assemblages are not often present, but also there is a lack of good reference collections. The deposits at Birdoswald are therefore very important, not just for telling us aobut plant use at the site, but for showing that phytoliths do preserve in large quantities on British sites, and it is worth sampling for these.</p><p>On the basis of these pilot studies, we have just been awarded a further small grant from the British Academy/Leverhulme, to enable us to a) complete the analysis of the Birdoswald charcoal assemblages, and b) carry out further coring work to get a better idea of the variability of landscape change, and for further radiocarbon dating so we can construct a more detailed chronology. Watch this space!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqT9_tEc0NWbrT2P7PA_IR02iOFtzNZOynCXdK8rBvcZ-eTnoWBWmSWIOz0l0JVMLnJzGUqb8fzC2FJn5c5ghHkbZ2mvCpbh_yl_pWQUPI5-4vDz5tvnY6Rn1WifKhqes-aygLLhEs6kYBWM5K4vlUgQ0Bbz70CW7-TQpY4N_X_aNWgop9YmZr0z-6Eyz/s1479/combo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1479" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqT9_tEc0NWbrT2P7PA_IR02iOFtzNZOynCXdK8rBvcZ-eTnoWBWmSWIOz0l0JVMLnJzGUqb8fzC2FJn5c5ghHkbZ2mvCpbh_yl_pWQUPI5-4vDz5tvnY6Rn1WifKhqes-aygLLhEs6kYBWM5K4vlUgQ0Bbz70CW7-TQpY4N_X_aNWgop9YmZr0z-6Eyz/w640-h486/combo1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>A. shows a fragment of wood charcoal, B,C,D show various phyotliths embedded in an ashy phosphatic matrix</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-41089979163802166352023-09-11T11:54:00.003+01:002023-09-11T11:54:51.877+01:00Where did you go Castles and Coprolites!<p>And we're nearing the end of 2023. After a few years of sporadic infrequent posting, I've accepted the fact this will never be the weekly blog that it started out as, all the way back in 2012. My life is almost unrecognisable now compared to when I first started this blog. I was halfway through my first postdoc at York, had no family responsibilities, and publishing my PhD research was going really well. On the surface, an up and coming ECR with a bright future. It took another four years of postdocs before <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2015/08/there-and-back-again.html">finally getting a permanent academic job in 2015</a>, literally at the point when I'd decided to leave academia (<a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2015/05/onwards-and-upwards.html">and in fact had been in a non-academic job for 6 months</a>). Since getting married and having a baby, the uncertainty of temporary contracts and having to move around so much was no longer viable. I am not sure how things would have turned out had I not landed my current job. I was happy to have some stability, but the loss of identity as an academic during those six months was harder than I imagined.</p><p>It was an unimaginably good stroke of luck against all the odds, getting my dream job at my home university, in a great department with friendly colleagues. And things have continued to go well in terms of my career. I <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2016/08/bristol-visit.html">secured a NERC grant within my first year</a> which really accelerated my research and helped me build the labs and a team. Things were going well in terms of my career, me and my team published some really exciting and important research, I got another grant and continued to build the labs and archaeological science at Newcastle. <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2018/08/two-tales-of-being-pregnantinthefield.html">I had a second child</a> (and proper maternity leave this time, thanks to having a permanent job). </p><p>Again, on the surface all seemingly very successful, but behind the scenes my physical and mental health were getting increasingly worse. Chronic fatigue, migraines, frequent fainting and dizziness. At first I assumed it must be related to pregnancy and being exhausted with an infant, but I realised I'd been having these symptoms intermittently for most of my adult life, and actually pregnancy just meant it was more noticeable and frequent. I ended up having all sorts of tests which didn't come up with answers, just that I was prone to a rare type of migraine, and probably POTS (postural orthostatic tacychardia syndrome).</p><p>I always knew I was considered a little odd or quirky, that I never quite fit in. But academia was full of odd and quirky people, so I didn't think too much of it. I occasionally lamented that I wasn't better at socialising and networking at conferences. But I didn't feel like it held me back - what I lacked in face to face networking skills, I more than made up for in other ways. Connections took longer to build and were perhaps fewer, but were long running and deep (shout out to my lovely collaborators, you know who you are!).</p><p>Then the pandemic hit, and everything was upended. The pandemic completely shook up my life (as it did for many). The carefully crafted routines and structures I had built up in my life disappeared almost overnight. I rose to the challenge of switching to online teaching, spent hours crafting online materials and recorded lectures. Rather than research I spent time on 'research damage control' and keeping the labs running (the labs were closed for users, but still needed a lot of attention to monitor equipment, flush sinks etc). But my health conditions took a total nosedive to the point where I could barely function. Everything that had previously been difficult but 'doable' now became totally impossible, and my life became overshadowed by constant fatigue and anxiety. Somehow during this period of chaos I managed to write a <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2021/03/newcastle-material-culture-analytical.html">successful AHRC grant</a> and get promoted to Professor.</p><p>It was during this time that a family member suggested I looked into autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Like many people I wasn't really familiar with the condition, aside from the stereotypes. But the more I researched, the more I recognised myself in the descriptions. I went through the assessment process and was diagnosed in 2021, around the same time I was promoted, and not long after my <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2022/09/archaeology-of-death-grief-and.html">dad passed away</a>. Those months of my life were really surreal. Yet again I started to question my entire identity, and withdrew from a lot of personal and professional committments. It is only now, that I have started to feel comfortable, and am starting to readjust my life and formalise accommodations both at work and at home, that my health has started to improve.</p><p>I have so many more thoughts on this, but will leave it there for now. I am aware that in many ways, I am extremely lucky to have gone through all of this with the security of a permanent job, and the support of a local family network, and a supportive workplace. I'd be keen to hear from any other ASD academics about their experiences, positive and negative.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-70572379569293032172022-09-02T09:00:00.001+01:002022-09-02T09:00:00.191+01:00Thoughts on disgruntled authors and anonymous peer review<p>I recently completed my last ever volume of the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/raij20">Archaeological Journal </a>as editor, Volume 179 for 2022. When <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-archaeological-journal.html">I first took on this role around 5 years ago</a> I had grand plans to blog frequently about the editorial process and provide hopefully useful reflections on papers etc, but that went totally out the window as my job and family life became ever busier, and the editorial work itself took up a substantial amount of time (more perhaps than I realised when I took it on!). Overall I have really enjoyed the experience, and working with the <a href="https://www.royalarchinst.org/">Royal Archaeological Institute</a> more broadly, but there have been moments when it has been rather stressful. There is a long standing joke amongst academics about the dreaded 'reviewer 2', but perhaps less well known is the 'disgruntled author' who does not agree with the editor's decision! I am lucky that this has never happened often, and in most cases it is a curt email following a reject and resubmit recommendation, but it can be rather disconcerting to be on the receiving end of these sorts of emails. I thought it would be worth reflecting on my experiences here in case anyone finds themselves in a similar situation, or indeed if anyone is thinking of taking on an editor role, some things to do to protect yourself before any problems arise.</p><p>I think authors don't always realise that having a paper accepted is not only about passing peer review. There are a myriad of other considerations that the editor has to make, especially in this case when it is a society journal with a specific readership and goals. Is there a good balance between time periods and topics? Will the readership want to read a paper on this topic? Have I exceeded the page budget for the volume? Will the author get the revisions done in time to meet the publisher deadline for print? Now that papers are published online papers can sit and 'wait' online before being assigned to an issue, which makes it much easier to still accept papers if there is no space in the current volume, or if revisions are late. But then there is also the editor's time (don't forget that academic editors are doing this work voluntarily, on top of full time jobs as academics). Papers that have potential but require a lot of editorial work may just not be feasible if the editor is particularly busy at that time. Other times they may be less busy and willing/able to dedicate more time to your paper. Basically, it's not always all about you, and a rejection doesn’t necessarily mean your paper has no merit. </p><p>One response to a rejection I received was particularly memorable. I received a long and aggressive email threatening legal action if the paper wasn’t published, complete with solicitor's letter. At this point any merit the paper may have had was irrelevant, there was no way I could change a legitimate editorial decision because of legal threats; this would completely undermine any credibility in the journal or myself as an editor. The situation was perhaps slightly complex in that the authors had been told they could submit a response paper, but the reviewers raised some serious concerns about the content and language which would have entailed a complete rewrite, which wasn't feasible for the journal timeframe. The authors suggested that because they had been ‘invited’ they had taken this to mean their paper would definitely be published. But this is not the case – even invited papers have to go through the same peer review process as other types of papers. After a lot of back and forth (and thankfully, support from the publisher), it was finally acknowledged that the editorial decision was valid and would be upheld, and that was that. </p><p>I had never imagined that academic publishing could get so aggressive (and I have had plenty of 'reviewer 2' experiences as an author!). The whole thing had quite a negative effect on my mental health, and has made me reflect on how much labour goes into the voluntary editor role, and whether individual academics are fully prepared for this type of scenario. Indeed, I drafted this blog post over six months ago but couldn't quite click the publish button while the stress was still fresh in my mind.</p><p>My takeaways from this experience, which may be useful to new editors, or those maybe guest editing a special issue of a journal or similar:</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Always use the editorial manager system to communicate with authors and reviewers, not email. Using the editorial manager provides an auditable electronic paper trail that is completely transparent. In my case the review process was handled via the editorial manager, but there was substantial communication with the authors via email, which meant I had to spend a huge amount of time collating these emails to explain the situation to the publisher. This is a shame as I used to email directly to build rapport with authors during the revision process, but would now advise against this.</li><li>Make sure you know your publisher's policies for inviting papers, and dealing with complaints. Make sure authors know that an invitation to submit a paper or response is not a guarantee of acceptance, and that any such papers are subject to the same review process as non-solicited papers. Point authors to these policies as part of any invitations to submit or call for papers. </li><li>Make sure you know the staff at the publisher that are responsible for your journal and build a good relationship with them from the beginning. They can help you if the need arises, and have a lot of experience with the legal aspects of academic publishing.</li><li>Even small journals should have an editorial committee who can help the editor with any difficult situations, if in doubt discuss things with them. If your journal doesn't have one, take the lead and get one set up, and ensure a good spread of expertise and career stage.</li><li>Avoid getting involved in any social media arguments about your journal. As an editor you have a duty to keep submissions confidential and to protect the anonymity of your reviewers (my journal is double blind reviewing). Explaining editorial decisions on a public forum could breach this confidentiality.</li></ul><p></p><p>This final point is an interesting one with regards to anonymous peer review. It would have been useful if all the reviews were public. That being said, I doubt all of the reviewers would have agreed to having their names made public. In an ideal world I'm all for signing reviews, but given the unpredictability of author responses, I'm now leaning more towards anonymity. If authors can threaten editors with legal action, this could also happen to reviewers. I'd be interested to hear other thoughts on this?</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-76571010129743540262022-09-01T12:26:00.000+01:002022-09-01T12:26:47.556+01:00Archaeology of death, grief and remembering <p>It’s not an exaggeration to say that 2021 and 2022, have been the most difficult period of my life. In addition to all the general crap from the pandemic, I have lost four people who meant a lot to me. Earlier in 2021, Great Grandma Ann passed away at the age of 99. She was my great grandmother in law, but I’d always felt a connection to her since we first met eight years ago. She was a remarkable women with a fascinating life story, not mine to share here. But I admired her, and found her easy to talk to, which is a rare thing for me. Her passing was sad, but she was ready to go. I just wish we’d been able to travel and see her one last time. In September 2021 my dad died, at the age of 69. He wasn’t ready, and neither were we. My dad’s story was that of a working class lad from the north east. He lived and died where he was born, a life that to many might seem unnoteworthy but the epitome of life of his class and generation, the last years of the shipyards, with many funny stories as well as those of hardship. Stories like his are the real stories of the north east. A few years ago I considered trying to do an oral history interview with him, but he laughed and thought the idea was hilarious. He never understood much about what I did as an academic, but he was so proud of my success, and told all his mates I was a professor (he obviously had more faith in me than I did, as I actually did get promoted in March). </p><p>In January my dad’s brother, uncle Rob, died from covid. The last time I talked to him was at dad’s funeral. They were best friends as well as brothers. Just a few days after his funeral, I found out a close friend of mine died from breast cancer. She was only 36, and left behind two lovely children, similar ages to my own. This year I turned 40. I know that death becomes more common as we get older, but this is the first time in my life I have experienced death of people very close to me. Aside from Grandma Ann, they were all too soon. I wish they’d had more time. Grief is a strange emotion that is impossible to really understand until you experience it. </p><p>This isn’t a blog where I typically just talk about personal stuff. I don’t post about things unless there is some reflection of relevance to archaeology, but of course everything in our personal lives has some sort of impact on how we view the world as archaeologists, and how we interpret the lives of people in the past. In this case, I have been thinking a lot about the archaeology of death and burial, and the idea of experiential research and reflexivity. The process of choosing a headstone memorial for my dad was a strange one. It’s strange for anyone I guess, but I couldn’t help myself thinking about the links with archaeology, and how the way the dead are represented really is a reflection of those left behind, rather than those that died. I had a random conversation with the stonemason about the type of stone, which is called granite in the catalogue but in fact is another type of dark fine grained igneous rock, but they use the word granite as most people know what that is. It felt so similar to musings as a geoarchaeologist about the types of stone that were used to mark prehistoric tombs. My dad always insisted he didn't want flowers (waste of money he said, they just die!), and yet it felt wrong to not put a few flowers on and make it look nice, and gives a reason to visit frequently and keep it tidy (we've now switched to some nice looking fake flowers, I hope my dad would see this as a compromise). </p><p>A<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04241-4"> colleague of mine recently published a fascinating study on a Neolithic tomb</a> burial at Hazleton North UK, with some really interesting patterns in genetic relatedness, and I have spent a lot of time wondering about the people buried there, why particular individuals were included and others not. I don’t think I will look at tombs in the same way again. They are about memory, wanting to preserve the memory of those that meant something to you, having a place to go and evoke memories. This is something that I thought I understood before, but it was an example of understanding something in the abstract. I understand better now why people get so emotional about the dead, and why having a memorial helps focus thoughts, creating a place for remembering, and why that is important. On the one hand Neolithic burial practices seem very strange and different, but essentially they are not so different to what we do today. At Catalhoyuk, Turkey, the dead were buried under the floors of houses, skulls were curated and redeposited, not so different to the practice of keeping cremated ashes at home. And what is Hazleton chambered tomb if not a large stone memorial, similar to the headstones that are common today? </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-57042179254318959792021-07-07T16:18:00.001+01:002021-07-07T16:18:13.805+01:00First week at Birdoswald<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s Day 7 at <a href="https://birdoswaldproject.com/">Birdoswald excavations</a> for me! I was supposed
to be here earlier but ended up having to self-isolate as my daughter’s nursery
bubble had a positive covid case. How funny that has become such a standard
part of life. It was a little frustrating watching all the news and photos from
the dig being posted online whilst being stuck at home, but I am so happy to
have finally got here! I am especially grateful to the wonderful B&B where
I am staying, <a href="https://www.bushnook.co.uk/">Bush Nook</a>, who very kindly let me alter my dates at the last
minute and have been wonderful hosts. Fancy bacon sarnies and coffee for
breakfast, and a nice hot power shower – what more could an archaeologist want
from fieldwork accommodation?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcT9A3aVOdj2cBwsXlZ5ufx3bh_hlHnUinIeywuU_48zx9McxO-XAWkHZ_3cCCg9LCI1P2gFoBlYPjoKVnIDZfaJBaA8KasqoYNXy52u400X1aFs5LtW6grkkhcJLSjZ-6M50fyw5wKuXN/s2016/IMG_0667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcT9A3aVOdj2cBwsXlZ5ufx3bh_hlHnUinIeywuU_48zx9McxO-XAWkHZ_3cCCg9LCI1P2gFoBlYPjoKVnIDZfaJBaA8KasqoYNXy52u400X1aFs5LtW6grkkhcJLSjZ-6M50fyw5wKuXN/w240-h320/IMG_0667.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was perhaps a little ambitious in my plans to cycle to
site every day. Although it is only 2 miles away, the route it turns out has
two rather steep sets of stairs and hill, so I abandoned the bike and took to a
leisurely stroll each morning. It is absolute bliss after being stuck working
at home for over a year, and each morning I have felt so lucky to be commuting
along Hadrian’s Wall to get to work. Some of the things we have found so far include
two portable alters (one of our students was on the news talking about these!),
loads and loads of pottery of all different shapes and sizes – I knew very
little about Roman pottery but am learning every day. It is fascinating that we
have so many different types, coming to the northern frontier from all over the
Roman Empire. I particularly like the mortaria, vessels that were used in food
preparation, and of course the famous fine Samian Ware with its intricate
decorations. One particularly exciting bit of Samian pottery recovered a few
days ago is a lions head with a hole in the mouth, which would have been a
pouring spout on a Samian dish. Similar examples have been found elsewhere, where the lion head is still attached to the dish.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And of course the most exciting thing of all has been the
environmental samples! Newcastle PhD student <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hca/research/archaeology/students/current-students/phyllida-bailey/">Phyllida Bailey</a> has been doing an
amazing job overseeing the flotation tank, and we are now getting into a good rhythm
of sample processing. The flotation tank, for readers who are not familiar, is
basically a large barrel of water attached to a water pump. The pump pushes the
water to the top of the barrel, where we have a large piece of fine mesh
fabric. We put our soil sample in here, with the aim being to dissolve all of
the soil – the light material such as charcoal will then float on the water
(hence ‘flotation’), and any heavier material such as pebbles or sand will sink
to the bottom. The lighter material then<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>flows into a second sieve with a very fine mesh, that catches all of the
charcoal. What we end up with are two samples – the light faction and heavy
fraction. After all of the soil is removed, we then dry these samples and work
out what everything is back in the lab. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For the past couple of days we’ve been working through an
incredibly rich sample from a burnt deposit in the suspected bath house area,
that may be related to the fuel used for heating water. There is so much charcoal
in this sample that we’ve had to run them through the flotation tank multiple
times to separate all the charcoal. We can already see lots of large pieces of wood
charcoal, twigs and some bits of bone. Watch this space for more updates from the laboratory!</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBKNw4LMFqGi_BroF9B7IJYHQlGCO7LSlbgVyXkQ_2-_qrmlKDwK42xlamtY_pITjBVi1ItekfrUtWycgajQPGNFEgR_NHiaBrZUYQDDiGWxN1qh2FyZyFgBVkMs3PD1XLuUk5AYJA_Tq_/s2000/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="2000" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBKNw4LMFqGi_BroF9B7IJYHQlGCO7LSlbgVyXkQ_2-_qrmlKDwK42xlamtY_pITjBVi1ItekfrUtWycgajQPGNFEgR_NHiaBrZUYQDDiGWxN1qh2FyZyFgBVkMs3PD1XLuUk5AYJA_Tq_/w640-h210/Picture1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-4278344234628168862021-06-14T22:43:00.000+01:002021-06-14T22:43:05.318+01:00First Day at the new Birdoswald Excavations<p>Today was my first day on site at Birdoswald, a Roman fort and <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/birdoswald-roman-fort-hadrians-wall/excavations-at-birdoswald-roman-fort/">English Heritage site on Hadrian's Wall, where Newcastle University and Historic England are conducting a new excavation project </a>that will run for the next few years. It feels like forever since I have been out on an excavation. </p><p>(Side note - in fact, this is the second time I've been out 'in the field' this year. The first was a site walkover at <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1010991">Carvoran</a> just down the road from Birdoswald. I somehow have found myself involved in all these amazing sites along Hadrian's Wall...)</p><p>Today reminded me of all the reasons why I became an archaeologist. The excitement of travelling somewhere new. Funnily, this is actually the closest excavation to home I have ever been involved in, but waiting at the train station and the journey to site had that same feeling of anticipation I have experienced working half way across the world. Watching through the window, clutching a takeaway coffee that provides the familiarity of habit as well as a morning injection of caffeine, seeing the landscape change as we wind our way through rural Northumberland. Disembarking onto a platform without a single soul in sight, and waiting 20 minutes for a bus that runs but three times a day, only slightly nervous about whether it will show up on time (or at all). I was the only person on the bus for the whole journey, which I am glad about. It was a rather small bus, and I am still not overly keen on the idea of crowded public transport after a year of avoiding it completely during the pandemic. And finally, we're here. I spot the familiar branding of English Heritage, that once upon a childhood our family could rarely afford, and now here I am, with the privilege of being able to work at one of their amazing sites.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlmlPoFERTd7tWAXRlH27MIOdETNkYbPm0YiOk0fkUNFrJgbUJi1yu8FjHEmZ21BvkXfUaSIm-a2Ts45pa7k82UO67QfWi38XEcAy8_V6cHOqzRU3BpkGttVBppm1ynHZpacEYkeiBNGz/s2048/E31n7piWYAAo0Vz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlmlPoFERTd7tWAXRlH27MIOdETNkYbPm0YiOk0fkUNFrJgbUJi1yu8FjHEmZ21BvkXfUaSIm-a2Ts45pa7k82UO67QfWi38XEcAy8_V6cHOqzRU3BpkGttVBppm1ynHZpacEYkeiBNGz/w300-h400/E31n7piWYAAo0Vz.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>Today was just a drop in for me to get a sense of the set up and planning. I will be on site full time from next week, and cannot wait to see what we find. It is the first excavation I've been involved in where I have had complete oversight of the environmental work. More often than not I spend most of my time collecting soil micromorphology and other highly specialised samples. This time, I get to do the lot, including running a full size flotation tank with a motorised pump. For those not familiar, stay tuned for a video, coming soon!<p></p><p>It is a big responsibility, but I am confident our team will do a great job. We have had specialist advice from Don O'Meara, Historic England's Science Advisor for the North East, and Newcastle technicians Eline Van Asperen and Diana Blumberg will be here all summer keeping an eye on things. Eline specialises in pollen and animal bones, and Diana has substantial experience as a finds supervisor on excavation projects in Pompeii and Portus in Italy. We are also very lucky to have a number of great postgrad students joining us who are working on Roman archaeology for Masters and PhD projects. </p><p>This is the first year I have felt like I fully deserve such a position of authority. Not so much because of imposter syndrome (though I did have a bit of that when I was a student, I got over it many years ago), but I am at that point now where not only do I know what I am talking about, it comes quickly and naturally without hesitation. Even though this is my first Roman excavation, I know the process of archaeology, the complexities of formation processes and environmental work, and perhaps most importantly, I am not afraid to ask questions. This is why being an environmental archaeologist is the best! I get to look at big themes about people and the environment, about food resources and procurement, about environmental impact and management, and see how this varied across space and time. How many other archaeologists can work on sites as diverse as <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2017/05/paisley-caves-notes-from-field-part-1.html">Paisley Caves in Oregon</a>, <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2017/07/25-years-of-catalhoyuk.html">Çatalhöyük in Turkey</a>, <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2012/01/feeding-stonehenge-food-residues-in.html">Stonehenge</a>, to <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2014/08/geoarchaeology-at-crusader-castle-of.html">Margat Castle of the Knights Hospitaller in Syria</a>! </p><p>Working on the archaeology of the Roman Empire is a real challenge. There is such a complexity and depth of information that I could never hope to make sense of the environmental data without close collaboration with my colleagues. Project directors Ian Haynes and Tony Wilmott are leading experts in Roman archaeology and Hadrian's Wall. I look forward to learning from them and making my own small contribution over the next few years!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-43717949007644482522021-04-19T11:46:00.000+01:002021-04-19T11:46:25.889+01:00Environmental Archaeology at Birdoswald Roman Fort<p>Some very exciting news, I'll be overseeing the environmental work for a new 5 year excavation project at <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/birdoswald-roman-fort-hadrians-wall/">Birdoswald Roman Fort</a>, a collaboration between Newcastle University and Historic England, co-directed by <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/research/methods/archaeology/excavation/">Tony Wilmott</a> and <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hca/people/profile/ianhaynes.html">Prof. Ian Haynes</a>. Birdoswald is a Roman Fort on Hadrian's Wall, and sits on the longest remaining section of the Wall that is still standing. There's loads of great information on the history of the site on the <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/birdoswald-roman-fort-hadrians-wall/history-and-stories/history/">English Heritage website here</a>.</p><p>The excavations will be used as a field school to train Newcastle University archaeology students, as well as being a research project. The environmental work will largely follow the <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/technical-advice/archaeological-science/environmental-archaeology/">Historic England guidelines which can be found here</a>. I will be overseeing the running of the flotation tank, with a team of postgraduate students and our technicians, and also advising on any additional soil sampling for geochemistry, micromorphology etc as the excavations progress. We are lucky enough to have access to a large mechanical flotation tank, rather than the DIY bucket and hose set up. This is a large tank with a water pump, and a series of sieves of different sizes. Buckets of soil are processed through the tank - as the soil becomes disaggregated in the water, 'heavy residue' sinks to the bottom, and charred botanical and other light remains will float to the top, hence the name 'flotation'. This material passes over the sieves, which catch the different bits. So larger grains and charcoal will stay in the top sieve, and the lower sieves with finer mesh will catch smaller seeds and fragments of plants. This residue is then dried, and examined under the microscope. </p><p>We will also be taking one of our portable microscopes and setting up a 'field lab', so we can do the whole process on site at the same time the excavations are happening. The site is managed by English Heritage and open to the public so I imagine we will end up getting lots of visitors! My own family are already very excited that they get to come and see me as a scientist in action. </p><p>I've spent most of my career working on archaeological sites round the world, very far from home (the closest to home I have worked is in Orkney at the Ness of Brodgar). So it is really exciting to me that I now have this opportunity to work on a fantastic site that's just an hour away from where I live. Despite the fact I've never worked on the Roman period before, it has always held a special interest for me, long before I became professionally involved in archaeology. It is so visible in the heritage of the north-east. Just down the road is Segedunum Roan fort, aka Wallsend where I grew up, literally a 10 minute walk from my house!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ry_WflW6BX08qnW8zRLxI6ByPTt7enMLqX_fbqfvb4pGbJiUIShPczB35PGbOuBf4Uwz58VCxoTD_xerASy8iF0WIcxGoL-dMgs7vQqJdIF8lP69H_tzi76cKNgaKIIUDFmSfPqddFUf/s640/birdoswald-aerial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ry_WflW6BX08qnW8zRLxI6ByPTt7enMLqX_fbqfvb4pGbJiUIShPczB35PGbOuBf4Uwz58VCxoTD_xerASy8iF0WIcxGoL-dMgs7vQqJdIF8lP69H_tzi76cKNgaKIIUDFmSfPqddFUf/w640-h640/birdoswald-aerial.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-60413675357370472382021-04-18T09:40:00.001+01:002021-04-18T09:40:38.426+01:00Managing a lab - planning for future expansion and equipment purchases<p><a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2021/03/newcastle-material-culture-analytical.html">In my previous post</a> I talked all about the exciting new kit we have purchased as part of an AHRC CapCo grant. The whole process has been quite a steep learning curve for me, and I am incredibly grateful to the research, finance and procurement teams at Newcastle who all helped to make this happen. I thought it might be useful to share some hints and tips here for anyone considering applying for a capital grant, or with any responsibility for building lab facilities.</p><p><b>The first point to make, is planning.</b> It was only possible to complete the project in the AHRC's short timeframe (2020 <a href="https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/ahrc-capability-for-collections-fund/">call opened 2 September, closed 13 October</a>) because we already had a good idea of what kit we wanted and had detailed future plans for lab development. This has largely related to REF planning, but also is an item on our lab agenda that we update fairly frequently. It is really helpful to have some ballpark figures to hand to plan how much you could reasonably include in a grant. A lot of the time you have to talk to a sales rep to get a ££ ballpark figure, which can seem a bit tedious when you just want some numbers to work with, but it's actually really useful to make contact with your regional sales reps and establish a good relationship with them (keep a record of who they are, and their emails).</p><p><b>Second point is Estates. </b>This is the largest variable in my experience, and can spiral quite quickly. At the very least you will need the benching and electrical requirements for new kit, and the computers to run them. Do you have space for new kit? If not, be aware that getting a new room on a university campus can take a long time. We were able to identify a room very quickly as we had already been involved in a refurbishment process 2 years earlier, so I knew what options were available. But it still took a while to get permission to transfer 'ownership' of the room from from School to another. I had to provide a business case, with costings, to the School executive board, and that then had to be approved by the Faculty Estates Planning Manager. This could easily be the sticking point in any project. Have these conversations at least one year before applying for a grant, make sure you know what space is available, and that the university would be willing in principle for you to have the space. </p><p>Know what state the room is in, and what estates work needs to be done for it to be useable. Get plans of the space you will be using, check room dimensions, location and quantity of power sockets. Will you need access to a gas supply, ducted ventilation, and are these possible? Our lab is in a listed building and getting ducted fume hoods is impossible without planning permission, and that was just not possible for us. How accessible is the room? Is there a lift nearby where large items can be delivered? How sensitive is the equipment you will be buying? Some equipment such as SEM is really sensitive and often needs to be installed on a ground floor. Does the equipment plug in or does it need hard wiring? Keep a spreadsheet with all this info. Add a large contingency to your estates budget. One hilarious example is our microCT scanner. Careful consideration of equipment dimensions showed it would fit in the room, however we later realised that the crate it is delivered in is massive and had to factor in widening the door frame so it would fit! Sometimes it may be possible to de-crate and move kit into the room, but in this case the kit is 450kg and the corridor leading to the lab not wide enough to do this sort of manoeuvring. Widening the door frame meant moving an electrical socket out of the way...you can see how this can start adding up!</p><p><b>Third point, Procurement.</b> I have been involved in lots of projects where we have sourced and purchased lab equipment, but generally this has been <£25k at a time. As soon as you start acquiring items with a greater value than this, the process get much more complicated and time consuming, and it is extremely important that you factor the correct procurement process into planning (this is a legal requirement, not just a university rule). The chart below is a useful summary. For very high value items greater than £164k, the tendering process can take quite a long time. This timeframe can be reduced if you are part of a purchasing framework, but do you know what frameworks your university is part of? Make a 'kit wishlist' in different price brackets and know what the process is for buying it.</p><p>Which supplier? You may know what company you want to buy from, but it is not always that simple. In our case, going through the procurement process we managed to get some hefty reductions on some items. If you don't even know where to start, your procurement team will definitely be able to advise on contracted suppliers. Are the suppliers already registered on the university procurement system? If not, get them all registered, that will save you the hassle of having to do it later when you have a project deadline.</p><p>Ex-demo kit can be a lot cheaper and can usually be delivered quicker - but don't use the ex-demo quote price in your application. I made this mistake and by the time the grant was awarded, one of the ex-demo items had been sold. I was incredibly lucky that the overall savings on other items made up the difference, but this could have been quite the headache. Likewise, always use the list price, not the educational discount price. This gives you a bit of wiggle room if prices fluctuate, or if there are unexpected additional costs (ahem, estates).</p><p>VAT - it is vital that you keep track of whether your quotes include VAT or not (I always ask for this to be included on the quote now so I don't have to calculate it myself later). 20% on £150k is £30k, meaning your actual cost is £180k. </p><p><b>Finally, enlist help</b> - delegate some of the prep work to other lab members. It is unlikely you are going to be an expert on all the kit your department might want, and it may be that there is another staff member who can talk about all the technical stuff with the sales rep. If you are going to do it yourself, make sure you run the kit list by the rest of the team and make sure it covers all the applications you want it to. Our FTIR for example was quite a hard decision to make, as there are lots of different configurations available depending on what type of materials you are working with. </p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxHL-6bzhw_9XHQCp2tVv4eMCocwqgEuYQkqRxfcFINIHENnNyAfJkSd4KUzFV-u-hy-aCV5c-9Sq8e4foCGi0mIJzpsO_HxqcLbNfgvNQ1ofpfviqRdz5zjLimBWSaHRkSkaorznMubw//" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1068" height="421" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxHL-6bzhw_9XHQCp2tVv4eMCocwqgEuYQkqRxfcFINIHENnNyAfJkSd4KUzFV-u-hy-aCV5c-9Sq8e4foCGi0mIJzpsO_HxqcLbNfgvNQ1ofpfviqRdz5zjLimBWSaHRkSkaorznMubw/w572-h421/image.png" width="572" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-3200227429905765782021-03-29T13:40:00.000+01:002021-03-29T13:40:00.823+01:00Newcastle Material Culture Analytical Suite<p>Since joining Newcastle in 2015, a major focus of mine has been in developing our archaeological science provision. Newcastle was unusual in being one of the only archaeology departments (and certainly in the Russell Group) to only offer a BA degree, rather than having a BA and BSc pathway, and I have been very keen to develop both our facilities and teaching in this area. From the first small step, convincing the School to purchase a set of teaching microscopes for my modules in Environmental Archaeology and Geoarchaeology, to setting up the BSc programme (first intake 2019), to making the case to prioritise new hires in archaeological science, we have gradually expanded our staff and capabilities in this area. A major change was 2018 when we had a major investment from the University in the <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2018/11/earthslides-lab-final-stages.html">Earthslides facility</a>. </p><p>All of this has enabled us to attract and train PhD and postdoctoral researchers, many of whom have been funded by the <a href="http://www.northernbridge.ac.uk/">AHRC Northern Bridge</a> training partnership. We have been so successful in fact, that we were getting incredibly pushed for space, so I am absolutely delighted that we have been awarded a substantial grant from the AHRC to upgrade and expand our facilities. I am privileged to work with such a great team of researchers, who are all doing such fantastic work, that we were able to make a case for this investment. This has enabled us to purchase a fantastic suite of state of the art equipment as well as refurbish our existing space, create a dedicated instrument room for microscopy and spectroscopy, and refurbish a whole additional new lab dedicated for soils and related research. The <a href="https://research.ncl.ac.uk/nemcas/">Newcastle Material Culture Analytical Suite (NeMCAS)</a> will enable us to build on our successes and train the next generation of archaeological and heritage science researchers, in collaboration with partners across the north east.</p><p>NeMCAS is based mainly in the archaeology labs on campus, with additional dedicated facilities at the <a href="https://greatnorthmuseum.org.uk/">Great North Museum</a>. We are currently in the process of installing all the equipment, so watch this space for updates on new projects and collaborations, and if you are interested in using any of the kit, get in touch!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-44661478272298257752020-11-17T17:24:00.001+00:002020-11-17T17:24:56.202+00:00Stonehenge is in the news again<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stonehenge is in the news again. This time, because the plans to deal with the traffic situation have finally gone ahead, and it has been decided that the problem will be solved by digging a tunnel and re-routing the problematic road away from the monument. This is a plan that has been considered and debated for many years now, and in fact <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-landscape-of-stonehenge.html">one of my most read blog posts was a reflection, back in 2014, in response to the tunnel plan about what we mean by the 'landscape of Stonehenge'</a>. My thought is that there is no such thing as a pristine landscape, and the area has so much more history than just the Neolithic. But I am very sympathetic to the traffic issues, and realise that there are multiple considerations when it comes to heritage management. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">For clarity, I am not strongly for or against the tunnel. </span><a href="https://twitter.com/Tess_Machling/status/1326182147951046657" style="font-family: inherit;">Dr Tess Machling has posted some very insightful threads on this</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, and I think my feeling is generally in line with hers. I don't believe the tunnel to be the best solution, but it is what we have, and I am confident it will be done professionally and to a very high standard. There are a number of major archaeological units in a consortium that will be working on the project, probably the best and most experienced the UK has to offer, and there will be positive outcomes. </span>My main issue is framing it as returning the landscape to some sort of pristine prehistoric version, which goes against my idea of what a landscape is, a palimpsest of different times, fluid and evolving, rather than fixed. </p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">A more worrying issue is how the tunnel debate has been pitched, by groups who are opposed to it. The language being used is sensational, and clearly designed to create click bait headlines (<a href="https://twitter.com/Tess_Machling/status/1328470508501954560">and as Dr Machling points out, to get signatures on a petition</a>). Is this really what we should be doing to get our point across, to get media attention and press coverage? This is an uncomfortable issue that has simmered away in the back of my mind for many years, and was very clearly expressed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00665983.2020.1769399">in this article by Dr Kenny Brophy and Dr Gordon Barclay</a>, following the "trajectory of interpretative inflation" regarding Stonehenge, going from possible to probable to certain, to sensational!!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are strong parallels between the headlines that Machling has collected, and those that Brophy and Barclay dissect in their paper. The purpose may be to raise support for your petition, or to make research more "REF-able" or get research funding, but it is very clearly attracting unpleasant associations. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">When the Barclay and Brophy paper came out, I wanted to write about my own perspective as editor of the Archaeological Journal, and having been involved in one of the projects they critiqued, but I found it difficult to collect my thoughts and spent a great deal of time reflecting on it.</span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.dayofarchaeology.com/feeding-stonehenge-a-view-from-the-laboratory/">I started working on the Feeding Stonehenge project in 2010</a>, the same
year that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.06.017">the paper on isotopes from cattle teeth was published</a>, by Viner et al (if you haven't already read this, or Barclay and Brophy's paper, I would advise doing so). It was one of the first papers
I read as I familiarised myself with the wider context of the project in which
I had recently become involved. I remember distinctly an early conversation
with the PI, about how Viner should have published the paper in a better journal, as the findings were so novel and could get a ‘higher impact’
(not a direct quote, I cannot remember the exact phrasing). As a new postdoc,
this insight stuck with me, as a lesson in how I should think about presenting
my own research. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The main aim of my role in the project was to analyse lipid residues from pottery, and assess whether there were differences in how pots were being used in different parts of the Durrington Walls settlement. Early on in the project, I was told that I would lead the publication,
which is fairly typical for postdocs. The version of the paper I wrote was
along the lines of Viner et al, a scientific report which was cautious in describing spatial variability. The main point I made was about
problems of sampling an archive of thousands of pot sherds, and trying to get a
sample set that was distributed evenly between all the contexts. The sample set
we ended up with was heavily biased towards middens, with a tiny proportion
being from the southern circle, and the ‘pits’ actually being a
problematic grouping that lumped together samples from lots of different ‘pit’
contexts, that were not clearly comparable. In the end my version of the paper was scrapped and rewritten, and the whole process felt very geared towards making it more 'exciting' <a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2015.110">(and I was no longer first author)</a>. Same data, very different pitch, and much less cautious.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When the press release for our paper came out, I went
along with it. It was my first encounter with press releases, and I remember
being bemused at the headlines - “Food of the Gods” “Prehistoric BBQs” etc. The
sensationalism I even found amusing. I went along with this idea for a
while, thinking that 'good' research should have a press release and make the
news (and maybe this is important for ECRs looking for a job...?). </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">I am not laying any ‘blame’ for this on any single person. The interpretations were made in light
of the growing narrative of the wider project, which just goes to show how the way we interpret scientific data is not entirely objective and very influenced by context in which the science is done. But perhaps we should have been
more cautious, and certainly good science does not take a ‘possibility’ and
turn it into a ‘certainty’. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whilst the headlines from our paper were more benign, the sensationalising feels very similar and feeds into the more sinister nationalist narratives that Barclay and Brophy clearly present, and that Machling is discussing right now with regards to the tunnel.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We must remember
that news stories and popular writing are ultimately where people outside
academia base their knowledge and opinions, and if we spin things, or even get
it outright wrong, it can be very hard to change peoples’ views. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">My reservations about the Craig et al. paper were
ultimately what prompted me to write <a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.62">Shillito 2019</a>, which explored an
alternative way that the residues could be interpreted (even in this case, the
press release from the paper ended up missing the point…). Whilst I do like the
idea of the greased sled, it is clear in the paper that I am offering this only
as another possible interpretation that fits the data, rather than the
‘definitive’ interpretation of the lipid residues from Durrington Walls, and it
supposed to be a reflection on how we interpret archaeological data. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-do-dinosaurs-and-archaeology-have.html">This kind of media hype isn't just a 'Stonehenge thing</a>' and seems to crop up all the time, with academics shrugging and brushing it off as oh it's the press release I didn't say that in the academic paper, it's just what the media do. Is it? How much of this do we have control over, and how much is our responsibility? Does it matter if the media headlines are benign, or is it only a problem when findings are misused? I am torn between wanting to share my research more widely, and worrying about saying the wrong thing or having research taken out of context. I would be very interested to hear what others think about this?</span></span></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-46340329439601090172020-08-20T16:32:00.000+01:002020-08-26T15:10:30.409+01:00What a year. Where to begin?What a year. Where to begin? Like everyone, my life has been turned upside down by the Covid19 pandemic. At first it didn't bother me that much if I'm honest. As an introvert who worked from home a fair bit anyways, having to stay at home didn't seem so bad. The most disruptive thing was the closing of the labs, but even then I could at least bring a microscope home to get on with a backlog of prepared slides (guess what, I haven't looked at any). My husband and I decided to share childcare of our two daughters on a daily basis, with me looking after them in the morning, and him looking after them in the afternoon. Again, this worked ok at first. A morning playing with the kids, an afternoon on Zoom meetings and catching up with emails. This soon descended into chaos as the kids inevitably got utterly bored with being in the house, the older one wanting to binge watch Power Rangers (don't ask) and the younger being soley interested in pre-school bright colours repetitive ryhmes oh my god turn it off before my brain melts. <div><br /></div><div>I quickly got through the tasks that could easily be done from home, and my emails started to fill up with queries from students needing back in the labs, health and safety, and an almost comical number of emergency situations related to externally funded lab projects. The <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2019/12/new-project-terrasage-terraces-as.html">TerraSAgE project that I was so excited about at the beginning of the year</a> is now almost a year behind schedule as we haven't been able to do any of the fieldwork we were supposed to do this summer, and it turns out hiring people during a pandemic is near impossible (but there is a positive, we did manage to hire someone for one of the posts, and they're even allowed to travel now so can actually start the job in October!). I'm desperate to catch up with my research, but all my energy has to go into getting the labs back online and preparing for teaching. Supporting students whose lives have been totally disrupted, deadlines extended due to Covid = compressed schedules to get work marked, moderated and through exam boards so that everyone could graduate in July.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>And then of course there is the inevitable online teaching that needs to be prepared for October. I actually started preparing my teaching sometime in April, as I had a suspicion that things would not be returning to normal by the end of the year. I'm glad I did as I am still nowhere near having finished and the start of the semester is creeping ever closer. I've recorded around half of the lectures I need to record, along with adding captions to all the videos. You'd think in this day and age there would be an automated way of doing this, and you'd be right. Except auto-captioning hates my accent, and just doesn't understand technical vocabulary, so is a bit rubbish when you're teaching things like Quaternary climate and phytolith analysis. It takes at least an hour to edit captions for a 20 minute video, so you can imagine what a time suck it is when each module I teach has around 24 hours of lectures.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>I've just accepted now that I am one of those people who doesn't reply to emails, I just cannot keep up. I try my best, but inevitably things get lost in the daily deluge. But I refuse to go back to my old life prior to having a family, where I would happily reply to emails at all hours and on weekends. Working from home for 6 months during Covid19 has made it even more clear that having a separation between work and life is really important. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnw1UxUaF6G0Jyd23n3PjMSDwq07Mpz4pOB0f8Hxc9kY3izPiPireqNeVZQjNNTxwhgh7HAVvMefUB8DtSzZm_juBL5ItDrfmCIpSAeQQgswfxL3_vXQVOMaqplGYt7EyDTcNrwijzzYQr/s2048/IMG_9185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnw1UxUaF6G0Jyd23n3PjMSDwq07Mpz4pOB0f8Hxc9kY3izPiPireqNeVZQjNNTxwhgh7HAVvMefUB8DtSzZm_juBL5ItDrfmCIpSAeQQgswfxL3_vXQVOMaqplGYt7EyDTcNrwijzzYQr/w385-h513/IMG_9185.JPG" width="385" /></a></div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-65124319931550881802020-07-28T20:50:00.000+01:002020-07-28T20:50:04.621+01:00Paisley Caves research makes the news!I'm a bit late posting about this as all the buzz was almost two weeks ago, but I'm happy to say that we have recently published <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/29/eaba6404">one of the major papers from our NERC project at Paisley Caves</a>. The project is almost at an end, and I'm pleased we managed to get everything done on schedule and within budget (including an extension due to my maternity leave halfway through!). What a wonderful 4 years it has been working on this amazing site. I can't believe it's been 3 years since I was <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2017/05/">blogging about our fieldwork</a> out in Oregon. So much hard work has gone in since then, especially from our postdoctoral researchers John Blong and Helen Whelton, and I'm really proud of the whole team.<div><br /></div><div>In summary, we applied a new lipid biomarker approach to identify the species of coprolites. Previously these had been identified using ancient DNA, but there were concerns regarding possible contamination and movement of DNA in the sediments. There is a lot we still don't know about how DNA behaves in sediments, and there are studies that show it can move several meters when you have certain types of soil, and water moving through them. DNA is water soluble you see. In Paisley we have evidence that water was moving through periodically, which is a real problem for the DNA. The lipid biomarker method doesn't have the same problem. Our analyses confirmed that many of the Paisley coprolites were indeed human, but there were some disgareements with the DNA data in some cases. We also had one example of human and dog DNA and faecal bioamarkers in the same sample. This was seen as evidence of contamination in the original study, but to have faecal biomarkers from both dog and human in the same sample, the only possible explanation is...coprophagy!! Lovely! Sounds crazy but of course it's a behaviour that is seen commonly in dogs and other members of the animal kingdom, and shows clearly that humans and dogs are living togeither in the cave - the dogs are very likely to be domesticated.<br /><div><br /><div>The process of publishing a paper in Science Advances was unlike anything I've experienced before. It was super rigorous, which is a good thing, but the back and forth about tiny details of formatting and phrasing not so much. The strict embargo and 'press package' were also something I have not had to do before. We went with this journal as it's high impact and has a huge audience, and for our early career team members it is especially important to publish in these types of journals. But the downside was that it was incredibly slow to get the results out, compared to other papers I've published. I'm undecided whether to do this again. I wonder if Newcastle's own press office would do just as good a job of getting the word out there, without the faff.</div><div><br /><div>I always find it a bit daunting talking to reporters, but managed to do a good Zoom interview with a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/science/cave-poop-americas.html">journalist writing for the New York Times</a>, and they did a great piece on our work that really reflects the full extent of the research. This <a href="https://gizmodo.com/14-000-year-old-poop-found-in-oregon-cave-turns-out-to-1844389785">one we did with Gizmodo via email</a>. It is really great that we have this new method for identifying human coprolites, but the really exciting stuff is what we can say about the people. Seriously, coprolites are so fascinating, and the stuff we are finding in the famous Paisley poo is giving some fascinating insights into what people were doing at the end of the last Ice Age. We have another paper coming out soon, led by our team member Dr John Blong, who recently started a position with Washington State University. Once this is out I'll post another update with more information on what people were eating...</div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYZIvlh_-bdPYuh8WmhQTf_N2JO4JaIw5H4j1aVaxVGepEIWqvYVp03nrYoP-878twNMFsyPbXXS8MZsqd3mqTJluH59ZfDuCMbBZ2v9Qoski6oXfRxyh-uOBDgbt9GAIMVzeX6qGOsGge/s1507/Paisley+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1507" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYZIvlh_-bdPYuh8WmhQTf_N2JO4JaIw5H4j1aVaxVGepEIWqvYVp03nrYoP-878twNMFsyPbXXS8MZsqd3mqTJluH59ZfDuCMbBZ2v9Qoski6oXfRxyh-uOBDgbt9GAIMVzeX6qGOsGge/w625-h351/Paisley+3.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-8585224468345448352020-06-25T11:22:00.000+01:002020-06-25T11:22:16.391+01:00BricksAs promised, a new post that is actually on geoarchaeology. I never used to be into industrial archaeology. Having grown up in the north east, I always thought the buildings were ugly. The skyline from our house was filled with the cranes of Swan Hunters shipyards, and I remember the siren that used to go off to call people to work. My dad would grab his bait box and walk there, down the path into what is now Segedunum Roman Fort. He likes to tell me the story of how the end of the wall was right outside the cabin where he would sit with his mates on a break. This was all just whatever at the time. I prefered nature - beaches, rocks and trees - to being in the urban landscape. After my dad was made redundant when the Shipyards was closing down for good, the industrial landscape became associated with decline, poverty instead of pride. A reminder that we were poor and lived in an ugly place with ugly old buildings.<br />
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I was so happy to move away from that at age 18 when I went to university. Oxford was the exact opposite - a landscape of dreaming spires, immaculate quads (lawns), trees and gardens. Although I still appreciate the beauty of it, I never felt at home there. I always felt like a visitor who didn't quite belong. In the intervening years I've moved and lived all over the UK, and my views have changed completely. How much of that childhood hatred of the industrial landscape was down to internalised resentment of being poor? Now I find the old brick buildings to be truly beautiful. Archaeology has taught me how to read the history in a building, to look for the clues that show how buildings were built, used, modified. I look at the north east urban landscape, and rather than finding it ugly I find it nostalgic. It actually makes me sad for what has been lost from the region, in terms of it's identity, and generations of people like my dad who had all that taken away when those industries disappeared. But I'm also glad that many of the buildings are still there as a reminder of our heritage, repurposed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6knMyPv1Iim2zK_n_BFQhc-dpousOazz45fMQ7ESrRdv4ctMT-1TxTokFMqEZ6hUQUJSzIMZADdCN0KtzhoNQnftRHOmZRG9zpoJOtGJS7Mxgd7JhVX-fx8Y_I5f96eTZZHwVOmZszpQ/s1600/bricks+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6knMyPv1Iim2zK_n_BFQhc-dpousOazz45fMQ7ESrRdv4ctMT-1TxTokFMqEZ6hUQUJSzIMZADdCN0KtzhoNQnftRHOmZRG9zpoJOtGJS7Mxgd7JhVX-fx8Y_I5f96eTZZHwVOmZszpQ/s320/bricks+2.jpg" width="320" /></a>Having finally managed to get a mortgage two years ago, for the first time in my life I've been able to modify and redecorate the place where I live, a 1930s semi detached, and it has been truly fascinating researching how 1930s houses were built, identifying what are original features and what was changed when the previous owners remodelled it in the 1970s. Getting to the point, I have been tidying up the back garden over the past few weeks, and found a cache of old bricks, presumably from the afforementioned 1970s remodelling. Being an archaeologist I of course had to do a bit of research on them, and discovered a whole world of historic brick studies. <a href="https://www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk/brick-frog-origins-of-use/">Did you know that the indents with the stamps are called frogs. So these are frogged bricks!</a><br />
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It looks like <a href="https://twsitelines.info/SMR/2217">Hotspur was a brickworks in Backworth, North Tyneside</a>, produced bricks 1930-1945 which fits with date house was built. <a href="http://www.solwaypast.co.uk/index.php/bricks/2-uncategorised/30-h-co-brick">Sunset was based in Fenham</a>, Newcastle and operated 1921-1967. Lumley brickworks was in Co. Durham and used kilns in Newcastle at one point. I can’t find any info on this particular stamp, the earliest ones from this brickworks have little castles on them! It got me thinking about how my house was so connected to these lost industries. The back garden bricks were mostly an equal mix of Hostpur and Sunset, with only one Lumley. The archaeologist in me wants to know why we have these different brick types - were 1930s houses built using a mix of suppliers? How were they sourced? Or is this to do with repairs at a later date? Did these companies supply just the north east or all of the UK? Sad again that these were all local companies, now gone.<br />
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The geoarchaeologist in me wants to know about the materials. Below is an example of bricks from the same company, but the fabric looks different. Different dates perhaps? How variable were clay mixes and why? Does this impact on how well bricks preserve? One of the replies to my Twitter thread indicated that brick experts can date a building just by the brick colour! I would love to apply a geoarchaeological approach to this, analyse the bricks using the methods that we would apply to prehistoric building materials. It would be a great way of comapring how these methods match up with the historic record!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-24934559385479977302020-04-29T11:52:00.001+01:002020-04-29T11:58:52.878+01:00The ethics of archaeological coprolite analysis?Some personal good news amongst the Covid19 chaos - I have a new paper currently <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103196">in press in Earth Science Reviews</a> (currently pre-proof so check in at a later date for definitive version with updated figures etc). This is a substantial review my team and I have been working on for a couple of years now, chipping away at it in the background as part of our <a href="https://research.ncl.ac.uk/americas/">NERC research project</a>, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. We posted it as a <a href="https://eartharxiv.org/uf3qe/">pre-print a few months ago on EarthArkiv</a>, the first time I've used a pre-print server. I was hoping to engage in an open peer review process, but we didn't get any comments (do pre-prints really get peer reviewed...? A discussion for another blog post). On the plus side we did get 264 downloads before the paper made it through peer review with Earth Science Reviews.<br />
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One of the points we make (albeit briefly) in this paper is that coprolites should be subject to the same strict protocols for access and analysis that have been proposed for human skeletal remains. My original thinking behind this was that the information contained within coprolites is just as important and informative, and we should consider them as a finite resource in the same way as any other artefact. I've always promoted the fact that coprolites offer a way of looking at past health and diets without the ethical problems associated with destructive analysis of human skeletal remains, but recent conversations on twitter have made me reconsider this. I came across this discussion via the #DecolonizeDNA hashtag, and this tweet by <a href="http://anthro.ucsd.edu/people/faculty/faculty-profiles/Keolu%20Fox.html">Dr Keolu Fox</a> in particular. The term 'bone rush' really stood out to me.<br />
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I've added a screenshot of the main point, but urge you to go and read the whole thread <a href="https://twitter.com/keolufox/status/1253793142144303104?s=11">here</a>, and read <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02516-5?utm_source=twt_nnc&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=briefingthread">this comment in Nature</a>. Whilst coprolites themselves are not 'precious' in the same way that human skeletal remains are, the genetic information that is potentially contained within them certainly is. Where to go from here? Should coprolites be treated with the same regard that we give to human skeletal remains? Should we focus on analytical methods such as lipids and microfossils, which can give information on health and diet without the ethical problems with DNA analysis?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-60412209012473027782019-12-05T09:00:00.001+00:002020-07-22T16:38:14.490+01:00New project: TerraSAgE: Terraces as Sustainable Agricultural Environments. <span style="font-family: inherit;">I am excited to announce a new AHRC research project starting at </span>Newcastle<span style="font-family: inherit;"> in January,</span> <a href="https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT000104%2F1">TerraSAgE: Terraces as Sustainable Agricultural Environments</a>.The project is led by PI Prof. Sam Turner, and I am one of the project coIs, overseeing the geoarchaeological aspects of the project. Sam and his team have been doing pilot studies for this project for a while now, <a href="https://eprint.ncl.ac.uk/230180">developing a new OSL dating method</a> to understand the chronology and formation of agricultural terraces from prehistory to historic periods. I became involved in the project last year to advise on geoarchaeological and soil science approaches to the analysis of archaeological and historic terraces. The major aims of the project are to understand how and when terraces were constructed and how they were maintained and managed, and how this varies in different geographic regions, and in different time periods. We also want to understand why terracing developed, and conversely, why it was abandoned in some places but not others, and whether this agricultural technology enabled communities to develop a greater resilience to economic and ecological instability. The project is a real team and interdisciplinary effort, and I look forward to welcoming a new team of geoarchaeology researchers to Newcastle next year.<br />
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We found out about the funding a few months ago but for various reasons I haven't had a chance to make a proper announcement. But now two of the PDRA jobs have gone live, so I thought it was time to spread the news. One of the PDRAs is in Geoarchaeology, focused on sediment micromorphology and related methods. The other is in landscape Archaeology, and will focus on GIS as well as contrbuting to other aspects of the geoarchaeology work. At a later date we will be advertised for a technician to help process the thin section samples, and another PDRA based at St Andrews who will be working on OSL dating.<br />
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Job adverts can be found here: <a href="https://jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastle-Research-Associate-Geoarchaeology/571785501/">Geoarchaeology</a> and <a href="https://jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastle-Research-Associate-Landscape-Archaeology/571761601/">Landscape Archaeology.</a><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGYXVNIpWGCWmNCzasFqqug68DP7ZQ0TbqMHDemnrSXvclsf7RjD6ukCScrXB2Hapx6Yn6gp3Kuki69o2QZZiO82vBbeOXJfW-LeSVCxa1C_awJdRG4Me0QubCs8AggGw6CdqWAJI2qi6/s1825/collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1825" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGYXVNIpWGCWmNCzasFqqug68DP7ZQ0TbqMHDemnrSXvclsf7RjD6ukCScrXB2Hapx6Yn6gp3Kuki69o2QZZiO82vBbeOXJfW-LeSVCxa1C_awJdRG4Me0QubCs8AggGw6CdqWAJI2qi6/w625-h258/collage.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-67770738638039114732019-11-05T20:23:00.002+00:002019-11-05T20:23:32.942+00:00Where did 2019 go?As its pretty much a year to the day that I made my last post, I thought I should sign on briefly to let you all know that I am still around, it's just been an incredibly busy year, largely taken up by maternity leave, then catching up with research and teaching after returning to work. I have so many new things to share, I have to just hope I find a bit of time to spend on the blog. I can't remember if I mentioned earlier that I was also promoted to senior lecturer last year, not long before going on maternity leave. Turns out getting promoted means a lot more responsibility (along with a pay increase, yey! And increased student loan contributions, boo!), and I am currently partially in charge of two rather large external review processes for the archaeology subject area at Newcastle, as well as overseeing an expansion of our lab facilities, trying to start a small business through the university, and starting soon, a co-I on two major new research projects that will include 3 new members joining the lab team. But I miss blogging, and writing silly archaeology poems. I'll try my best to get back into a regular writing habit...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-7243239344743982132018-11-06T15:51:00.004+00:002018-11-06T15:51:52.794+00:00Earthslides lab - the final stages!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiad1zWO49xpRe3_-q2_tHPkr30sgbbYQqS9lMy4ThtJhwj4ml_tbWKooA1u0lmTV29tig6vD3k2ofgVk4yOBHBnhMAcKF1R79DxyZhTgO_uBgMXYPMauAAKAtgA50PSjT4xss8bv8V_iqG/s1600/fuel+phd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="718" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiad1zWO49xpRe3_-q2_tHPkr30sgbbYQqS9lMy4ThtJhwj4ml_tbWKooA1u0lmTV29tig6vD3k2ofgVk4yOBHBnhMAcKF1R79DxyZhTgO_uBgMXYPMauAAKAtgA50PSjT4xss8bv8V_iqG/s400/fuel+phd.jpg" width="286" /></a><br />
It's been a frustratingly long process, but we have finally been given an end date for the set up of the new <a href="https://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2018/04/earthslides-newcastle.html">Earthslides lab at Newcastle</a> - I am pleased to say that it will be up and running by the 22nd December. I started discussions about acquiring Earthslides way back at the end of 2017, when previous owner Julie Boreham announced her retirement. It wasn't until April that I mentioned this on my blog, which is about the time it took to put forward a proposal to the university to purchase the equipment/business, and to secure the funding. After getting an agreement in principle the next major hurdle was finding a space to house the new lab. Space is always an issue, but we managed to find a room in the same building as our existing <a href="https://research.ncl.ac.uk/wolfson/">Wolfson lab</a>, which is ideal. However, as the room was currently a tea room/storage area, it has required a complete refurbishment to make it suitable to use as a lab, hence the rather long delay in the whole process.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8C3CpuRwUQ_IHB9QgbRnLGyc4_liKtDXcIKlhS3QR5MMsYz7905thpD_yKwmNgpBVfnVfimUZCbAkRZnA20TrY71Kvk4la9LPnQHq9ZKptVb6K0Ry6ZrJnx5Dn9KNNH-6Ia3LZfNLCLw/s1600/lindis+phd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="674" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8C3CpuRwUQ_IHB9QgbRnLGyc4_liKtDXcIKlhS3QR5MMsYz7905thpD_yKwmNgpBVfnVfimUZCbAkRZnA20TrY71Kvk4la9LPnQHq9ZKptVb6K0Ry6ZrJnx5Dn9KNNH-6Ia3LZfNLCLw/s400/lindis+phd.jpg" width="280" /></a>I have never been in a position before to design a lab from scratch - usually it's a case of being given an old space and making do with whatever the current layout and facilities are. So it was actually quite exciting to be able to put together a plan for the 'ideal' thin sectioning lab, and to choose benches and fume hoods. We also have a smaller side room that will be 'dust free' for microfossil work.<br />
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It has definitely been a huge learning experience for me, and I now have a very good insight into how other parts of the university (i.e. estates planning) work. Any future endeavours like this I will certainly be more prepared for the length of time the whole process takes, and the many levels of approval that need to be obtained to get this sort of thing up and running. Although the lab will be functional by the end of the year, I imagine it will take another couple of months for staff and students to become familiar with how everything works.<br />
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In related news, the establishment of the facility has already led to two collaborations with colleagues in the Department of Archaeology at Durham, on jointly supervised PhD projects in geoarchaeology. The first is on fuel use in the Bronze Age and environmental impacts of pottery production, and the second is a landscape geoarchaeology of Lindisfarne. Both PhDs are linked to larger projects, and the succesful students will be learning how to make sediment thin section slides in the Earthslides lab. I am very excited that the new lab is already going to be getting lots of use!<br />
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PhD1: <a href="http://www.iapetus.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IAP2-18-148_Durham_Badreshany.pdf">'Fuelling the Early State: Understanding Energy Use, Resource Management, and Environmental Impacts in the Development of Early Urban Societies'</a>, focuses on experimental </div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.27px; white-space: pre-wrap;">production</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.27px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of pottery using different fuel types, and characteristing the fuels and ceramics using a range of geoarchaeological methods. This includes a placement with Zeiss microscopy.</span><br />
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PhD2: <a href="http://www.iapetus.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IAP2-18-160_Durham_Milek.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0pzbU_YCsy6RqgB3Raq-XPDA0mIfgHDojf66OXwPmsARlBj3MRFsMT4Ys">‘Lindisfarne Landscapes: Geoarchaeological Approaches to Human-Environment Relations’ </a>will be using sediment micromorphology, phytolith analysis and a range of other geoarchaeological techniques to understand the landscape of Holy Island during the Anglo Saxon period. This includes a placement with <a href="https://digventures.com/">Dig Ventures</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-14546977176179366462018-09-19T12:10:00.001+01:002018-09-19T12:10:29.588+01:00Conferences and interviewsFor the past year I've been involved in the organisation of the 5th biennial <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/mccordcentre/lac2018/">Landscape Archaeology Conference</a>, which is being held this week at Newcastle and Durham. It's a step up from organizing <a href="https://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2017/09/dig2017-conference-success.html">DIG2017 last year</a>, which had around 100 participants, compared to LAC's estimated 300. The timing has been rather unfortunate for a number of reasons. Firstly my pregnancy, which means I was unable to attend the drinks reception at the wonderful <a href="http://www.wylambrewery.co.uk/">Wylam Brewery</a>. I love this venue and have been trying to get an event organised here for ages, so am a bit gutted I missed out on it. There are many people I would have liked to catch up with, including plenary speaker <a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/nicki-whitehouse">Dr Nicki Whitehouse</a>.<br />
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But the main reason I've been absent from LAC is that I had another important event this week - an interview for an <a href="https://erc.europa.eu/funding/consolidator-grants">ERC consolidator grant</a>, which happened to clash with the full day Geoarchaeology and Landscape session I was supposed to be co-chairing at LAC. Many thanks to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Blong">Dr John Blong</a> for taking over! I waited until after the interview to post this blog. I am never sure about discussing things until they are actually confirmed. But I thought, perhaps it would be useful to mention it, even if the outcome is not successful. It is easy to get into the habit of only talking about successes in academia, but I think it can be helpful to talk about when things don't work out as well. This is honestly the more usual situation, especially when it comes to grant applications, which have very low success rates. I've see a lot of discussion about how disheartening constant rejections are, and I think it's really important that anyone considering academia as a career realizes that this is always going to be a part of the job. The disappointment never goes away, but you learn to accept it and keep trying.<br />
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I am really encouraged that I even made it to the interview stage, which itself has a 20% success rate. The hardest thing about the interview was the complete unknown nature of it. The only guidance is a strict 10 minutes presentation to summarize yourself and your project, followed by 20 minutes of questions. But unlike other comparable situations, such as job interviews, there is no obvious set of questions to prepare for. Despite having 2 practice interviews, there was no way to predict the questions that actually came up. Because of my pregnancy I was unable to attend the interview in person in Brussels, and did it via video-conference. Not my best medium but I think I gave it a good shot, and having practiced doing a <a href="https://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2018/09/my-first-video-presentation-eaa.html">video presentation for the EAA</a> a couple of weeks ago, I think I may be getting the hang of it.<br />
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An important bit of advice for anyone doing presentations, either in person or remotely is practice! This goes for any talk, conferences, lectures, interviews. I still feel like a numpty for talking enthusiastically to myself, but the best thing you can do is work your way through the discomfort. It really is true, the more you practice the more confident you will get, as you feel prepared and know that you can do it. I only recently started recording my presentations and playing it back to myself, which is a whole new level of cringeworthy. But it has really highlighted the positives and negatives of my presentation style, and I wish I had started doing this earlier!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-7498637826258172502018-09-10T13:19:00.001+01:002018-09-10T16:53:42.385+01:00My first video conference presentation - EAA Barcelona 2018Following on <a href="https://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2018/08/two-tales-of-being-pregnantinthefield.html">from my previous post</a>, I am disappointed I couldn't go to Barcelona in person for the European Association of Archaeologists conference last week. The EAA itself is one of the few chances I get to meet up with European colleagues and friends in person, and Barcelona is one of my favourite cities. On the plus side, it did give me the opportunity to learn how to make a video presentation. It turns out my beloved Surface tablet has a bells and whistles version of PowerPoint that lets you record your presentation with video and sound all in one go, and export it as an MP4. The presentation focused on pilot studies I have been leading as part of a <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2017/07/catalhoyuk-wellcome-project.html">Wellcome Trust seed award</a> in Humanities and Social Sciences, to test the feasibility of applying various civil engineering methods to an archaeological settlement, and building a network of researchers in Turkey and Europe. Pilot studies are fantastic as a 'proof of concept' to justify full scale studies, but also in some ways frustrating, as we have some really exciting results, but can't make any firm conclusions until we go ahead with a full scale study. Fingers crossed that will be happening soon, pending the outcome of a Very Important Interview I have next week.<br />
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I even followed along with the EAA session in real time via Twitter, and answered a couple of questions remotely. A completely new experience for me, and reassuring for the future that I have a good back up plan if I can't travel. I'll be posting the video on YouTube at some point too, and I am tempted to start recording presentations even in cases where I do present in person. Whilst the networking and discussion aspects of conferences are crucial, sometimes it feels like they are a lot of hard work with no obvious output, and this will provide a permanent record of the presentation, as well as making it open access for people who could not attend in person. And even for those that did attend, in case they want to view it again! It will be interesting to keep track of the viewing statistics and see if people find this useful, and will also mean the video is available as a possible teaching resource.<br />
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As well as my main presentation, I was also involved in a number of other talks, notably two papers on my <a href="https://research.ncl.ac.uk/americas/">NERC project</a>. The first was presented by Dr Helen Whelton, in session #492 From excavation to sedimentation: the multi-proxy and biomolecular environmental revolution in archaeology, focusing on lipid biomarker analysis, and the second in session #172 Mediating proxies and choice in a Stone Age World by Dr John Blong, discussing the latest results on the dietary analysis at paisley Caves. Finally I also made a contribution to a paper for <a href="http://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2016/06/fieldwork-in-sicily-case-bastione.html">the Case Bastione project</a> in session #677 Communities, environment and resources: the structuration of cultural landscapes in prehistoric Sicily and the central Mediterranean basin.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-84637912109479493432018-08-15T11:33:00.000+01:002018-08-15T11:38:09.518+01:00Two tales of being #pregnantinthefieldI am a big fan of keeping my personal and professional life separate, and so have debated whether to blog about this. But I figured it might be helpful for other female researchers, and it's cathartic, so here we go.<br />
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I had my first child in 2013. Aside from a week long bout of morning sickness at the beginning, the pregnancy was straightforward and I felt pretty good throughout it. I carried on with fieldwork and other physical activities, including a <a href="https://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2013/04/geoarchaeological-adventures-across-us.html">road trip from Florida to Oregon</a> that included hiking around various national parks when I was about 7 months pregnant. I was determined not to let being pregnant change my life in any way, and to carry on as normal. I wasn't trying to prove anything, I just like being busy and active. The actual birth was ok too, if not entirely straight forward (definitely not going to blog the details of <i>that </i>particular experience...). There were some complications but I recovered quickly and <a href="https://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2013/08/investigations-at-ness-of-brodgar-day-1.html">was out in the field again with a not-quite-2 month year old bab</a>y (and a supportive husband to carry baby around whilst I collected samples in between bouts of breastfeeding). I am so happy I was able to do this, and be part of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/01/pregnant-in-the-field-blog-photography-have-trowel-will-travel">#pregnantinthefield phenomenon</a>. I also didn't realise how lucky I was.<br />
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Now five years later, it's pregnancy number two. I'm currently around 7 months pregnant, and looking over what I was doing last time has actually been rather depressing. The whole pregnancy has been so different this time. I was seriously sick for about 5 weeks non-stop in the first semester ('luckily' this coincided with my research sabbatical so I could just stay home and mope/retch whilst trying to write papers and grants). At my 20 week scan I found out I have a low lying placenta (I had no idea what this meant either...), which means I have to have further scans in a few weeks to see whether I'll have to have a c-section (the placenta might be blocking the baby's exit), and am at an increased risk of premature labour and bleeding. At 20 weeks I was very nonchalant about this - the midwife didn't make it seem like a big deal and I didn't think much of it (I don't think the standard advice is written with archaeologists, or even working mothers, in mind).<br />
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So, morning sickness over, I assumed I would be back to carry on as normal mode. <a href="https://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2018/07/getting-ready-for-fieldwork.html">Last month I was about to embark on my usual programme of fieldwork</a>, starting with the Isle of Man then Greece, Sicily and the EAA conference in Barcelona. I made it to the Isle of Man. Not a particularly difficult dig compared to most places I've worked, but after one day I was completely exhausted and had dizzy spells the next morning. Then I started getting really odd pains that I never had with my first pregnancy - turns out the baby has been lying transverse (sideways) for most of the pregnancy, and as they grow it's stretching my uterus in directions it is not meant to be stretching. Still plenty of time for the baby to move, but it could be that my oddly positioned placenta is getting in the way of baby getting into a normal position.<br />
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Unsurprisingly I was advised not to do any further travelling. This has disappointed me more than I thought it would. As a runner and weight lifting enthusiast, this limitation on physical activity has been incredibly frustrating, but more than that, I love fieldwork and I hate feeling like I have failed by cancelling the remainder of my plans for the summer. Which is absolutely ridiculous, and I have given myself a stern talking to. I thought I had gotten past worrying about 'not doing enough' as an academic, but every now and then those feelings that dominated my postdoc years pop up again.<br />
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Point of the story is that pregnancy is an amazing but unpredictable thing. If you are able to carry on as normal, go and do fieldwork etc, that is fantastic and well done! Pregnancy doesn't have to mean your life stops, and if everything is normal, there is no reason why you can't do the things you normally do. But there is no way of knowing how it is going to go for you until it happens, and if it turns out you have to make adjustments, that is ok too. Putting your own health first is absolutely the right thing to do. And if you are pregnant and planning on doing fieldwork, make sure you get your maternity notes explained to you, and do your own research about your condition. Medical professionals are unlikely to know what 'unusual' jobs involve - yes 'travelling' might be ok, but they are probably thinking you are going to lie on a beach somewhere rather than hiking around doing physical activity all day!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgUfHLCDcf5z41FR6mxrwHX2nn4o0tXMBfHavSFlUBWem8u5st_duznE9DI4vwp5HS9yDbYxPH6eFeD8lk-xXaaIqBfI32s3DMSlXokc0gNhyv-diaeYgog74-Gc08A8avzmpODXOEC_vG/s1600/IMG_4371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgUfHLCDcf5z41FR6mxrwHX2nn4o0tXMBfHavSFlUBWem8u5st_duznE9DI4vwp5HS9yDbYxPH6eFeD8lk-xXaaIqBfI32s3DMSlXokc0gNhyv-diaeYgog74-Gc08A8avzmpODXOEC_vG/s640/IMG_4371.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isle of Man Round Mounds excavation </td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-47587863597531586252018-08-14T14:03:00.004+01:002018-08-14T15:45:59.144+01:00Funding opportunities for Archaeology ECRs in the UKFollowing a discussion elsewhere on the interwebs, I thought it might be useful to create a list of postdoc funding opportunities in the UK, distinguishing between those which are open to UK, EU and international applicants. All of these fund various aspects of archaeology, though some are more geared towards science than others so you will need to make sure your topic fits the remit.<br />
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Having been a reviewer for several postdoc applications, I should emphasise that all of these are extremely competitive, and the best thing you can do to increase your chance of success is to have a plan for building your CV during your PhD, beyond the 'minimum' requirements. For all of these awards the criteria center on supporting individuals who show ability to become independent researchers, and that means you have to provide evidence that you are heading in that direction.<br />
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So what sort of evidence are reviewers looking for? This includes most obviously, making sure that you have published something from your PhD. The number and type of publications will vary depending on your specialist area, but making sure that you compare favorably to your peers is crucial. At least one output needs to be first author. Collaborative papers are great as they show teamwork etc, but you also need to demonstrate you can lead on publications.<br />
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Secondly - evidence of securing funding and/or prizes, awards etc. This does not have to be a huge grant, but anything that shows you have the ability to seek out and obtain funds for your research will give you an edge. If you have PhD funding then this counts - PhD studentships are competitive awards. External awards are great, but you can also include internal money that you got for travelling to conferences etc. Any non-monetary awards or prizes are also good, as they show that your colleagues already think highly of you.<br />
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Thirdly - anything that shows you are engaged with your research community as an independent researcher. Many reviewers may focus on 'traditional' evidence including organisation of conferences, reviewing for journals, organizing seminar series in your department etc. I also look for broader evidence such as running outreach activities, social media activity (make sure that you include evidence of engagement i.e. numbers of blog visitors etc).<br />
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Obviously, all of this is in addition to having a great research idea, and being able to convince other people that it's a great idea, achievable within the time frame of the fellowship. Discussing that would be a whole blog post in itself! Having a good mentor, not necessarily your PhD supervisor, will really help here - someone with experience of your research area and a track record of getting funding and/or supervising postdocs, will be invaluable in helping you present your ideas in a positive way.<br />
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As well as the schemes below, which are based around the applicant's own research idea, keep an eye out on <a href="http://jobs.ac.uk/">jobs.ac.uk</a> for postdoctoral positions which are part of other people's funded research projects.<br />
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<b><u>Fellowships available to international applicants</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/university-research/">Royal Society University Research Fellowship</a><br />
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This one used to be UK/EU only but has recently been opened to applicants of all nationalities. Subjects - any area of natural sciences, so an archaeological project would need a very strong emphasis on natural sciences. Funding for 5 (+3) years.<br />
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<a href="http://www.newtonfellowships.org/">Newton International Fellowships</a><br />
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Funding for 2 years. This one is for anyone who doesn't hold UK citizenship. Covers natural and social sciences and humanities.<br />
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<a href="https://nerc.ukri.org/funding/available/fellowships/irf/">NERC Independent Research Fellowship</a><br />
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NERC is the UK Natural Environment research Council. Any nationality. Needs to be at least 50% NERC remit subject. NERC funds archaeological science, but quite heavy on the science rather than just routine scientific analyses. Funding for 5 years, including a hefty allowance for research costs (needs to be clearly justified in application).<br />
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<a href="https://www.ukri.org/funding/funding-opportunities/future-leaders-fellowships/">UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships</a><br />
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The idea of these is to attract and retain research leaders in the UK. Funding for 4 years (+3). This is a new scheme and there are several rounds so you need to keep and eye on all the deadlines.<br />
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<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/">Marie-Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellowships</a><br />
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An EU based scheme, you can apply from anywhere within or outside of Europe, with the requirement being that you move from one country to another, and are hosted by an EU institution. The UK is currently still able to host fellows, though it's unclear if this will continue after Brexit. The application is quite long and the website a bit of a maze. I would highly recommend working with an experienced supervisor to help you navigate the process. The supervisor plays a central role, and will submit the application on your behalf. There is an emphasis on training and gaining new skills, so have a think about what new methodology will help you develop your research, and find a supervisor/university who is well known for that methodology. Very generous funding for 2 years (or 3 if you go from EU to outside Europe). Any subject area - check the different panels carefully as you will need to select which one you submit to.<br />
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<a href="https://wellcome.ac.uk/funding/research-fellowships-humanities-and-social-science">Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship in Humanities and Social Sciences</a><br />
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Funding for up to 3 years, 2 stage application process. The Wellcome Trust fund medical and health related research, but they do fund historical and archaeological projects which have a health related component.<br />
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<a href="http://www.fulbright.org.uk/going-to-the-uk/scholar-awards">Fulbright Scholar Awards</a><br />
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I am not as familiar with this scheme, but it looks like it is open to US citizens in any subject area to come to the UK. It looks like there are a lot of aspects to it, including extracurricular and community activities, rather than just a research project.<br />
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<b><u>Fellowships available to UK applicants </u></b><br />
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<a href="https://ahrc.ukri.org/funding/apply-for-funding/current-opportunities/leadershipfellows/">AHRC Leadership Fellowship</a><br />
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AHRC is the UK Arts and Humanities research council. Any subject within the AHRC remit - this can also include archaeological science, but more 'routine' analyses as opposed to NERC 'cutting edge' new methods. Needs to have more of a focus on the archaeology than the science. The applicant must have been employed by the research organisation for at least 1 year before submitting an application, and need at least 2 years' postdoc experience.<br />
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<a href="https://www.britac.ac.uk/british-academy-postdoctoral-fellowships">British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship</a><br />
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Funding for 3 years. 2 stage application process. Must be within 3 years of receiving PhD, and either a UK/EU national or completed PhD in the UK. Subjects within humanities and social sciences.<br />
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<a href="https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/funding/grant-schemes/early-career-fellowships">Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship</a><br />
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50% funding for 3 years (50% match funded by the host university - most places will only support a few of these and run an internal competition so you will need to get in touch with prospective hosts early). Must have a degree from a UK institution or have held a position in the UK prior to applying. There are also requirements to have moved institutions so check details carefully. Any subject area - they seem to like 'quirky' interdisciplinary type topics that do not quite fit with other funder remits.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-20222709999650073702018-07-12T16:55:00.001+01:002018-07-12T16:55:29.123+01:00New BSc Archaeology programme at Newcastle!Exciting news from Newcastle today - the proposal I have been working on for over a year, for a new BSc Archaeology degree, was approved today (pending some minor paperwork tweaks). I am really excited about this - it is something I have wanted to do since I started at Newcastle, and it's been hard work getting all the paperwork in place, but it has paid off, and fingers crossed is the first step in broadening our archaeological science teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, in line with our expanding research profile in this area. Newcastle is actually quite unusual, being one of the only Russell Group universities not to offer both a BA and BSc in Archaeology. Archaeology is one of those truly interdisciplinary subjects that places emphasis on both science and humanities, and students usually have the option to focus their skills in either area. Since I joined Newcastle I have developed a number of new 'science' based modules in environmental and geoarchaeology, and since I started we have also hired other new staff specialising in materials analysis and zooarchaeology. So now really is the perfect time to take advantage of our research expertise, and develop this new focus for students.<br />
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One of the major drivers for me developing this programme was to attract a broader range of students onto the Archaeology degree programmes, particularly those who may be interested in pursuing lab based dissertations. Hopefully the BSc will be an attractive option for students with science A Levels (or equivalents) to combine an interest in archaeology, with the technical skills associated with a BSc. Whether students wish to pursue a career in archaeology or something completely different, I honestly believe that an archaeology degree, and a BSc in particular, is a really good option for developing graduate skills. The BSc will emphasise analytical and technical skills, but students will also gain humanities training. Best of both worlds! I can't wait to meet the first intake, which is planned for 2019/20, keep an eye out for future updates!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-57377286112721013372018-07-12T12:23:00.000+01:002018-07-12T12:23:52.986+01:00Getting ready for fieldworkIt feels like this year has gone by even quicker than usual, and it is a bit surreal that I'm gearing up to head back out on fieldwork already. I had actually told myself that I would not do any fieldwork this year, and spend more time in the lab instead, but plans change and a couple of opportunities came up than I couldn't refuse! Last year blog readers will remember I went to <a href="https://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/search?q=olynthos">Olynthos in Greece</a> to collect some pilot samples for a new project, looking at use of space within this ancient Greek settlement. It was the first time I had been to Greece, and the project itself is fascinating - lots of mudbricks to excite the geoarchaeologists among you. Earlier this year I was delighted that we successfully applied for funding for a PhD studentship from the <a href="http://www.northernbridge.ac.uk/">AHRC Northern Bridge consortium</a>, and Mara Lou Schumacher will be joining Newcastle later this year to work on the Olynthos material, co-supervised by <a href="http://archaeology.lsa.umich.edu/people/nevett.php">Prof. Lisa Nevett at Michigan</a>. So I'll be heading back to Olynthos later next week to begin the sampling strategy for Mara's PhD.<br />
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Before that I will be spending 4 days on the <a href="https://roundmounds.wordpress.com/">Isle of Man, as part of the Round Mounds project</a>, a joint project between Newcastle and Leicester. I urge you to go and follow the project blog, as there is just so much fantastic stuff coming up every day, including a number of cremation urn burials. I'll be doing some geoarchaeological sampling to investigate the construction and formation of the mound itself, and hopefully get some samples for environmental reconstruction. We are hoping to expand the sampling over the coming field seasons to include a number of other mounds in the area, hopefully to develop another PhD project - so if you're interested in Neolithic burial mounds and geoarchaeology, keep an eye out!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burial urn in situ. Photo by <a href="https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/archaeology/people/associates/rachel-crellin">Dr Rachel Crellin</a>.</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-76104252665394627022018-06-26T10:13:00.000+01:002018-06-26T10:13:16.227+01:00Phytolith mystery!One of the nicest things about my job is hearing about the successes of past students. It makes me genuinely happy to see students with enthusiasm and passion for environmental archaeology go on to build successful careers. I taught my first postgraduate students during my time at Edinburgh back in 2013, and they are all doing so well. One recently finished a PhD and gained a great postdoctoral position, another is on track to finish their PhD very soon and has recently published their first paper, and another has a fantastic job as a research technician in a top environmental archaeology lab. I had an email from the latter recently regarding the identification of some unknown phytoliths. They appear to be generic grass long cells, but have odd striations that I have never seen before. The striations are all in the same direction - could this be an artefact of processing or is it surface decoration? I am not sure about surface decoration, it looks a bit too regular. has anyone seen anything like this before? They are from a Bronze Age site in the Levant.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1967180110812725083.post-90801415953016324982018-06-13T09:05:00.001+01:002018-06-13T09:05:43.027+01:00Comparing multiple biomarkersThis year has been very productive from a research perspective. We are at the point of the <a href="https://castlesandcoprolites.blogspot.com/2018/05/nerc-project-conference-and-seminar.html">NERC project where all the results are starting to come in</a>, and it has made me remember the excitement of doing research, rather than the headache of applying for grants and all the admin associated with a complex international project. The postdoc team, <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hca/staff/profile/johnblong.html#background">Dr John Blong</a> and <a href="http://www.bris.ac.uk/chemistry/research/ogu/people/whelton.html">Dr Helen Whelton</a>, are in Copenhagen this week, collecting the final set of samples for the project, currently archived at the <a href="https://geogenetics.ku.dk/facilities-at-centre-for-geogenetics/">University of Copenhagen's Centre for Geogenetics</a>. Up until now we have been working on samples from the archive in Oregon, and samples we collected during our fieldwork. The samples at Copenhagen are some of the most important from Paisley Caves, the ones that provide the earliest occupation dates from the site, that were found to contain human aDNA. By applying lipid biomarker analysis to these samples, we will be able to compare the DNA and lipid results, something I have been keen to do from a general methodological perspective, but of course will also be very important from the perspective of site interpretation. I wish I could have gone to the lab myself, alas I am getting better at delegation, and am getting on with writing back at Newcastle. But here are some fun photos of John and Helen in action - as it's a clean DNA lab, they get to wear the most wonderful outfits. Thank you to the team at Copenhagen for all your help!<br />
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