Preliminary program

Below are the sessions that have been proposed for the conference. No other sessions will be added. When submitting an abstract please keep in mind the session themes. A detailed description of each session is provided in the French version of this webpage.

Bioarchaeology combined with multi-isotope and/or paleogenetic analyses.

Session chair: Dr. Isabelle Ribot

This session focuses on the use of isotopic and genetic analyses to interpret bioarchaeological data from archaeological sites such as cemeteries. We are interested in papers that explore the methodology of bioarchaeological isotopic and genetic analyses. There are no geographic or temporal limits to the subject matter. We encourage explorations of how this data serves to understand how groups may have changed in the past through migration or population interaction. Interdisciplinary approaches are highly encouraged.

Archaeological sciences and conservation science.

Session chair: Dr. Kenza Dufourmantelle

Conservation science and archaeological sciences are often considered to be sister disciplines but are usually treated separately as can be seen by the separate journals or conferences dedicated to them. Shouldn’t these sisters interact with each other more? Are they really that different? Over the past few years the two disciplines have grown closer and now show many complementary aspects. In this session we wish to look at the convergence between the two and to highlight the interaction between the two scientific communities. The session will be followed by a round table discussion.

X-rays as a versatile tool for the study of archaeological materials.

Session chair: Dr. Geneviève Treyvaud

This session focuses on the use of X-rays as a non-destructive technique and the new applications that are being used in archaeometry. All applications are welcome, from characterization of materials, including altered materials, to the visualization of objects both composite and aggregate. CTscan and micro-CTscan techniques can be used to visualize and characterize materials and can be combined with 3D visualizations. More traditional X-ray techniques for visualizing materials or characterizing materials (e.g. XRF, ITRAX) are also welcome.

Perspectives on the Americas: 13,000 years of migrations, interactions and exchange.

Session chairs: Amélie Guindon and Dr. Adrian L. Burke

This session covers the entire human history of the Americas, from the first Paleoindian colonizers to the historic period. Its focus is on how archaeometry is being used in the Americans today to explore questions such as population movement, chronology, exchange networks, exploitation and transformation of materials, and other cultural processes. We are also interested in how these studies can help to better understand the intercontinental movement of goods and people during the colonial and more recent historic periods.

Chronologies and dating methods.

Session chair: Dr. Adelphine Bonneau

This session is dedicated to chronological methods. We invite all researchers working on dating methods, including but not limited to radiocarbon, luminescence and Uranium series methods. We are interested in papers that present lab methods and protocols, as well as the construction of chronologies and modelling of these chronologies.

Raw materials, materials and objects: provenience, transformation use and alteration.

Session chairs: Dr. Florence Cattin and Dr. Laetitia Métreau

This session covers the analysis of and characterization of materials and objects. There is no geographic or temporal limit. We encourage interdisciplinary examples that show the combination of techniques and methods, including conservation science. Papers may cover methodology and/or applications to actual archaeological datasets.

Remote sensing, geomatics and paleoenvironmental modelling.

Session chairs: Guillaume Hulin and Yoann Chantreau

As the title describes, this session covers the ever-expanding fields of remote sensing, geomatics and paleoenvironmental modelling. In the past few decades the development of remote sensing techniques has obliged archaeologists to look at site survey and discovery in a different way. At the same time, CRM archaeology increases exponentially the number of sites found primarily through test pits and excavations. Onsite digital registering of data also increases the precision and location of what archaeologists recover. Add to this the increase in environmental data that is being recovered (faunal, floral, sedimentological) and we have an incredible opportunity to work on databases that are georeferenced and more exhaustive than ever before. When we combine these datasets using GIS we can also work at multiple geographic and temporal scales. This session wishes to look at these datasets in a transversal way and is open in particular to researchers working in geomatics, geophysics and paleoenvironmental reconstruction.

Geoarchaeological and botanical approaches to archaeological materials

Session chair: Dr. Cécilia Cammas

Human and climate histories are preserved in soils in the form of archaeological materials but also in the form of floral (phytoliths, pollen, macroremains) and faunal (diatoms) remains, and in the how soils are formed themselves. The methodology applied to these materials has seen significant advances in the past years both in Europe and in the Americas. This session is open to both geographic areas and welcomes submissions regarding methodology and also results. We hope to compare and contrast the methods and advances in Europe and the Americas and hope to identify cultural constants or variability. Several themes can be covered such as soil formation processes in various climates, earthen architecture, phytoliths or molecular analyses.