Course Description
The course introduces students to fundamental microscopic techniques used in archaeology. It focuses on the operating principles of individual methods, their analytical potential, and their limitations, with particular emphasis on their practical application in the study of archaeological materials.
Special attention is given to use-wear analysis, the study of organic residues on lithic artefacts, and the examination of ceramic surfaces. The course includes practical demonstrations of selected methods applied to specific artefacts, as well as critical discussions of relevant scholarly literature.
Upon completion, students will gain a comprehensive overview of microscopic methods in archaeology. They will be able to distinguish between basic types of microscopes used in archaeological research and understand their underlying principles. Students will also be familiar with the capabilities and limitations of individual techniques, apply appropriate microscopic methods to different types of artefacts, critically evaluate academic literature, and design suitable analytical approaches for specific research questions.
Course Requirements
Students are expected to attend lectures and seminars. The course includes reading selected academic studies and participating in discussions.
Assessment options
? final written test, or
? continuous assessment based on active seminar participation, discussion of academic articles, and presentation of one case study
Course Content
1. Introduction to Microscopy in Archaeology
o history and development of methods, overview of applications in archaeology
2. Basic Principles of Microscopy
o optical microscopy (stereo microscope, metallographic microscope), magnification, resolution, contrast
3. Advanced Microscopic Techniques
o electron microscopy (SEM), confocal microscopy, 3D surface documentation
4. Sample Preparation and Documentation
o cleaning of artefacts, replication techniques (silicone casts)
5. Use-Wear and Organic Residue Analysis ? Theory
o formation of use-wear traces, types of wear, types of residues (lipids, starches, proteins), microscopic identification, complementary methods (FTIR, GC-MS)
6. Use-Wear Analysis ? Practice
o building a reference collection, identification of traces on lithic artefacts
7. Taphonomy and Degradation
o post-depositional processes, environmental effects
8. Ceramic Microscopy
o surface treatment, production technology (you may refine this depending on focus)
9. Quantification and Digital Analysis
o image analysis methods
10. Case Studies and Discussion of Academic Literature
- Учитель: Anna-Marie Marko
- Учитель: Richard Thér
Innovations in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic presents principal innovations in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic that transformed lives of humans and hominids. Each of 13 classes aims to introduce one of these innovations. Theoretical overview is based on archaeological evidence particularly from Africa, Levant, and Europe, and it is supplemented by ethnographic analogies in case where archaeological evidence is missing. During the seminar, students present the assigned journal article and discuss it subsequently. Students obtain basic knowledge on major innovations in the hunter-gatherer societies in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. They learn about hunter-gatherer ways of processing of stone, bone, and wood, about the ways of living, tool manufacture, hunting, eating, clothing, and burying the deceased. Students are able to distinguish major type tools used in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic and they are able to look up appropriate scientific literature. Students are capable of critically reading scientific article, presenting its principal themes and discussing it in English.
Osnova předmětu:
1. Terminology and history of archaeological research
2. Stone tools
3. Use of fire
4. Burial practises
5. Bone technology
6. Wooden technology
7. Art and decorations
8. Dwellings, sedentism, and early architecture
9. Clothing
10. Ground stone tools
11. Fishing technologies
12. Domestication of plants and animals
13. Pottery
Arranz Otaegui , A., Carretero , L.G., Ramsey , M.N., Fuller , D.Q., Richter, T., 2018. Archaeobotanical evidence reveals the origins of bread 14,400 years ago in northeastern Jordan. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. PNAS.
Bar Yosef, O. 1998. The Natufian culture in the Levant, threshold to the origins of agriculture. Evolutionary Anthropology 6:159 77.
Belfer-Cohen, A., Goring-Morris, N. 2002. Why Microliths? Microlithization in the Levant. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 12(1):57 ? 68 DOI: 10.1525/ap3a.2002.12.1.57
Goren-Inbar, N., Alperson, N., Kislev, M. E., Simchoni, O., Melamed, Y., Ben-Nun, A., Werker, E. 2004. Evidence of Hominin Control of Fire at Gesher Benot Ya?aqov, Israel. Science 304, 752.
Grosman, L., Munro, N. D. Belfer Cohen, A. 2008. A 12,000 year old shaman burial from the southern Levant (Israel). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences PNAS) 105 (44).
Haklay, G., Gopher A. 2015. A New Look at Shelter 131/51 in the Natufian Site of Eynan (Ain Mallaha), Israel. PLOS ONE 10(7): e0130121.
Mithen, S. 2004. After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000-5000 BC. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Nadel D. 2003. A long continuity: the Ohalo II brush huts (19.5 ky) and the dwelling structures in the Natufian and PPNA sites in the Jordan Valley. Archaeology, Anthropology and Ethnology in Euroasia 13(1):34 48.
Pedergnana, A., Cristiani, E., Munro, N., Valletta, F., Sharon, G. 2021. Early line and hook fishing at the Epipalaeolithic site of Jordan River Dureijat (Northern Israel). PLoS ONE 16(10): e0257710.
Piperno, D. R., Weiss, E., Holst, I., and Nadel, D. 2004. Processing of wild cereals grains in the Upper Palaeolithic revealed by starch grain analysis. Nature 430: 670 673.
Wright, K. 1991. The origins and development of groundstone tool assemblages in Late Pleistocene Southwest Asia. Pal é orient 17(1): 19-45.
Ibá?ez, J.J., Anderson, P.C., González Urquijo, J., Gibaja, J., 2016. Cereal cultivation and domestication as shown by microtexture analysis of sickle gloss through confocal microscopy. J. Archaeol. Sci. 73, 62-81.
Liua, L., Wanga, J., Rosenberg, D., Zhaoc, H., Lengyeld, G., Nadel, D. 2018. Fermented beverage and food storage in 13,000 y old stone mortars at Raqefet Cave Israel: Investigating Natufian ritual feasting . Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Volume 21, p. 783-793.
Zeder, M. A., Hesse, B. 2000. The Initial Domestication of Goats (Capra hircus) in the Zagros Mountains 10,000 Years Ago, Science 287, 2254.
- Учитель: Anna-Marie Marko
Smyslem předmětu je seznámení studenta s procesy, které provázely vznik a šíření zemědělství a složité společnosti před vznikem států. Mnohé z nich lze považovat za analogie k příslušným obdobím v archeologii Evropy. Důležité je i vytvoření představy o tom, které oblasti mohly mít vliv na vývoj v Evropě. Absolvováním předmětu získají studenti tyto znalosti, schopnosti a způsobilosti: základními prameny odlišují jednotlivé oblasti, dokáží srovnat vývoj v oblasti Egypta a tzv. Úrodného půlměsíce, dokáží porovnat způsoby obživy, chápou základní procesy proměny, chápou odlišnosti oblastí se znalostí základních lokalit, faktory ovlivňující vznik složitější společnosti (hlavně v období eneolitu/chalkolitu).
Osnova předmětu:
1. Závěr éry lovců a sběračů v oblasti tzv. úrodného půlměsíce
2. Předkeramický neolit v oblasti tzv. úrodného půlměsíce - Levanta (vývoj natufien - PPN A a PPN B)
3. Předkeramický neolit v oblasti tzv. úrodného půlměsíce - sever Mezopotámie
4. Keramický neolit v oblasti tzv. úrodného půlměsíce
5. Chalkolit v oblasti tzv. úrodného půlměsíce
6. Urský stát a počátek psaných dějin
7. Závěr éry lovců a sběračů v oblasti údolí Nilu
8. Vývoj neolitu v Západní poušti
9. Vývoj neolitu v údolí Nilu
10. Kultury předdynastického Egypta
11. Egyptský stát v době první dynastie
12. Egyptský stát v době druhé dynastie
13. Šíření neolitu PPN suchozemskou a námořní cestou z oblastí PPN do Egejské oblasti, otázka zpoždění neolitu v Anatolii a egejské oblasti, otázka neolitizace autochtonními lovci a příchozími zemědělci, mechanismus neolitizace přes "zemědělskou hranici", význam Kypru pro poznání šíření neolitického způsobu života a počáteční zpracování mědi, vztah k Anatolii
- Учитель: Anna-Marie Marko