Daily Life in the Upper Tigris: Microdebris Analysis at Kenan Tepe, Turkey
For this project, students will be involved with microdebris analysis of samples derived from Late Chalcolithic Period (3500-3000 BCE) domestic contexts at the site of Kenan Tepe, Turkey. Microdebris analysis involves the recovery of minute (<1cm) pieces of stone, pottery, bone, and seeds that become embedded in living surfaces during the daily usage of a space. Due to their small size, microartifacts represent unintentional deposition at the original location of an activity. They are also most likely to not be affected by cleaning or sweeping activities in the past or post-depositional processes, such as erosion and bioturbation.
The recovery and quantification of these "microartifacts" through sorting, identification, and quantification can reveal the level, frequency, and location of human activities within and outside of household spaces. Microartifacts may also provide information on activities that are rarely represented by larger artifacts. Likewise many items, such as fine ware ceramics, may only be preserved in micro-artifact form.
Research apprentices, with the assistance of post-doctoral scholar Dr. Catherine Foster, will be responsible for sorting microdebris samples into their constituent materials: ceramics, stone, bone, shell, mud brick, charcoal, and seeds. The apprentices will also get the opportunity to build and contribute to a brand new microarchaeology website/blog that will serve as a microartifact classification database and online resource for microarchaeologists across the globe.