Improvements to Soil Micromorphology Laboratory

土壤微形态实验室的改进

• 批准号: 0917739
• 负责人: Paul Goldberg
• 金额: $ 33.17万
• 依托单位: Trustees of Boston University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2013-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0917739&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improvements; Soil; Micromorphology; Laboratory

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The Micromorphology Laboratory in the Archaeology Department at Boston University is a unique facility in the United States and focuses on the microscopic analysis of intact sediments, soils, and archaeological materials (e.g. ceramic, plaster, and concrete). Principally, these techniques make use of petrographic thin sections, which are prepared from intact blocks of soil or sediment that are impregnated with polyester resin. The blocks are trimmed to size (typically 50 by 75 mm), mounted on glass slides, and ground to a thickness of 30 µm, close to the thickness of a human hair.Micromorphology has made significant contributions to archaeological analysis and interpretation over the past two decades. Since undisturbed sediments and soils are used, the context of the objects is preserved within the thin section and within the site's stratigraphy. Thus, the technique has been successful in isolating depositional and post-depositional processes at the site and regional level, whether they are of geological or human origin. Thus, it furnishes a holistic view of site formation processes, and robust insights into past human activities and behaviors. Its application has illuminated a wide range of key archaeological issues, such as the putative early use of fire at Zhoukoudian in China, evidence of early agriculture in Europe, the analysis of occupational space and activity areas, and more realistic interpretations of cultural deposits than have been provided in the past. It has been increasingly realized that micromorphology is an essential method for identifying precise archaeological contexts and for the understanding the use of space in archaeological sites.The Laboratory uses petrographic microscopes, ultra violet epi-fluorescence, and infra red spectrometry (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry - FTIR) attached to a petrographic microscope. This equipment (purchased mostly with funds from the National Science Foundation) has enabled us to make careful measurements of bones and sediments within thin sections, for example, enabling the determination of the mineralogy of objects and to make estimates of temperature achieved in prehistoric and historic archaeological settings. The Laboratory is investigating issues that include refinement of dating in early hominid sites, such as Dmanisi in Georgia; Neanderthal vs. modern human pyrotechnology in France, Israel, and Spain as high resolution indicators of hominin behavior; the analysis of cultural deposits from Near Eastern tells; analysis of putative earliest human coprolites in the New World; household archaeology during the Early Bronze in Southern Italy; and pottery making and table salt production during Pre-classic and classic Maya in Belize. Numerous PhD students from Boston University and elsewhere (e.g., Harvard, Universities of Connecticut, Arizona, Tennessee, and Toronto) have been or are being trained in the laboratory.The intellectual merit of the Micromorphology Laboratory is to improve and enhance the development of micromorphological techniques and strategies in archaeology. The ultimate goal is to make more effective and efficient inroads to understanding past human activities, behavior, and social interactions through detailed analysis of the deposits that past occupants left or modified at an archaeological site. In addition to scientific analyses, the broad impacts of the laboratory include the training of students in this unique facility and attracting researchers from various disciplines (e.g., earth sciences, archaeology, archaeological conservation, or chemistry) and locations, as both short- and long-term visitors. Both in-house training and interaction with external researchers serve to advance the technique and provide a deeper understanding of archaeological sediments.

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。波士顿大学考古系的微形态实验室是美国独一无二的设施，专注于对完整沉积物，土壤和考古材料（如陶瓷，石膏和混凝土）的微观分析。 主要地，这些技术利用岩石薄片，其从用聚酯树脂浸渍的完整土壤块或沉积物制备。 这些样品被修剪成一定的尺寸（通常为50 × 75 mm），安装在载玻片上，然后研磨成30 µm的厚度，接近人类头发的厚度。在过去的二十年里，微形态学对考古学的分析和解释做出了重大贡献。 由于使用了未受干扰的沉积物和土壤，因此在薄切片和现场地层中保留了对象的背景。 因此，该技术成功地在现场和区域一级隔离了沉积和沉积后过程，无论是地质或人类起源。因此，它提供了对场地形成过程的整体看法，以及对过去人类活动和行为的深刻见解。它的应用阐明了广泛的关键考古问题，如中国周口店早期使用火的假设，欧洲早期农业的证据，职业空间和活动区域的分析，以及比过去提供的更现实的文化底蕴解释。 越来越多的人认识到，微形态学是一个重要的方法，以确定精确的考古背景和了解空间的使用在考古遗址。实验室使用岩相显微镜，紫外落射荧光，和红外光谱（傅立叶变换红外光谱- FTIR）连接到岩相显微镜。 这些设备（主要是用国家科学基金会的资金购买的）使我们能够对薄切片中的骨骼和沉积物进行仔细测量，例如，能够确定物体的矿物学，并对史前和历史考古环境中的温度进行估计。该实验室正在调查的问题包括：在早期人类遗址（如格鲁吉亚的Dmanisi）中精确测定年代;尼安德特人与现代人类烟火技术在法国、以色列和西班牙作为人类行为的高分辨率指标;分析近东的文化沉积物;分析新世界推定的最早人类粪化石;意大利南部早期青铜器时期的家庭考古学;在伯利兹的前古典和古典玛雅时期，陶器制作和食盐生产。来自波士顿大学和其他地方的众多博士生（例如，哈佛大学、康涅狄格大学、亚利桑那大学、田纳西大学和多伦多大学）已经或正在实验室接受培训。微形态学实验室的智力价值是改进和加强考古学中微形态学技术和策略的发展。最终目标是通过详细分析过去居住者在考古遗址留下或修改的沉积物，更有效和高效地了解过去的人类活动，行为和社会互动。 除了科学分析外，实验室的广泛影响还包括在这个独特的设施中培训学生，并吸引来自各个学科的研究人员（例如，地球科学、考古学、考古保护或化学）和地点，作为短期和长期游客。 内部培训和与外部研究人员的互动都有助于推进该技术，并提供对考古沉积物的更深入了解。