Learn a New Skill

We invite you to learn a new skill and sign up for a workshop. SAA workshops provide continuing education to advance professionalization. Workshops have limited enrollments, so sign up soon!

Wednesday, April 23

Everything You Wanted to Know about Archaeometry but Were Afraid to Ask: Tips and Guidelines for Collaborating with the Archaeometry Lab at MURR

Sponsored by the Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR)

9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.; 40 maximum; $20 per participant

Instructors: Brandi L. MacDonald, James Davenport, Virginie Renson, Wesley Stoner, Jeffrey Ferguson, Jay Stephens, Alejandro Figueroa, and Whitney Goodwin

Do you have questions about provenance research? Have you ever considered undertaking chemical analysis but not sure where to start? Are you curious about what techniques and training opportunities are available to students and early career researchers or to those looking to broaden their use of archaeological science? Come join the team of experts from the Archaeometry Laboratory at MURR for a workshop that will cover a wide range of provenance topics and collaborative research opportunities. We will discuss the use of methods including neutron activation analysis (NAA), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and elemental and isotopic analysis by mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS, MC-ICP-MS) and how these can be applied to varied archaeological materials—from ceramics and obsidian, to glasses, glazes, metals, pigments, and bone. We will also discuss aspects of our legacy NAA databases and the lab’s data management policies, our NSF-funded opportunities for education and training, and our NSF subsidy program for researchers in academic and nonprofit organizations. A pre-workshop survey will be circulated to all registered participants in advance of the workshop to inform the organizers of specific questions, topics, and issues for discussion. Workshop organizers will use this information to help guide the content. The topics will either be covered in the main content of the workshop or through a Q&A session with Archaeometry Lab specialists.

Learning Objectives:

Gain an understanding of the fundamental concepts and methods involved in provenance studies and the scientific methods available at the Archaeometry Lab;

• advantages and disadvantages of different techniques;
• the range of materials that can be analyzed by varied techniques;
• best practices for sample selection and preparation;
• basic analytical procedures and statistical routines for elemental data;
• knowledge of existing regional databases for comparative materials; and
• education and training opportunities at MURR;
• the Archaeometry Lab’s Data Management Plan, their legacy databases, and the various ways in which original research is produced, disseminated, and managed for future scholarly reuse;
• the various educational and training opportunities for early career researchers: support for undergrads, graduate students, postdoctoral research fellows, and visiting scholars; and
• the lab’s NSF-subsidy mini-proposal program for reduced analytical fees

Reproducible Reporting in R

Sponsored by the SAA Zooarchaeology Interest Group and Quantitative Methods & Statistical Computing in Archaeology Interest Group

2:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.; 20 minimum, 25 maximum; $20 per participant

Instructors: Jonathan Dombrosky and Jesse Wolfhagen

While many think of “reproducibility” in terms of reporting standards in a scientific publication (e.g., “Methods” sections), the role of reproducibility in the handling, analysis, and reporting of data is underappreciated. Missing raw data or insufficient analytical documentation can make scientific conclusions unverifiable and is part of the broader “reproducibility crisis” that affects many scientific fields, including archaeology. This workshop will introduce participants to one reproducible reporting workflow, using an open-source program called Quarto. Already integrated into the latest versions of RStudio, Quarto is a technical publishing system that combines multiple programming languages and exports a range of different file types. This means that every figure, statistic, and calculation in a fully formatted publication or report can be tied back to raw data using one file type. We demonstrate a Quarto workflow using technical archaeofaunal reports from active field projects to illustrate the benefits of reproducible reporting. Such an approach enhances internal reporting consistency, aids collaboration, reduces writing time, and increases understanding of complex archaeological phenomena. Participants must have the latest versions of R and RStudio functioning on a personal computer. A working knowledge of the R programming language is helpful but not required for this workshop.

Learning Objective:

• Learn basic programming functions in R using tidyverse syntax;
• Understand what a seamless analysis-to-reporting workflow looks like
• work with example reports in Quarto; and
• gain a deeper appreciation for reproducible research.

Thursday, April 24

Distinguishing Human from Non-Human Animal Bone in Archaeological Contexts

Sponsored by the SAA Zooarchaeology Interest Group and the SAA Bioarchaeology Interest Group

11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.; 30 minimum, 40 maximum; $16.50 per participant

Instructors: James Watson

Distinguishing human from nonhuman animal bones in archaeological contexts can have significant legal, ethical, and analytical implications. Identification can be particularly problematic when remains are fragmentary or from juvenile individuals. In addition to obvious differences in skeletal anatomy between species, human bone structure has evolved to be less dense overall compared to other mammals. Historically, the misidentification of bone in field settings has led to the unwitting curation of human remains in zooarchaeological (“bulk”) collections. This workshop is designed to provide some of the basics to help field practitioners with identification. Familiarity with anatomy and osteology is helpful for this workshop but not required. Pictures and specimens of non-archaeological human remains are incorporated into this workshop to help train participants.

Learning Objective:

• Become more familiar with human and non-human animal anatomy and osteology; and
• Understand basic criteria for distinguishing human from non-human animal bone on a variety of skeletal elements.

The Classroom of One Million: Social Media as an Educational Tool

3:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.; 15 minimum, 20 maximum; $23.50 per participant

Instructors: Flint Dibble and Milo Rossi

Have you ever wanted to share archaeology with one million people? Today’s online ecosystem provides unprecedented opportunities for sharing archaeological research. This workshop will arm participants with practical guidance for communicating archaeology online, specifically geared toward video creation. Led by Milo Rossi (Miniminuteman on YouTube) and Flint Dibble (Cardiff University), participants will leave with an understanding of opportunities, challenges, and methods for creating engaging and accessible content. We will guide participants from an idea to a blueprint for producing a simple but effective archaeology video. The goal is to organize a follow-up online archaeology event where we all share and boost our videos, demonstrating the effectiveness of online archaeology outreach. We will discuss how to engage an audience, build online community, and make complex topics digestible for a mainstream viewership. We will examine the challenges of engaging with pseudoscience that proliferates in these spaces and how to approach it in an ethical manner. The group will brainstorm and refine video ideas and work together to plan out a group effort to jumpstart an ecosystem of archaeology creators. By using these tools, we can shift the tide of science denialism, increase archaeology knowledge, and make scholarship more accessible to everyone.

Learning Objective:

• Skills for writing accessible and informative scripts that appeal to a broad viewership;
• Training in practical knowledge for creating video content;
• Examining the ethical challenges that arise when engaging in the online world;
• Advising particiapnts on best practices for engaging with pseudoscience and misinformation;
• Building community among archaeology communicators; and
• Developing a cohesive and impactful archaeology ecosystem.