Archaeometric Approaches to the Roman Near East

The purpose of my research this summer has been to participate in a full suite of archaeometric and geoarchaeological analyses, particularly as they are applied to sedimentology. The first section of my research has focused on an introduction to these procedures at ARL including laboratory safety procedures, proper sample collection and processing methods, and introduction to methods and purposes for a variety of laboratory analyses including grain size distribution analysis using a state of the art Malvern Mastersizer 3000 laser diffraction particle size analyzer, organic matter and inorganic carbon analysis, and microartifact analysis. During the field collection phase I worked directly with Dr. Erin Darby and Howard Cyr (UT ARL) recording and analyzing soil stratigraphy and taking soil samples for post-season analysis. Upon their return from the field, I worked with ARL to analyze the curated sediment samples during the 2017 field season.