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Masterclasses at the Netherlands Institute in Turkey
New Approaches in Archaeobotany
5-9
October 2009
The Netherlands
Institute in Turkey organizes an intensive one-week course on
archaeobotanical research and methods, from 5-9 October 2009.
Instructor is Prof. Dr. René Cappers of Groningen and Leiden
Universities, the Netherlands.
The
course will take place at the institute’s premises in Beyoğlu,
İstanbul. There will be two levels: 1) ‘masterclasses’ targeting
participants with some knowledge of and research interest in the area
of archaeobotany, and 2) lectures that will be open for all interested
archaeologists. Travel and accommodation will be covered for the
participants of the masterclasses (see below).
The course
The
study of plant remains in archaeological contexts is part of many
excavations. The results can be used to reconstruct the impact of
climate and man on the former vegetation. More specifically, plant
records can be used to reconstruct the exploitation of the vegetation
as a source of food, fuel, building material and possible use in for
example medicinal or ritual contexts. Of specific interest is the
origin of the cultivated (domesticated) plants. Wild plants will inform
about local production or import (luxury items).
The
course will deal with several subjects related to archaeobotanical
research. Emphasis will be placed on the relation between research
questions and sampling procedures. In this respect, understanding the
botanical composition of specific archaeological contexts is of special
interest. This includes the knowledge of the transport of plant remains
from fields to the site and the final destination in specific contexts
within the settlement.
The
program consists of lectures, discussions and laboratory workshops.
Participants are expected to give informal presentations of their
research projects or research plans. In addition, it will be possible
to discuss research projects with René Cappers. This might include a
discussion on the possibilities of starting up archaeobotanical
research as well as a discussion on archaeobotanical studies in
progress.
Topics
Topics
include: the taphonomy of the archaeobotanical archive; Research
questions and sampling methods; The origin of agriculture;
Reconstructing the former food economy; Pollen analysis;
Archaeobotanical evidence of domestication; The representativeness of
the founder crops; The importance of wild plants in the
archaeobotanical record
A detailed program will be announced in a later circular.
Participation in the masterclasses
The
(non-credit) masterclasses are of interest to those who are active in
the field of archaeobotany, including particularly MA and PhD students,
as well as those who already have a basic training in the field and are
planning to pursue archaeobotanical research in the near future.
As the course will be taught in English a sufficient level of spoken English is required.
Parts
of the program are open to all archaeologists and students who are
interested in the contribution of archaeobotany to the reconstruction
of the former economy and landscape.
Course registration and deadlines
There
is a maximum of 12 participants for the masterclasses. Because of the
limited number of places, interested persons are asked to apply by
filling out the attached form and return it to the Netherlands
Institute in Turkey (by e-mail: nit@nit-istanbul.org) before June 20,
2009. NIT will have to select if there are too many applicants. You
will be notified by July 1 whether you are accepted.
Costs
The
course is offered for free. Accomodation will be arranged for
participants of the masterclasses from outside Istanbul (within Turkey) and their
travel costs will be reimbursed. Lunches and one dinner will be
provided for all course participants.
About the instructor
René
Cappers (1957) currently holds teaching positions at Groningen
University and Leiden University
(http://archaeology.leiden.edu/organisation/staff/cappers.html). He is
a member of the Curatorium of the Netherlands Institute for the Near
East. After studying biology at Groningen, specializing in plant
ecology and archaeobotany, he wrote a PhD-thesis dealing with
methodological aspects of archaeobotanical research. Postdoc projects
concerned the study of the modeling of the transition to farming in the
Near East and the Roman trade with Africa south of the Sahara, Arabia
and India. Recent archaeobotanical research in the Near East is carried
out in Turkey (including Ilıpınar, Menteşe, Barcın Höyük,
Güvercinkayası and Tepecik), Syria (Sabi Abyad), Egypt (Theban Desert
Road and the Fayum), Greece (Geraki) and Italy (Lazio and Calabria).
Since 2002 he is co-director, together with Dr. Willeke Wendrich
(UCLA), of the Fayum Project. This project includes excavations at the
Neolithic sites Kôm W and Kôm K (and its associated upper K
pits), an excavation at the Greek-Roman settlement Karanis (Kôm Aushim)
and surveys in the surrounding desert.
Recent publications by René Cappers include:
Cappers,
R.T.J., 2008: Plant remains from the Late Neolithic and Early
Chalcolithic levels, in J. Roodenberg & S. Roodenberg-Alpaslan
(eds), Life and death in a prehistoric settlement in Northwest
Anatolia. The Ilıpınar Excavations, volume III, Leiden (PIHANS 110).
Cappers,
R.T.J., R.M. Bekker, J.E.A. Jans, 2006: Digitale zadenatlas van
Nederland = Digital seed atlas of the Netherlands, Eelde/Groningen
(Groningen archaeological studies 4).
Cappers,
R.T.J., 2006: Roman foodprints at Berenike: archaeobotanical evidence
of subsistence and trade in the eastern desert of Egypt, Los Angeles
(Berenike reports 6).
Cappers, R.T.J., S. Bottema (eds), 2002: The dawn of farming in the Near East, Berlin.
Further information
Please e-mail Ms. Ayşe Dilsiz (a.dilsiz@nit-istanbul.org) if you have any questions. | | |
