AEB_A16e Microscopy practice for archaeologists

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2024
Extent and Intensity
2/2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Ludmila Kaňáková Hladíková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Markéta Havlíková (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. et Mgr. Ludmila Kaňáková Hladíková, Ph.D.
Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Šibíčková
Supplier department: Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Wed 8:00–11:40 M12, except Wed 17. 4.
  • Timetable of Seminar Groups:
AEB_A16e/A: No timetable has been entered into IS. L. Kaňáková Hladíková
AEB_A16e/B: No timetable has been entered into IS. L. Kaňáková Hladíková
Prerequisites
Course is adequate for students of magister studies. It required advanced knowledge of individual artefact classes, and understanding the debate of its archaeological analysis.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 8 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 6/8, only registered: 1/8
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 15 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to practically educate students in operating of various types of microscopes for individual methods of artefactual analysis.
Learning outcomes
After the course will absolved, student will able self-sufficiently and securely operate various types of microscopes and realise analyses including documentation.
Syllabus
  • 1. introduction to microscopy, parts and construction of microscope, configuration of microscope for individual analytical aims, introduction to work in laboratory and microscope operating, sampling, sample manipulation, cleaning and setting into right position
  • 2. determination of lithic raw materials by water-immerse method - identification of microfossils in silicite mass
  • 3. analysis of ceramic paste by observation of polished-sections and thin-sections
  • 4. use-wear analysis on lithic chipped and grinded artefacts, on bone and antler artefacts and byproducts - functional, transport, hafting/prehension wear
  • 5. use-wear analysis on metal artefacts - copper, bronze, risks of conservation, manufacture and use traces
  • 6. residues on lithic and metal artefacts - identification in situ, risks of apriori mistake, basic types of residues observable in-situ, methods of sampling and identification in vitro
Literature
    required literature
  • QUINN, Patrick S. Ceramic petrography : the interpretation of archaeological pottery & related artefacts in thin section. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2013, 251 s. ISBN 9781905739592. info
  • Prehension and hafting traces on flint toolsa methodology. Edited by Veerle Rots. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2010, xix, 273 p. ISBN 9789058678010. info
  • PŘICHYSTAL, Antonín. Kamenné suroviny v pravěku východní části střední Evropy (Lithic raw materials in prehistoric times of eastern Central Europe). 1st ed. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2009, 331 pp. Munipress. ISBN 978-80-210-4928-4. info
  • GIJN, A. L. van. The wear and tear of flint : principiles of functional analysis applied to dutch neolithic assemblages. [Leiden: Institute of prehistory, University of Leiden, 1990, 182 s. info
    not specified
  • GEORGESCU, M. Dan. Microfossils through time : an introduction : first steps in micropaleontology. Stuttgart: Schweizerbart Science Publishers, 2018, xiii, 400. ISBN 9783510654130. info
  • MACGREGOR, Arthur. Bone, antler, ivory & horn : the technology of skeletal materials since the Roman period. First published. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015, 245 stran. ISBN 9781138814172. info
  • GIJN, A. L. van. Flint in focus : lithic biographies in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Leiden: Sidestone, 2010, xxii, 288. ISBN 9789088900334. info
  • ARMSTRONG, Howard A. and M. D. BRASIER. Microfossils. Second edition. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2005, vii, 296. ISBN 9780632052790. info
  • JUEL JENSEN, Helle. Flint tools and plant working : hidden traces of stone age technology. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 1994, ix, 263. ISBN 8772884541. info
Teaching methods
Students of both groups attend a lecture (1.5h) in the classroom in one week and practice in the laboratory in consecutive groups in the second week. The lecture will explain the theoretical foundations of the methods. During practice, the student independently applies the acquired knowledge, identifies features and characteristics of samples, documents them and prepares a standard research report.
Assessment methods
Student have to present ability to
1. self-sufficiently choice right microscope and configuration for proposed sample.
2. identify proposed feature of the sample - damage, use-wear, technology, raw-material etc.
3. prepare analytical report
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
In Spring semester 2024, students alternate in stable groups A and B. Both groups attend together the lectures in classroom, but they attend independenly the practice in the lab. The lecture and the practice alternate weekly. Full attendance in regular terms is strongly recommended, because theory and practice cannot be easily compensated.

Regarding the laboratory regime, own slippers are recommended; shoe covers are to dispose.

The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2024/AEB_A16e