Today, we had a great meeting at the Kimmel Center for Archaeological Sciences at the Weizmann Institute. The meeting was meant to go over a years analysis of the results of the 2007 season, from an archaeological and an archaeological science perspective. Most of the core staff of the Safi project (yours truly along with Itzik, Joe, Alex, Rona, Iosi, Shira, Amit, Debi and Rotem) came for the day, and from the archaeological science side we had, in addition to Prof. Steve Weiner, director of the Kimmel Center, Drs. Elisabetta Boaretto, Ruthy Shachak-Gross, Udi Weiss, as well as Lior, Noemi, Ofir and Larisa (graduate and post-graduate students at the center).
In the meeting, we went over, area by area, the archaeological and analytic results, and had fascinating discussions on a wide variety of matters. The day was particularly enjoyable and important, since all sides managed to learn and create a real feeling of research synergy. We also talked over plans for the coming season, and we are really going to be doing some very interesting research in the field.
As mentioned before, we will also be conducting a field school in archaeological science (in addition to the regular field school), with a diverse set of fields of archaeological science (archaeobotany, geoarchaeology, archaeozoology, materials science, radiometric dating, phytolith analysis, geo-chemistry, geo-physics, etc.), perhaps the only such program that exists in the world! We will be having participants from Israel and various countries in the world, and it should be quite a unique experience.
The program of the day was as followed
Area E: Itzik reported on the stratigraphy
Area E: Elisabetta/Steve reported on chemical and physical analyses from these areas.
Area P: Rona reported on the stratigraphy of the area
Area P: Udi reported some very unique botanical remains that were found in area P (unfortunately, not in the clearest and well-defined context) and a general overview of the distribution of charred botanical remains.
Area C: Shira reported on the stratigraphy of Area C
Area C: Lisa reported on analyses from Area C and A
Area D and T: Joe reported on the stratigraphy of Area D and T
Area A: Alex gave a lengthy report on the stratigraphy and finds from Area A.
Area A: Ruty reported on the micromorphology of the Philistine hearths, floors and other aspects as seen from the micromorphological samples
Shira: reported on the initial results of experimental hearth project
Area A: Lior report on the physical and chemical analysis of plaster and plaster-like finds from Area A.
Area A: Noemi reported on the physical analysis of the shell that were embedded in the plastered wall of a unique installation in Area A
Area A: Ofir reported on the phytolith results from last season, with particular focus on the results from the hearths
Area A: Larissa discussed the methods that will be used this season for on-site phosphate analysis
We then finished off the day (after 9 hours …) with a discussion of plans and goals for the coming season.
This was a fantastic day! We all felt that this is how such inter-disciplinary research should be conducted, with close cooperation, interface and dialogue.
We are all looking forward to continuing our work this summer.
Aren
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