Achievement

IGERT trainee Andrew Zipkin, working with archaeologist, Alison Brooks, geochemist John Hanchar (Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland), CASHP post-doctoral researcher Mark Grabowski and others developed protocols for the geochemical sampling and analysis of pigment samples (ochre) from ancient palaeolithic sites, by comparing especially neutron-activation analysis and laser-abation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. They were able to characterize successfully even very heterogenous samples, using new statistical approaches. The paper describing these results is now in review at Quaternary Science Reviews. The work has implications for understanding pigment procurement and use in multiple archaeological contexts and the bearing on the origins of symbolic behavior in humans.