International Archaeology Day
On October 17, 2015, CAAM helped the Museum celebrate International Archaeology Day by offering the public tours of its facilities, which showcased what goes on in the labs. Visitors had a chance to learn how anthropologists analyze animal bones, forensic anthropologists use the anatomy and microstructure of human bone as clues in restoring a skeleton’s “personhood,” archaeometallurgists reconstruct ancient metal-working technologies, prehistoric humans cooked plants for their daily meals, and discuss where ancient ceramic objects were made and how far they were traded.
More information is available at www.penn.museum/caam.
Summer Institute in Archaeological Science
From June 27–July 8, 2016, the Penn Museum will offer a two-week college preparation summer program with CAAM faculty for high school students. Called the Summer Institute in Archaeological Science, this course is based on the popular college-level CAAM Food and Fire course and is being offered in collaboration with the Learning Programs Department. The Summer Institute will acclimate students to college-level work and examine how we study the past, utilizing inquiry and the scientific process. High school students will attend discussions led by Penn teaching specialists and staff, as well as participate in hands-on lab work. Contact teens@pennmuseum.org for more information. Application details will be released in January.
New Staff at CAAM
The Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM) turned a year old in September 2015, and welcomed two new staff members who will broaden the scope of archaeological science programs at the Museum. Moritz Jansen was previously a Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeometallurgy, German Mining Museum (Deutsches Bergbau-Museum), Bochum, Germany. Dr. Chantel White, who specializes in archaeobotany, came to us from a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Anthropology at Notre Dame, Indiana.