Centre for Artefacts and Materials Analysis (CAMA)

Attention all Viking and Medieval specialists! Our brilliant Artefact Technical Specialist, Gareth Perry, has a new paper out titled: Aceramic Revolution? Understanding Technological Continuity and Change in Viking Age England. 🎉 @uoyarchaeology.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/0076...

Thank you @antiquity.ac.uk for sharing our research. Keep tuned, this project, led by our resident Danish DFF postdoc Patrick Nørskov Pedersen, has more to come!
@nessofbrodgar.bsky.social
@uoyarchaeology.bsky.social

Ooh, nice. We analysed these headdresses - see Elliott et al 2018 and Little et al. 2016.

At the cutting edge: biographies of Orcadian Neolithic axes | Antiquity | Cambridge Core At the cutting edge: biographies of Orcadian Neolithic axes

New paper out by the @cama-york.bsky.social team 🎉 This one is led by our resident postdoc, here of a danish DFF fellowship, Patrick Nørskov Pedersen. Just look at those beautiful @nessofbrodgar.bsky.social axes. @uoyarchaeology.bsky.social
doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

We love these replica Must Farm pots being made at our YEAR Centre for a Master's project 😍 @uoyarchaeology.bsky.social

Tabea Koch, a former @uoyarchaeology.bsky.social PhD student, now a postdoc at the British Museum, gave a @cama-york.bsky.social talk entitled "Divine creatures: New molecular research on Egyptian animal mummies at the British Museum". With a title like that, it was no wonder we had a full house!

Our Experimental Archaeology Masters students have been exploring the use of ceramic hotplates to produce simple flatbreads - working through the entire process, from making and firing the hotplate, grinding the seeds, baking the bread. @uoyarchaeology.bsky.social

Ancient DNA and biomarkers from artefacts: insights into technology and cultural practices in Neolithic Europe | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Birch bark tar was widely used throughout prehistoric Europe for hafting stone tools as well as various other purposes. While previous research has mainly focused on the identification and production ...

New paper out by members of @cama-york.bsky.social 🎉

"Ancient DNA and biomarkers from artefacts: insights into technology and cultural practices in Neolithic Europe"

doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

TAG 2025 Bursary Application Thank you for your interest in applying for a bursary to present at TAG 2025 in York. Please complete the form below to help us assess your eligibility and better understand the context of your applic...

Today is the deadline for bursary applications! Click the link to apply: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We had an excellent research forum talk by guest speaker Gregor Bader from the University of Tübingen titled:
"Reconstructing hunter-gatherer behavior during the Middle and Late Stone Age in southernmost Africa". Wonderful to see results from the recent fieldwork campaigns.

We were delighted to have a visit this week from a former Material Culture and Experimental Archaeology Masters student, Frankie Wong, who is now working on the 'Power Hall' at the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester. Frankie graduated from the programme in 2022.

York Experimental Archaeology Research (YEAR) Centre and @cama-york.bsky.social postdoc, Patrick Nørskov Pedersen (funded by the Danish DFF scheme) presented at our Research Forum on Orcadian Neolithic axes, including the @nessofbrodgar.bsky.social axe assemblage.

Burial Site challenges stereotypes of Stone Age women and children Study has revealed new insights into Stone Age life and death, showing that stone tools were just as likely to be buried with women and children as with men.

A study led by @cama-york.bsky.social has revealed new insights into Stone Age life and death, showing that stone tools were just as likely to be buried with women and children as with men

Open access paper in @plosone.org doi.org/10.1371/jour... 🔓 📄

What are lithic ontologies? Published in World Archaeology (Vol. 56, No. 2, 2024)

What are lithic ontologies?

Delighted to share a new paper just out in World Archaeology by @cama-york.bsky.social Director Aimée Little, Astrid Nyland and Chantal Conneller. This caps the special issue on, you guessed it, Lithic Ontologies! doi.org/10.1080/0043...

First stage in technological production of Stone Age animal teeth pendants: evidence from Zvejnieki (Latvia) and wider social implications - Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Animal teeth were amongst the most common materials utilised for personal ornament production during the Stone Age, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. The hunter-gatherer cemetery site of Zvejniek...

Very happy to say that Aimée Little and Andy Needham from @cama-york.bsky.social group and collaborators have a new paper out on the production of animal teeth pendants - exploring the question of how the teeth were extracted from mandibles:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Slow cooking used to extract animal teeth for Stone Age jewellery Research shows teeth used in prehistoric jewellery were extracted after a carcass was slow-cooked.

The BBC has done a short piece on our teeth pendant research 🤩
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

We are delighted that this major piece of research is out and now gaining a lot of media interest!

‘Slow pit-cooking’ likeliest method to extract animal teeth for Stone Age ornaments, study shows Prehistoric people used a culinary method, similar to slow cooking today, to carefully extract animal teeth to use in decorative crafts, such as pendant-making, archaeologists have shown.

Prehistoric people used a culinary method similar to slow cooking to carefully extract animal teeth for use in decorative crafts, according to a study by archaeologists at
@cama-york.bsky.social and University of Helsinki 🦷 ⛏️

#Openaccess paper in Archaeol Anthropol Sci: doi.org/10.1007/s125... 🔓 📃

Major grant to explore the discovery of Wales’ first complete ancient chariot The University of Manchester and Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales have been awarded a  £1.25 million research grant by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) following the discovery of an Iron ...

Very cool indeed! Well done Mel and Adam! www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/w...

Thank you to all who came to the CAMA opening on Friday. An especially big thank you to our guest speaker, Prof Annelou van Gijn, who gave a truly brilliant talk full of thought proving artefact biography stories from across her distinguished career. @cama-york.bsky.social is now officially open🎉🍾🥂

Studying object biographies, telling stories of the past Objects reveal rich histories through their materials, crafting, and use, offering insights into past lives, beliefs, and interactions.

Looking forward to our official opening this week! We are delighted to have a guest lecture by Prof Annelou van Gijn and Prof Mark Edmonds as discussant. If you haven't got your ticket already, you can do so here:
www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Studying object biographies, telling stories of the past Objects reveal rich histories through their materials, crafting, and use, offering insights into past lives, beliefs, and interactions.

www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

We are delighted to announce the official opening of @cama-york.bsky.social !! This is combined with our Royal Society of Antiquaries Summer Lecture "Studying object biographies, telling stories of the past" by Prof. Annelou van Gijn. To book a ticket, see the link in the comments.

Excellent lunchtime CAMA talk by Reb Ellis-Haken today. Reb showcased her recent photographic work, results from the on-going Leverhulme Trust funded ‘Cults of the Head?’ project and earlier work on Britain’s most figuratively decorated vessel from the late Iron Age: the Marlborough Bucket.

Really happy to hear her making the argument for skilled photography in archaeology again, after so much photogrammetry and phone photos.

Photogrammetric 3D modelling and experimental archaeology reveals new technological insights into engraved soapstone sinker production in Western Norway (6400-3300 cal. BC) This pilot research presents the first study integrating digital submillimetre image-based 3D modelling with experimental archaeology to examine how s…

New paper out by @cama-york.bsky.social director Aimée Little and Norwegian-based colleagues 🎉🎉🎉🇧🇻
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Another brilliant @cama-york.bsky.social lunchtime talk today!
Gustav Hejlesen Solberg, a visiting PhD Fellow from the University of Copenhagen and the National Museum of Denmark, gave an excellent talk titled: "Vikings, weapons and violence". So many questions we ran over time...

ISHGR regret that we have been forced to cancel CHAGS14, which was to have been held June 2026 in University of Nevada, Reno, USA. This decision reflects our concern about the current political situation in America and the uncertainties and risks for those travelling there. The ISHGR Board are currently exploring options for CHAGS14 and we will update you as soon as possible.

ISHGR regret that we have been forced to cancel CHAGS14, which was to have been held June 2026 in University of Nevada, Reno, USA.

This decision reflects our concern about the current political situation in America and the uncertainties and risks for those travelling there.

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I was asked to appear on BBC Uncanny to say something about Roman ghosts in York! It was fun, though they cut all critical and nuanced comments on ghost stories and archaeology. Reduced to 10 sec. 'here is an archaeologist who points out a Roman road, so the story must be true'😂 lesson learnt.

Visiting MCSA Fellow, Symon Radchenko - a scholar from ukraine, now based @unistavanger.bsky.social - gave a fantastic talk as part of the @cama-york.bsky.social lunchtime series:

Thousand scratches of prehistoric art in 3D: a closer look

A big thank you to Symon and everyone who came!
🇬🇧🇺🇦🇧🇻