ArchaeoCafé - Episode 2-10 - Hard rock archaeology: An interview with Adrian Burke

In this episode we talk with Adrian Burke about the application of geosciences in archaeology and his research on tracing the movement of stone artefacts and raw materials in ancient times.

Episode notes are available on the ArchaeoCafé website.
http://archaeocafe.kvasirpublishing.com/archaeocafe-podcast-ep-210-burke

About Adrian Burke

Dr. Burke is an archaeologist at the Université de Montréal. His research focuses on the ancient history of northeastern North America and in particular the acquisition and use of stone in the past. He makes use of various methods from fields such as geology, chemistry, and physics. Dr. Burke manages the Centre de référence lithique du Québec (Quebec lithic reference collection) and is the director of the L'axe Laurentien depuis l'an deux mille avant notre ère project.

Web:
https://anthropo.umontreal.ca/repertoire-departement/professeurs/professeur/in/in14786/sg/Adrian%20L.%20Burke/
https://recherche.umontreal.ca/nos-chercheurs/repertoire-des-professeurs/chercheur/is/in14786/
https://umontreal.academia.edu/AdrianBurke
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adrian_Burke2

Some useful terminology and links

lithics
A term used in archaeology to refer to stone artefacts and the raw materials used to produce them.

petrography
A branch of petrology (itself a sub-field of geology) that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks - including the mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrography

X-ray fluorescence (XRF)
A method used in archaeology (as well as various other fields) to determine the element and chemicals that a material made up of. It is commonly used in archaeology to analyse stone, glass, ceramics, and metals.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_fluorescence

Centre de référence lithique du Québec (Quebec lithic reference collection)
A comparative lithic reference collection that was created by archaeologist Yvon Codère to help archaeologists working in Quebec and the greater Northeast. It contains over 500 geologic samples of rocks that were potentially used in the past to make stone tools.
http://www.avataq.qc.ca/en/Institute/Departments/Archaeology/Online-Resources/Collections/crlq

Selected reading

Inscriptions and Silences: Challenges of Bearing Witness at the Gila River Incarceration Camp
by Koji Lau-Ozawa
International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2021, Vol. 25, p. 851–876
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-020-00568-2
https://academia.edu/44270273/

Critical Mass: Charting a Course for Japanese Diaspora Archaeology
by Koji Lau-Ozawa and Douglas Ross
International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2021, Vol. 25, p. 577–591
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-020-00561-9
https://www.academia.edu/44270259/

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