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    Exploring the relationship between pottery form and function through lipid and SEM-EDS analysis in West Africa

    Date:
    11
    Thursday
    May
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Room 590, Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science
    Lecturer: Sören Pedersen
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join remotely. Join Zoom Meeting: https ... Read more Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join remotely. Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40YmF2TEVxVFg0UT09 Meeting ID: 484-590-1524 Meeting password: 045940
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    Ancient Language Processing

    Date:
    16
    Thursday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Room 590, Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Shai Gordin
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join remotely. Join Zoom Meeting: https ... Read more Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join remotely. Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40YmF2TEVxVFg0UT09 Meeting ID: 484-590-1524 Meeting password: 045940
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    What can radiocarbon dating tell us about the diagenesis of tooth enamel?

    Date:
    09
    Thursday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Room 590, Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Rachel Wood
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join remotely. Join Zoom Meeting: https:/ ... Read more Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join remotely. Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40YmF2TEVxVFg0UT09 Meeting ID: 484 590 1524 Meeting password: 045940
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    Silver mines, the rise of money and the advent of democracy

    Date:
    02
    Thursday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00
    Title: EPS Department and Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Location: Sussman Family Building for Environmental Sciences
    Lecturer: Prof. Francis Albarède
    Organizer: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
    Contact: dalia.madhala@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Over the last 2½ millenia, the world economy depended on prevailing currencies: ... Read more Over the last 2½ millenia, the world economy depended on prevailing currencies: the Athenian owl (530- 168 BCE), the Roman denarius (211 BCE-250 AD), the Spanish piece-of-eight (16th to 18th C), and today the US dollar. These reference monies were accepted everywhere and all, at least in the beginning, were made of silver. What is so special about this metal? Silver is useless and rare, but still abundant enough to match the wealth of nations and of their long-distance trade. Silver ores are associated with rare and recent tectonic environments, the Mediterranean world, notably the periphery of the Aegean Sea and Southern Iberia, and the American cordillera, Peru and Mexico. In contrast, they were markedly scarce in South and East Asia. After the virtual destruction of soils by the Anatolian farmers at the end of the Bronze Age, the Near and Middle East societies depended almost exclusively on the agriculture of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Late Bronze Age collapse (ca. 1200 BCE) corresponded to the migration of Greek people and resulted in the annihilation of all the empires outside of the flood plains. Silver by weight was nevertheless used to save populations from famine and trade wheat, barley and copper. Military innovations, hoplites and their phalanx, were, with silver mines, the main resources of the Greeks. Mercenaries received their wages in silver, notably through the tributes exacted in silver by the Achaemenid (Persion) kings. By minting silver, the returning Greek mercenaries emerged as strong middle classes . They soon claimed their share of the power, toppled the tyrants, and installed democracy in many poleis from Greece and Southern Italy. Modern economics teaches us that egalitarian distribution of wealth is unfortunately unstable and this case is well illustrated by Syracuse. At the beginning of the common era, the Roman Empire found itself the owner of centuries of silver extracted from Greece and from Iberia. This bullion was used to buy luxury products, frankincense from Arabia, spices and cotton from India, ivory and precious wood from Africa. Leakage of silver towards the Indian Ocean was so strong that coins were quickly debased by copper and by 250 AD most of the silver had been lost. The progressive replacement of silver by a bimetallic system, gold for the rich and bronze for the working class, progressively fractured the society and ushered the brutal Middle Age regimes. Silver famine had finally destroyed the democratic ideal of the Greeks. This is food for thought as disappearing mining resources may severely affect our current vision of societies.
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    Silver mines, the rise of money and the advent of democracy

    Date:
    02
    Thursday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00
    Location: Sussman Family Building for Environmental Sciences
    Lecturer: Prof. Francis Albarède
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join remotely. Join Zoom Meeting: https:/ ... Read more Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join remotely. Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40YmF2TEVxVFg0UT09 Meeting ID: 484 590 1524 Meeting password: 045940
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    Between Southern Caucasus and Near East: The Kura-Araxes culture in a wider context

    Date:
    26
    Thursday
    January
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Room 590, Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Elena Rova
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join remotely. Join Zoom Meeting: https:/ ... Read more Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join remotely. Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40YmF2TEVxVFg0UT09 Meeting ID: 484 590 1524 Meeting password: 045940
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    The Kura-Araxes culture between Caucasus and Near East: An Introduction Part 1

    Date:
    19
    Thursday
    January
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Room 590, Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Elena Rova
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40Ym ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40YmF2TEVxVFg0UT09 Meeting ID: 484 590 1524 Meeting password: 045940
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    "Horvat Tevet, the Jezreel Valley: a Village, and a Royal Israelite Estate"

    Date:
    12
    Thursday
    January
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Room 590, Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Omer Sergi
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40 ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40YmF2TEVxVFg0UT09 Meeting ID: 484-590-1524 Meeting password: 045940
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    Reconstructing deep-time human evolution using palaeoproteomics

    Date:
    05
    Thursday
    January
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Room 590, Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Enrico Cappellini
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40Ym ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40YmF2TEVxVFg0UT09 Meeting ID: 484 590 1524 Meeting password: 045940
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    The importance of deciphering natural processes in sites: understanding sedimentary structures and fabrics

    Date:
    08
    Thursday
    December
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Room 590
    Lecturer: Panagiotis Karkanas
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom details: Meeting ID: 484-590-1524 Meeting password: 045940

    The application of quantitative wood anatomy for investigating the relationship between forest primary productivity and woody biomass growth

    Date:
    01
    Thursday
    December
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40YmF2TEVxVFg0UT09
    Lecturer: Dr. Daniele Castagneri
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Meeting ID: 484 590 1524 Meeting password: 045940

    Yavne: A City of Wine and Pottery

    Date:
    24
    Thursday
    November
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Room 590
    Lecturer: Liat Nadav-Ziv
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom details: Meeting ID: 484-590-1524 Meeting password: 045940

    The ERC-StG project PEOPLE: searching for early Homo sapiens in the interior of South Africa

    Date:
    17
    Thursday
    November
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Room 590, Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Michael Toffolo
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il

    The ERC-StG project PEOPLE: searching for early Homo sapiens in the interior of South Africa

    Date:
    17
    Thursday
    November
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30
    Location: Room 590, Benoziyo Building for Biological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Michael Toffolo
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40Ym ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/4845901524?pwd=dkYybWIvTXVSaW40YmF2TEVxVFg0UT09 Meeting ID: 484 590 1524 Meeting password: 045940
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    "Archaeomagnetism of destruction layers: A tool for the study of site formation and synchronization"

    Date:
    10
    Thursday
    November
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 09:30
    Location: Room 591, Benoziyo Biochemistry
    Lecturer: Yoav Vaknin
    Contact: harsh.raj@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Meeting ID: 484-590-1524 Meeting password: 045940

    Jerusalem's Elite during the 7th century BCE : A Macro and Micro view from Giv'ati Parking Lot Excavations

    Date:
    10
    Thursday
    March
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Prof. Yuval Gadot
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-88 ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012
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    Jerusalem's Elite during the 7th century BCE : A Macro and Micro view from Giv'ati Parking Lot Excavations Lecture / Seminar website

    Early Pleistocene hominins: who they were and how they grew

    Date:
    17
    Thursday
    February
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Lecturer: Dr. Alon Barash
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-88 ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012
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    Early Pleistocene hominins: who they were and how they grew Lecture / Seminar website

    Agricultural strategies, subsistence and climate of Indus and subsequent cultures (~2900 BCE-1800 CE) from north-western India

    Date:
    10
    Thursday
    February
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Lecturer: Dr. Shalini Sharma
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-88 ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012
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    Agricultural strategies, subsistence and climate of Indus and subsequent cultures (~2900 BCE-1800 CE) from north-western India Lecture / Seminar website

    A workshop: Timing Cultural Changes in the Southern Caucasus: Where do we stand with absolute chronology from Late Chalcolithic to the Iron Age?

    Date:
    20
    Thursday
    January
    2022
    -
    21
    Friday
    January
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 10:30 - 19:00
    Title: From Relative to Absolute Chronology : Steps for Integrating the Southern Caucasus into Near Eastern Archaeology
    Location: AULA BARATTO CA’ FOSCARI UNIVERSITY DORSODURO, VENEZIA, ITALY
    Lecturer: Organized by Prof. E. Rova and Dr. F. Amato
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: For more information about the program: https://mizar.unive.it/erovaweb/cafos ... Read more For more information about the program: https://mizar.unive.it/erovaweb/cafoscari/timingculturalchanges_workshop_2022_p1.html
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    A workshop: Timing Cultural Changes in the Southern Caucasus: Where do we stand with absolute chronology from Late Chalcolithic to the Iron Age? Lecture / Seminar website

    Towards the use of sustainable solutions for cultural heritage conservation

    Date:
    13
    Thursday
    January
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Lecturer: Dr. Oana Cuzman
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-88 ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012
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    Towards the use of sustainable solutions for cultural heritage conservation Lecture / Seminar website

    Households and Community in the Kura-Araxes Village of Kvatskhelebi, Georgia

    Date:
    06
    Thursday
    January
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Dr. Sarit Paz
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-88 ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012
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    Households and Community in the Kura-Araxes Village of Kvatskhelebi, Georgia Lecture / Seminar website

    Humans, climate and brain size correlation for the Quaternary Extinctions of Mammals

    Date:
    23
    Thursday
    December
    2021
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Jacob Dembitzer
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-88 ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012
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    Humans, climate and brain size correlation for the Quaternary Extinctions of Mammals Lecture / Seminar website

    High-resolution study of Middle Palaeolithic deposits and formation processes at Tabun Cave, Israel: Guano-rich cave deposits and detailed stratigraphic appreciation of Layer C

    Date:
    16
    Thursday
    December
    2021
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Dr. David Friesem
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8 ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012
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    High-resolution study of Middle Palaeolithic deposits and formation processes at Tabun Cave, Israel: Guano-rich cave deposits and detailed stratigraphic appreciation of Layer C Lecture / Seminar website

    From chronological networks to Bayesian models: ChronoLog as a front-end to OxCal

    Date:
    09
    Thursday
    December
    2021
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Dr. Eythan Levy
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-88 ... Read more Join Zoom Meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012
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    From chronological networks to Bayesian models: ChronoLog as a front-end to OxCal Lecture / Seminar website

    Correlating archaeology, geology, human evolution and genetics in the Kalahari: Some ideas from the southern fringe

    Date:
    25
    Thursday
    November
    2021
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Prof. Michael Chazan
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom details: Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012
    Correlating archaeology, geology, human evolution and genetics in the Kalahari: Some ideas from the southern fringe Lecture / Seminar website

    The Mediterranean diet: from prehistory to present day

    Date:
    22
    Monday
    November
    2021
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 09:30-13:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: 9:30 - H.E. Sergio Barbanti, Ambassador of Italy in Israel Greetings 9:40 - ... Read more 9:30 - H.E. Sergio Barbanti, Ambassador of Italy in Israel Greetings 9:40 - Stefano Ventura, Scientific Attaché, Embassy of Italy in Israel Introduction 9:45 - Elisabetta Boaretto, the Weizmann Institute of Science “Olive tree, with us since 8000 years, and its secrets" 10:05 - Paolo Inglese, University of Palermo “Biodiversity and sustainable fruit growing" 10:35 - Gabriella De Lorenzis, University of Milan “Back to the origins of grapevine domestication process” 11:00 - Coffee break 11:20 - Avraham Levy, the Weizmann Institute of Science " Wheat evolution in nature and under human influence ” 11:45 - Matteo Delle Donne, University of Naples, l’Orientale "The origin of the Mediterranean diet in prehistoric Italy: cereals, olive and grapevine" 12:10 - Paolo Giulierini, MANN Museum of Naples "the MANN Museum: ancient treasures of the Mediterranean Diet" 12:35 - Guy Bar Oz, University of Haifa & Uri Jeremias, Uri Buri restaurant "From excavation to plate: Rediscovering the delicacy of Byzantine cuisine” 13:05 - Elisabetta Boaretto & Stefano Ventura "Concluding remarks” Please follow the link or Zoom ID to join: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012
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    The Mediterranean diet: from prehistory to present day Lecture / Seminar website

    Middle Bronze Age Jerusalem: Recalculating its character and chronology

    Date:
    18
    Thursday
    November
    2021
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Physics Building
    Lecturer: Dr. Johanna Regev
    Organizer: Scientific Archeology Unit
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Middle Bronze Age Jerusalem: Recalculating its character and chronology Lecture / Seminar website

    An ancient genomic perspective on the encounters between Neandertals and modern humans

    Date:
    11
    Thursday
    November
    2021
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886
    Lecturer: Dr. Fabrizio Mafessoni
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Solving the Problem of the Ancient Water Supply in Samaria-Sebastia

    Date:
    04
    Thursday
    November
    2021
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Dr Norma Franklin
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886 Meeting password: 976012

    Radiocarbon and geochemical investigation of corals from the northern Indian Ocean

    Date:
    04
    Thursday
    March
    2021
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30
    Location: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Passcode: 976012
    Lecturer: Dr. Harsh Raj
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Machine Learning (and Deep Learning) for Flint Temperature Estimation

    Date:
    25
    Thursday
    February
    2021
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30
    Lecturer: Dr. Filipe Natalio and Dr. Ido Azuri
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Join the Zoom meeting https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/6168548886 Meeting ID: 616-854-8886

    Establishing the first tree ring chronology of Amburana cearensis in Brazil and looking beyond population signals

    Date:
    30
    Thursday
    July
    2020
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: via Zoom
    Lecturer: Milena de Godoy Veiga
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Forests worldwide are facing more climate extremes due to global warming. Most o ... Read more Forests worldwide are facing more climate extremes due to global warming. Most of these studies targeted forest's responses to climate at community and population levels, overlooking the variability of responses of individual trees living under heterogeneous microenvironmental conditions. We tested the hypotheses that I) tree responses to climate variability differ at population and individual levels, and II) groups of trees may be more or less sensitive to climate according to the microenvironmental conditions. We built a tree-ring chronology of Amburana cearensis sampled across a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest (SDTF) using traditional dendrochronological methods and radiocarbon dating. We remotely assessed the microenvironmental conditions around each tree through the seasonality of the Normalized-Vegetation Index. The cluster analyses revealed a gradient of sensitivity to climate in individual trees. The different groups were supported by radiocarbon dating of the bomb-peak years; therefore, they do not result from errors in tree ring dating. The most sensitive trees were the oldest individuals living highly seasonal vegetation, followed by young individuals from similar condition. The least sensitive were those living in the less-seasonal vegetation of the valley. Such valley forest enclaves are possible climate-change refugia that buffer trees of A. cerarensis, and likely other tree species, but not during temperature and precipitation extremes. This study highlights the urge to assess individual’s climate sensitivity to better predict forests' responses to climate change.
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    Establishing the first tree ring chronology of Amburana cearensis in Brazil and looking beyond population signals Lecture / Seminar website

    The use of olive wood and olive pits in dendrochronology, paleoclimate and archaeology

    Date:
    15
    Sunday
    March
    2020
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00-15:00
    Title: PhD defense lecture
    Location: Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger Life Sciences Library
    Lecturer: Yael Ehrlich
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    ChronoLog : a tool for computer-assisted chronological research

    Date:
    27
    Thursday
    February
    2020
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Lecturer: Eythan Levy
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: ChronoLog is a new tool for computer-assisted chronological research. It allows ... Read more ChronoLog is a new tool for computer-assisted chronological research. It allows its users to build models featuring chronological sequences (such as dynasties, stratigraphic sequences and historical periods) and synchronisms between the items of these sequences. Each item (reign of a king, archaeological stratum, historical period) can be provided with an exact or approximated start date, end date and duration. The software uses this information to compute the tightest possible estimates (expressed as ranges) for each date and duration. The tool also checks the validity of the model, and reports cases where the encoded data are contradictory. Such a tool is important as it allows users to examine large chronological models that are otherwise too difficult to study manually. The tool is used in an interactive way, allowing to immediately assess the impact of a given hypothesis on the overall chronological network. Users can thus check the impact of altered dates for a given king, or the addition of a new synchronism between two strata. They can also test hypotheses, in order to check, for example, if two kings were contemporaries. The software runs fast, allowing users to obtain instantaneous answers to the above-described queries. The presentation will feature a demo of ChronoLog and a case study.
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    Looking into the rocks of Acheulo-Yabrudian Qesem Cave (Israel, 420-200 kya)

    Date:
    20
    Thursday
    February
    2020
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Aviad Agam
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: The Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex (AYCC, ~420,000-200,000 years ago) is a l ... Read more The Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex (AYCC, ~420,000-200,000 years ago) is a local Levantine entity, characterized by a set of innovative human cultural and biological adaptations, including the habitual use of fire, technological innovations such as blade and Quina scraper production, and more. Qesem Cave (QC, central Israel) is one of the key sites of the AYCC. I will present the results of two recent studies, exploring the rich lithic assemblages yielded from this important site. The first combines macroscopic classification of flint artefacts with a geological survey and petrographic and geochemical analyses, aimed at identifying patterns of flint acquisition and use. The results show that local Turonian flint was often brought and used at the cave, while flint from other, non-Turonian origins, was also used in noteworthy proportions, in specific categories, implying selectivity in flint procurement and exploitation through time. The second study combines Raman spectroscopy and artificial intelligence (AI) to build temperature predictive models, aimed at identifying the temperatures to which flint artefacts were exposed. The results show that blades were heated at lower median temperatures (259℃) compared to flakes (413℃), suggesting the intentional and controlled heat treatment of flint specifically for blade production, more than 300,000 years ago. Both datasets and their implications will be discussed in a broader perspective.
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    What can the femur tell us about human behavior and health?

    Date:
    13
    Thursday
    February
    2020
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Samuel Francis
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Physical anthropologists have long used skeletal remains to recreate the lifesty ... Read more Physical anthropologists have long used skeletal remains to recreate the lifestyles of past populations; thus, the understanding of long bones and their properties is a central challenge in the field. Though the femur and thigh muscles have the potential to give insight into a wide array of characteristics due to their size and central role in movement, the association between thigh muscle force and femoral bone morphology is unclear. Using medical CT images, the aim of this study was to reveal the associations between the cross-sectional area (a surrogate for muscle force) of the thigh muscles and the cross-sectional geometry of the femoral bone. This study will have implications for anthropological research, providing better information for inferring physical load from skeletal remains.
    Close abstract

    The earliest evidence of a Lisfranc’s fracture

    Date:
    06
    Thursday
    February
    2020
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Sara Borgel
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Recent archaeological excavations at Manot Cave, an Early Upper Palaeolithic sit ... Read more Recent archaeological excavations at Manot Cave, an Early Upper Palaeolithic site in the Western Galilee, Israel, retrieved the remains of a partial left foot of a young adult, including the talus, the calcaneus, the cuboid and the first, second and fifth metatarsals. The pedal remains were found close to one another, in the same archaeological unit, and were associated with an Early Upper Palaeolithic assemblage. Our study aimed at describing the anatomy of the Manot Cave pedal bones using morphometric parameters. A comparison to foot bones of recent modern humans, Anatomically Modern Humans and Neanderthals was carried out to establish the Manot Cave specimen population affiliation. Additionally, µCT images were used to verify a suspected injury in the base of the second metatarsal. The shape and size of the Manot pedal bones indicated a modern morphology for all bones, albeit few Neanderthal-like characteristics. Imaging analysis confirmed the existence of a healed trauma in the second metatarsal, with the plantar third of the base misaligned with the shaft and a fracture line on the lateral side. These features are consistent with a fracture known as Lisfranc’s fracture, most probably caused by an impact to the dorsum of the foot. This injury usually leads to ligamentous instability and collapse of the transverse and longitudinal arches, causing severe walking difficulties. Full recovery requires rest and immobility for several weeks. As mobility was crucial to maintain the hunter-gatherer lifeway of this group, the survival of this individual indicates a supportive community at Manot Cave.
    Close abstract

    Identification of similarities in archaeological collections using deep learning algorithms: a Levantine case study

    Date:
    23
    Thursday
    January
    2020
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Avi Resler
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Artefacts that are found in archaeological excavations are often recognized by e ... Read more Artefacts that are found in archaeological excavations are often recognized by experts, who compare their appearance to other labeled objects that they have seen before or present in archaeological catalogs. Since this procedure may be subjective, scientific methods that aid archaeologists have become increasingly popular. We have developed two machine learning tools which capture the similarity between two artefacts or similarities between groups of artefacts based on their RGB images. For the first antique recognition tool, we used face recognition deep neural network architecture, to measure the "archaeological" distance between images. In the second community detection tool, we aggregate similarities between images and measure the distance between assemblages - i.e., group of images. Based on that we applied a network-theory community detection algorithm, to find groups of archaeological sites that are linked to each other. To test our methods, we used a highly diverse dataset of Israeli antiques. This dataset is a good case study due to geographical proximity between archaeological sites and the presence of artefacts from a wide range of archaeological ages.
    Close abstract

    Cracking the Core: Utilizing Refitted Core Sequences in the Assessment of the Levantine Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition

    Date:
    16
    Thursday
    January
    2020
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Annie Melton
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Much remains to be understood regarding the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transiti ... Read more Much remains to be understood regarding the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition, particularly in the Levant. A longstanding debate is the presence or absence of cultural continuity during this transitional period in the Levant. Few studies, though, have been conducted in order to quantitatively address this question. Here, I will discuss a quantitative approach to identifying cultural transmission processes in the Levant utilizing refitted stone tool core reduction sequences. With refitted sequences from Boker Tachtit (Israel) and Taramsa-1 (Egypt), I hope to quantitatively assess the similarity in lithic production strategies utilizing attribute analyses of known cultural-transmission proxies. Though in the early stages of data collection, this project has already been successful in the digitization and thus long-term preservation of archaeological materials which will facilitate their access to future researchers with future questions.
    Close abstract

    Computerized Paleographic Investigation of Hebrew First Temple Period Ostraca

    Date:
    09
    Thursday
    January
    2020
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Shira Faigenbaum-Golovin
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: The field of Hebrew Iron Age epigraphy is important for the domains of Biblical ... Read more The field of Hebrew Iron Age epigraphy is important for the domains of Biblical archaeology, the history of ancient Israel, and Biblical studies. In the course of our interdisciplinary project, we developed methods that pertain to the fields of applied mathematics, computer science, statistics, and physics, to advance the fields of epigraphy and palaeography. Our study started with building a multispectral system that acquires better images of the inscriptions. A particularly striking product of our methodology is the discovery of a hitherto invisible text on the verso of the thoroughly studied Arad 16 ostracon, unnoticed for half a century. It continued with the development of algorithms for character restoration, facsimile creation, and the construction of paleographic tables. Later, we proposed a method for ancient handwriting comparison and compared between 18 texts of the Arad corpus. The newly devised algorithm reconstructs the ancient letters, extracts their features, and performs a handwriting comparison. The results (published in PNAS) indicate at least six different authors across the Judahite military chain of command ca. 600 BCE. This implies a high level of literacy rate within Judah’s administrative apparatus before the kingdom's destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE.
    Close abstract

    How ancient genomes aid in tracing human mobility and disease

    Date:
    02
    Thursday
    January
    2020
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Michal Feldman
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Recent technological advances such as next-generation sequencing and new capture ... Read more Recent technological advances such as next-generation sequencing and new capture and sampling techniques have enabled the retrieval of genomic information from archaeological human remains, even from regions previously known to have poor conditions for DNA preservation, such as the Near East. I will describe two studies in which these methods helped us in recording the past by tracing human mobility and disease. In the first study, we retrieved a high-coverage Y. pestis genome from the remains of a 6th century victim of the Justinianic Plague, the first of three historic pandemics caused by Y. pestis. The results confirmed a central or south Asian origin of the strain and demonstrated its presence in rural south Germany where no historical source records it. In a second study, genome-wide data was reconstructed from human remains recovered from the ancient seaport of Ashkelon, identified as “Philistine” during the Iron Age. The comparison of Bronze and Iron Age individuals was used to address whether the cultural transition observed in the archaeological record was mirrored by a foreign genetic influx.
    Close abstract

    Late Middle Paleolithic site of Farah II: environmental and cultural contexts at the brinks of transition to the Upper Paleolithic in the southern Levant

    Date:
    20
    Thursday
    June
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00-14:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Mae Goder
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    The Negev before the LGM - preliminary results from a geoarchaeological survey at the central Negev highlands

    Date:
    30
    Thursday
    May
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 10:00-11:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Dr Omry Barzilai and Dr Yoav Avni
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Note change in time.

    Insights from the past to study the ecology of faba bean

    Date:
    12
    Sunday
    May
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00-15:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Dr. Valentina Caracuta
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: ela.ulman@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Prof. Elisabetta Boaretto

    New directions in coastal and underwater geoarchaeology

    Date:
    04
    Thursday
    April
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00-14:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Prof Ruth Shahack Gross
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Why do we fracture our hips? An evolutionary medicine approach to femoral neck fractures in modern humans

    Date:
    28
    Thursday
    March
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00-14:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Hadas Avni
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Silicon Day: Plant Minerals in Modern and Archaeological Environments

    Date:
    14
    Thursday
    March
    2019
    Colloquium
    Time: 09:00-12:00
    Title: If you intend to attend, please let us know in advanced.
    Location: Faculty of Agriculture, Cabin – 8
    Lecturer: Rivka Elbaum, Nerya Zexer, Evgenia Vaganov, Steve Weiner, Rosa M. Albert, Oriol Andreu, Elisabetta Boaretto, and Filipe Natalio.
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: 9:00 – 9:05 Greetings Biology of plant minerals 9:05 – 9:25 Rivka Elbaum ... Read more 9:00 – 9:05 Greetings Biology of plant minerals 9:05 – 9:25 Rivka Elbaum – “Bio-mineralization of Silica in Sorghum” 9:25 – 9:45 Nerya Zexer – “Root silica aggregates formation in relation to changes in the cell walls” 9:45 - 10:05 Evgenia Vaganov– “Elemental composition of CaOx in Phalaenopsis Orchid” 10:05 – 10:25 Steve Weiner – “Functions of inorganic and organic “minerals” in photosynthesizing organisms” 10:25-10:45 Coffee break and cookies Mineral in archaeological context 10:45 – 11:05 Rosa M. Albert – “Challenges in phytolith identification based on morphology” 11:05 - 11:25 Oriol Andreu –“Phytolith recognition by the AI-DL: project overview” 11:25 – 11:45 Elisabetta Boaretto – “Occluded organic matter in phytolith and 14C dating: a review” 11:45 – 12:05 Filipe Natalio –“Flint: a potential bacterial-induced silica mineral”
    Close details

    Paleoclimatic changes and possible implications for the human occupation in South America

    Date:
    28
    Thursday
    February
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00-14:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Prof Francisco Da Cruz Jr.
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Plants from the Past: Reconstructing the Palaeo-landscape of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) through Phytolith Analysis

    Date:
    21
    Thursday
    February
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00-14:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Prof Rosa Maria Albert
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Middle Bronze in Erimi Laonin tou Porakou: abandonement dynamics in a protoindustrial site

    Date:
    14
    Thursday
    February
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00-14:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Dr Marialucia Amadio
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    The Invisible Shore: Dor and the Carmel Coast across the Bronze/Iron Age Transition

    Date:
    31
    Thursday
    January
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Prof. Ayelet Gilboa
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Proteomics and metabolomics from ancient documents

    Date:
    24
    Thursday
    January
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Gleb Zilberstein
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    What can phytoliths and other proxies reveal about anthropogenic soils and the first sedentary societies of pre-Columbian Amazonia?

    Date:
    17
    Thursday
    January
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Jennifer Watling
    Organizer: Academic Educational Research
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Excavations at Tel Abel Beth Maacah

    Date:
    10
    Thursday
    January
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Naama Yahalom mack
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Understanding the earliest iron artifacts in South Eastern Arabia

    Date:
    03
    Thursday
    January
    2019
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Dr. Ivan Stepanov
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Tell es-Safi : the Lower City in the Iron Age

    Date:
    27
    Thursday
    December
    2018
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Prof. Aren Maeir
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il

    Genome wide-data from Prehistoric Anatolians shed light on the origins of the first farmers of Anatolia

    Date:
    20
    Thursday
    December
    2018
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00
    Location: Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science
    Lecturer: Dr Michal Feldman
    Contact: lior.regev@weizmann.ac.il