YRA Seminar Series
New Seminar Series
We are happy to announce a new Seminar Series with monthly presentations highlighting exciting research of ECRs!
Each month, we will host an online 1-hour meeting, with about 30 minutes presentations followed by a discussion on the topic. ECRs from around the globe will be invited to present diverse topics, reflecting the multidisciplinary character of archaeological sciences. We aim to have these talks in a relaxed atmosphere, with discussions around a cup of morning coffee, a lunch break, or an afternoon tea depending on the time zone of the participants.
The time slots of each presentation will be accommodated to be the most comfortable for the presenter and listeners from their targeted research area.
The talks will be held online via Zoom. Click here to join the Zoom meeting. (Meeting-ID: 988 6914 5922; code: YRA-S2026).
Next presentation: January 30th, at 1:00 pm (UTC)
You can convert to your local time zone with, e.g., timeanddate.com.
Hidden in the fumier: geoarchaeological insights into the herding practices of the Auaritas (La Palma, Canary Islands)
Enrique Fernández-Palacios (University of Kiel, Germany)
Keywords: Geoarchaeology, Island archaeology, Lipid biomarkers, Pastoralism, Phytoliths, Soil micromorphology
Abstract:
Herding has been traditionally considered as a crucial activity among the indigenous societies of the Canary Islands. However, the archaeological data that contributes to our understanding of these pre-colonial herding practices remains limited. This presentation summarizes the investigation conducted at two Auarita rockshelter sites in the island of La Palma (Canary Islands), Belmaco (Villa de Mazo) and Buracas Cave A (Garafía), which aims at providing new insights into their occupation as places for sheltering livestock. This research has been carried out from a multiproxy geoarchaeological perspective, combining soil micromorphology, lipid biomarkers and phytolith analyses, and integrating previous knowledge from the sites’ excavations as well as other archaeological records including zooarchaeology and archaeobotany. Results indicate that the archaeosedimentary deposits at Belmaco and Buracas Cave A were formed as a consequence of ruminant dung and plant material accumulation related to the use of the sites for sheltering livestock. These accumulations were burned intermittently over time to sanitize and reuse the space, leading to the formation of fumier deposits. This research has also approached the use of plant resources associated with herding practices among La Palma indigenous communities, including fuel, bedding, and insect-repellent materials. This work generally contributes to advancing our knowledge on the interactions between Canarian indigenous societies and their insular settings under the dynamic environmental conditions of the pre-colonial period in the Canary Islands.
Programme - 2026
Previous years’ programme
| June 3rd | Copper technologies in Taiwan and the Philippines during the Metal Age Mélissa Cadet |
| July 1st | Tinos’ lost ancient serpentinite quarry (Cyclades, Greece): an interdisciplinary approach Alkiviadis Sideridis |
| Sept. 10th | Plant and insect remains as indicators for waterlogged dung layers – The example of the Neolithic lakeshore settlement Mooswinkel in the Austrian Alps Thorsten Jakobitsch |
| Oct. 10th | Biomolecular insights into Magdalenian ungulates from Petersfels (Hegau Jura, southwestern Germany) via ZooMS and stable isotope analysis Madison McCartin |
| Nov. 11th | The technology of polychrome glazed ceramics in Ifriqiya: new data from the Medjerda Valley Veronica Occari, Heike Möller, Corisand Fenwick, Patrick Quinn, Ian C. Freestone, Moheddine Chaouali, Philipp von Rummel |
| Dec. 10th | Chrysocolla at high temperatures: understanding Pre-Hispanic metallurgy through Collahuasi slag analysis (Tarapaca, Chile) Sibylle Manya, Benoît Mille, Valentina Figueroa Larre, Thierry Bataille, Laurent Le Pollès, Jean-Baptiste d’Espinose de Lacaillerie |