Revolution in data. Analytical challenges to archaeological expectations
Organizers
Mary Anne Tafuri
Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma Sapienza, Italy
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Alessandra Pecci
Università degli Studi di Barcellona, Spain
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Carmine Lubritto
Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Seconda Università di Napoli and AIAr, Italy
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Abstract
Archaeological science is a powerful tool in reconstructing past dietary practices, whether we analyse material culture or skeletal remains, we are often able to produce a dataset that supports an archaeological question or expectation. After all dietary practices are one of the main aspects of past cultures and we have often regarded lab-based paleonutritional analyses as a good way to verify our ideas.
But what happens when data falsify theoretical paradigms? How should we deal with results that forces us to reconsider our initial research questions? Since archaeometry has entered the realm of archaeology we have assisted to a number of cases where the results obtained has forced to reshape the research agenda. We have often had to redefine past practices, culture, and even environments. This has changed the way we conduct question-oriented investigations in a way that makes us more open to revolutionary results.
This session is open to examples in archaeological sciences, where unexpected proxies have turned into a good story, thanks to a true integration of archaeological evidence and "hard" data. We welcome papers on all analytical techniques and chronological phases that might represent an example of this scenario.
