ASTA SALICATH HALVORSEN
PhD Student (Near Eastern Archaeology)

This keynote lecture will introduce my PhD project, which examines the worked bone assemblages from several late Epipalaeolithic and Early Neolithic sites in the Levant. Drawing on my experiences as a student in archaeology, I will expand on my thoughts for forming my PhD project.

 

Perishable material cultures, including textiles, basketry, and skin-working, remain elusive for much of prehistory, often overlooked due to preservation challenges and academic biases. Our understanding of these materials largely stems from rare, exceptionally well-preserved finds, but they are typically excluded from broader interpretations of the archaeological record.

 

My PhD project aims to explore the role of perishable material cultures through the use of worked bone objects, by applying a methodological framework of microscopy and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI). The chronology of the assemblages studied represents important phases from the Natufian to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic periods, allowing for an interpretation of the role of perishable material cultures during the Neolithization process.