RESEARCH
Work Packages
Anthropology and Ancient DNA
The objectives of this work package are to:
Conduct research into the lifeways of the first modern humans to settle in Belgium through the interdisciplinary analysis of human fossils (anthropology and ancient DNA);
Provide mitochondrial and ancestry-informative nuclear DNA polymorphisms;
Assess the intra- and interpopulation variation within the region, through time and space, as well as discern the relationship with other prehistoric European populations.
Archaeology: Connected communities of industry (manufacturing, use and exchange)
The objectives are to
Reconstruct burial rites by analysing associated grave-gifts
Connect the dead and the living through studying surrounding settlement sites
Reconstruct intra- and interregional mobility and exchange networks by means of raw material analyses
Reconstruct lifeways by analysing the function of lithic tools
Zooarchaeology: Changing environments and dietary practices
​The objectives are to
Reconstruct the animal protein component of the Mesolithic diet
Provide humanly modified animal material to obtain radiocarbon dates in the absence of human material;
Provide reference data for both the isotope and proteome library.
Palaeoproteomics
We aim to:
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Optimise existing proteomics methods for sample preparation and analysis towards archaeological research.
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Analyse Mesolithic human remains, including teeth and bone, to discover their age and sex, adding to understanding of individuals and populations.
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Explore potential new biomarkers for ancient human bone, including investigating markers of disease.
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Analyse other Mesolithic organic remains, including animal bones and teeth, to understand more about diets and subsistence strategies.
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Integrate our proteomic findings with other biomolecular and traditional archaeological methods to reach a fuller understanding of Belgium's earliest human inhabitants.
Isotope analysis
​The aims are
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To reconstruct Mesolithic dietary habits using carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotope analysis on human and animal remains from South Belgium
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To improve dietary reconstructions by implementing Bayesian δ C-, δ N- and δ S-collagen tracer mixing models and compound-specific δ C and δ N of bone collagen-derived amino acids
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To investigate mobility patterns using strontium, sulfur and oxygen isotope analysis.
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To investigate climate fluctuations throughout the Mesolithic period in South Belgium.
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To improve age determination in case of fish consumption or collagen contamination;
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To optimise sample size and data analysis