MicroTRASH_MSCA

The #MSCA-IF funded project #MicroTRASH which is concerned with understanding Neolithic middens through microscopic and biochemical methods! Tweets by @JKleijne

[Jos Kleijne @JKleijne]

Yesterday our paper, revisiting the #chronology and soil #micromorphology of a 3rd millennium BCE settlement, got published in JAS:Reports

[Jos Kleijne @JKleijne]

And, just like that, the third paper of my #MSCA project got accepted!💪After the Swifterkamp experimental shell midden, and a revision of soil micromorphology & dating at settlement N11, we also have soil micromorphology & dating of the Tegelbarg shell midden to look forward to!

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

@merimurica @PLOSONE @univgroningen @FacultyofArtsUG Yes! Congrats!

[Jos Kleijne @JKleijne]

Fieldwork! #funnelbeaker #slootdorp #shellmidden

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

Our plan: open two very small test pits, record the profiles, and then sample it for everything we can think of!

Soil micromorphology, diatoms, phytoliths, lipids, sedDNA, pollen..

Any other wishes out there?

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

Just this morning I had contact with a farmer, and we might be able to conduct some shell midden fieldwork on his land, this August!

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

No pine needle: it looks more like grass! Look at the leaf vein (or 'skull'), thanks to the black book chapter by K. Ismail-Meyer!

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

#ThinSectionThursday does anyone recognise the charred piece here? Is it perhaps a pine needle?

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

#ThinSectionThursday does anyone recognise the charred piece here? Is it perhaps a pine needle?

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

Also #thinsectionthursday of course!

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

Thursday afternoon, back at the microscope! Thanks for the photo @merimurica!

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

Thursday afternoon, back at the microscope! Thanks for the photo @merimurica!

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

@indian_scholar dead volumes and different solvents is what we use. What you don't see on the photos are all the small vials that contain the different fractions

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

Extracting lipids from an organic-rich sediment sample, coming from the site of Aartswoud in the Netherlands! Im looking forward to see what plants and animals contributed to this sediment 😃

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

@merimurica yeah, also: Mienakker no longer exists (completely excavated in 1990), the other sites are still there, but would need re-excavation for sampling..

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

This is every scientist's horror story😭: I sent my resin impregnated soil micromorphology blocks from Groningen to Tenerife on the 2nd of November 2021, 3 boxes, 20kg in total, so I didn't have to bring them here by myself, on the flight. 1/7

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

@Keilmesser So do I..

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

@EchidnaSloth I fear they might be on a waste dump somewhere in the world (which would be sardonic in itself).. 😭😭

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

This material came from 5 archaeological sites, fortunately 4 of which are still existing and available for renewed excavations. But that will cost a lot of effort and new research funding.. 7/7

[MicroTRASH_MSCA @MicrotrashM]

Now today UPS tells me: "Unfortunately, they are not in the depot. Sadly, the packages are officially lost".
What can we learn: always take your samples with you! Don't trust shipping companies with unique research material! 6/7