The Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials, a joint endeavor between Penn Arts & Sciences and the Penn Museum, celebrates 10 years of teaching students how to interpret the past in an interdisciplinary context.
Doctoral candidate Mark Van Horn has been tracing the economic networks of the ancient Roman Empire through its cooking pots. As it turns out, family farmers among a network of rural sites in southern Tuscany made very few of their own ceramics, as had been the longstanding assumption, but rather imported them from producers who made them 50 or more miles away. Van Horn determined this through a scientific technique known as ceramic petrography, a skill he honed working with mentors in the Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM).
“CAAM has been completely integral to my entire dissertation and graduate experience,” says Van Horn, who will soon defend his Ph.D. dissertation in art and archaeology of the Mediterranean world at Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of CAAM, a joint endeavor between Penn Arts & Sciences and the Penn Museum. Some 2,600 students have come through the center, which teaches and mentors undergraduate and graduate students in a range of scientific techniques crucial to archaeologists and other scholars. It provides laboratory and classroom facilities, materials, equipment, and expert personnel as students seek to interpret the past in an interdisciplinary context that links the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
It all began when Marie-Claude Boileau, CAAM director and teaching specialist for ceramics, and Thomas Tartaron, associate professor of classical studies and CAAM executive director, assembled a laboratory to understand the production, usage, and cultural significance of ancient ceramics. It was a proof of concept that was so successful, according to Tartaron, that it inspired an ad hoc committee to discuss furthering archaeological education at Penn.
“We were originally interested in putting together a series of archaeological labs, but that led to the idea of forming a partnership between SAS and the Penn Museum, and equally important, to launching a whole associated curriculum,” Tartaron says. “We wanted the center to be about teaching and mentoring, not just about research, and with donor support, we were able to make CAAM a reality in 2014.”
Boileau notes they were thoughtful in developing CAAM coursework. They wanted classes taught by specialists who could present archaeological science in an applied and hands-on way to any Penn student, from first-year undergrads to advanced Ph.D. students. Today, the program covers metal, ceramic, and stone analysis; botanical and zoological remains; and conservation. “We’re uniquely positioned at the Penn Museum with access to its incredible collections,” Boileau says. “We’ve really spent the past decade ensuring we are at the forefront of teaching archaeological science.”
Since 2014, more than 20 courses have been created or adapted for CAAM’s curriculum. Though CAAM is not a degree-granting program, it does offer a minor in archaeological science, a graduate certificate in archaeological science, and the opportunity for independent studies. CAAM also has fellowships and graduate assistantships in collaboration with the Penn Museum.
This story is by Katelyn Silva. Read more at Omnia.
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