Cross-disciplinary Methods in Stone Age Archaeology

Happinos Marufu1, Makarius Itambu2,3, Robert Patalano3, and Julio Mercader3

1
Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences, Harare, Zimbabwe
2
History and Archaeology Department, Dar es Salaam Univ. Tanzania
3
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Univ of Calgary, Canada

December 5, 2014

Dear Colleague:

I would like to invite you to submit an abstract for the 2015 biennial meeting of the Association of Southern
African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA) being held at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare,
Zimbabwe from July 1-3.

The Cross-disciplinary Methods in Stone Age Archaeology session seeks contributions that address
established and experimental methods in the practice of Early, Middle, and Late Stone Age archaeology in
Southern Africa and beyond. The goal of the session is to illustrate the involvement of biology, chemistry,
and geoscience for interpreting humanity’s deep past by incorporating cross-disciplinary methodology
toward ‘environmental archaeology’, ‘subsistence and diet’, and ‘technology’ for example. This session will
bring together scientists who explore these systems over a range of timescales using various approaches,
techniques, and analyses.

We would also like to use this session as an opportunity to voice concerns and openly discuss the barriers
that Stone Age archaeology’s exclusivism erects for many African students. A disconnect has prevented
many of these students from engaging in biological, chemical, and geological training in modern
laboratories, while simultaneously forcing them towards cultural heritage management and traditional land
use studies. This session could facilitate a platform to identify what is sustainable practice in Southern
African paleoanthropology with an emphasis on archaeometric training.

The abstract deadline for the 2015 ASAPA meeting is January 15, 2015. IMPORTANT NOTE: All abstracts
must be sent to Robert Patalano (rpatalan@ucalgary.ca), but also forwarded to the ASAPA 2015 LOC at
info.asapa2015@gmail.com.