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Aksel Casson, Graduate student in Archaeology
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PhC, University of Washington, Department of Anthropology
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Recording Data at Dhra', Jordan Valley 2005 Research Interests
Archaeological chronology
and luminescence dating; the establishment, use and abandonment of sites;
excavation methods, research design and the management of archaeological
datasets; the use of evolutionary theory in archaeology and anthropology; and
the Neolithic of the Near East and Eastern Europe.
Dissertation Research: Project Objectives
In its most basic form, the
discipline of archaeology tries to understand what happened at certain times in
certain places. Archaeologists seek to understand the behaviors responsible for
the distribution of artifacts in time and space. In present-day Turkey, two
aspects of the country's prehistory are poorly understood: time
periods prior to the Bronze Age and occupations along the Black Sea coast (space).
My dissertation research addresses this lack of understanding through the
pursuit of two issues: the development of an absolute luminescence-based
chronology for the Sinop Promontory along the Turkish coast of the Black Sea,
while concomitantly working to refine luminescence dating protocols to improve
the precision and resolution of resultant chronologies. This particular
chronology will permit an evaluation of existing theories regarding the
relationship of Black Sea settlement patterns to other cultural centers in the
larger Near Eastern cultural network and will contribute to a more refined understanding of the processes of Neolithization in the area. The power of this chronology will be a product of the degree
of precision made possible by improved luminescence dating protocols.
El Hemmeh, The PPNB Windy City
Current Research Projects
In addition to my dissertation research along the Turkish Black Sea Coast, I am also currently pursuing the following projects:
--> In Jordan, at El Hemmeh, where I am using luminescence to date house floors and architectural plaster, --> In southern Germany, in the Federsee Valley, I am in the process of implementing a research design to date heat-treated flint. Link to a related project. --> In Mongolia, I am using luminescence to date sediments from various archaeological deposits. Project link. --> In Tuscany, at the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project, I have served as Trench and Field Supervisor for parts of the last two seasons. |
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Send mail to: casson@u.washington.edu
Last modified: 7/24/2009 4:26 AM |