University of California, Berkeley
Grant: $58,667 - National Science Foundation - Aug. 10, 2009
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Award Description: In 2007 the National Science Foundation granted funding (BCS 0716333) to purchase a new Thermo Scientific Quant’X EDXRF spectrometer, and set-up this new lab in the Department of Anthropology. The instrument is installed and calibrated and a number of undergraduate, graduate, government, NSF and private sector projects are underway or have been concluded. A benefit of the new digital system is the ability to analyze smaller pieces of obsidian debitage, now down to at least 7 mm in smallest dimension, and faster analysis times. The lab, now housed in the Department of Anthropology, rather than the Department of Earth and Planetary Science, is the core of a continually taught two semester course in XRF in Archaeology by the PI. The 2007 grant has been a great success. As with all public universities, and particularly in California, the fees set by the State of California, and the campus have been rising exponentially, in this case for radiation producing instruments. This relatively small request here is to fund these state and campus fees for 2009-2011, and provide Graduate Student Researcher funding for that period to maintain the system, and continue the training of graduate students in geoarchaeological science. The Geoarchaeological XRF Laboratory is a leader in geoarchaeological science, and this small request will augment the funding available to continue the leadership of the research and student training.
Project Description: The funds were just granted August 10, 2009, so the work has just begun. We are currently training 17 students in the safety and operation of x-ray fluorescence spectrometry for the non-destructive chemical analysis of archaeological artifacts. Projects include obsidian artifact analysis for archaeological sites in Arizona and New Mexico, glass bead analyses of historic sites in the U.S., and historic ceramics in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Jobs Summary: Graduate student instructor who maintains the laboratory and helps train students in the operation and safety of the Quant'X instrument. (Total jobs reported: 1)
Project Status: Less Than 50% Completed
This award's data was last updated on Aug. 10, 2009. Help expand these official descriptions using the wiki below.
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