#microwearanalysis

[dekastelein]

I have one HUGE pet peeve about archaeological literature. Why does every person studying flint or obsidian call them 'stone tools' in literature. Stone tools includes more than cutting/scraping tools you doofus! Give my pounding, polishing, grinding, pecking, abrading, softening, etc. etc. ground stones love TOO! I refuse to have my rocks be second-class artifacts because they deserve better. I want to not have to download a wholeass paper about stone tool use in the Neolithic of Lower Saxony and THEN discover that it's JUST THE FLINT. Just because ground stone tools/macrolithic tools/ground stones are maybe not entirely picture-perfect does not mean that they deserve to be ignored in favor of sleek flint tools.

[thearchaeologiststeacup]

Happy #MicrowearMonday ! . I was doing some tests this morning to see how I could take microscope photos through my old vintage microscope. I just used my phone camera to look through the lens at different magnifications at a scrap of material. The lowest two magnifications turned out okay, but the highest was still a bit tricky to get in focus with holding the phone still enough. I might have to see if I can set up something with my tripod so that it all holds steady. . There is also no light source on the microscope, which isn't such a big problem for the photos, because my camera seems to automatically use night mode to ensure that you can see what's at the end of the lens, but when I'm just looking through it myself it's a bit of an issue. I may therefore need to get myself one of those little clip-on reading lights to attach to the platform. . I also need to get a little scale bar of some sort, so that I can work out the measurements of each field of view and create a little scale for each level of magnification. I might even be able to use the one I have for my little USB Dino-lite microscope... More experiments required! . If anyone has any other suggestions on how I can improve my photo setup with this little microscope, do let me know! . #microscope #VintageMicroscope #MicrowearAnalysis #microwear #archaeologist #ArchaeologyLife #microscopic #HomeOffice #ArchaeologistsOfInstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CqSQ9JFKKbF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thearchaeologiststeacup]

Time for the next #MondayMicrowear challenge! And if you've been following along regularly with these challenges, this should be an easy one 😉 . For those of you who aren't yet familiar with this weekly challenge: I post a microscopic picture and encourage people to write in the comments what they think they can see. Obviously, I don't expect everyone to get it right first time - I've had a lot of experience with this analytical method and the materials. But I thought it might be a fun little exercise to get you thinking about what exactly it is you're seeing, and what the tiniest traces can tell us about an object. . So how does this work here on Instagram? Well, I post a picture on a Monday, and then you have until the next Monday to write in the comments what you think you can see in the picture. Think about things like: - what the object is - what material - what traces you can see - what they might tell us about how this object was made or used - anything really! . The aim is to get you thinking and put your detective hat on. Try to avoid looking at other people's comments, and don't worry about saying something potentially silly - archaeology is all about interpretation! . One week after the initial post, I will update the caption to describe what can be seen in the image, and what this can tell us about the object, so you can see how close you got. (Don't forget to check last week's post to see the results of that one) . Good luck everyone! . Also if you fancy subscribing to my (free) monthly newsletter, which includes monthly microwear challenges, you can do so through my website (link in description). . #MicrowearAnalysis #archaeology #archaeologist #ArchaeologyLife #ArchaeologyLovers #microscope #microscopy #MicroscopicAnalysis https://www.instagram.com/p/CoT53SIKy7z/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thearchaeologiststeacup]

Time for the next #MondayMicrowear challenge! . For those of you who aren't yet familiar with this weekly challenge: I post a microscopic picture and encourage people to write in the comments what they think they can see. Obviously, I don't expect everyone to get it right first time - I've had a lot of experience with this analytical method and the materials. But I thought it might be a fun little exercise to get you thinking about what exactly it is you're seeing, and what the tiniest traces can tell us about an object. . So how does this work here on Instagram? Well, I post a picture on a Monday, and then you have until the next Monday to write in the comments what you think you can see in the picture. Think about things like: - what the object is - what material - what traces you can see - what they might tell us about how this object was made or used - anything really! . The aim is to get you thinking and put your detective hat on. Try to avoid looking at other people's comments, and don't worry about saying something potentially silly - archaeology is all about interpretation! . One week after the initial post, I will update the caption to describe what can be seen in the image, and what this can tell us about the object, so you can see how close you got. (Don't forget to check last week's post to see the results of that one) . Good luck everyone! . Also if you fancy subscribing to my (free) monthly newsletter, which includes monthly microwear challenges, you can do so through my website (link in description). . #MicrowearAnalysis #archaeology #archaeologist #ArchaeologyLife #ArchaeologyLovers #microscope #microscopy #MicroscopicAnalysis https://www.instagram.com/p/CoB_UpUKNCN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thearchaeologiststeacup]

Time for the next #MondayMicrowear challenge! . For those of you who aren't yet familiar with this weekly challenge: I post a microscopic picture and encourage people to write in the comments what they think they can see. Obviously, I don't expect everyone to get it right first time - I've had a lot of experience with this analytical method and the materials. But I thought it might be a fun little exercise to get you thinking about what exactly it is you're seeing, and what the tiniest traces can tell us about an object. . So how does this work here on Instagram? Well, I post a picture on a Monday, and then you have until the next Monday to write in the comments what you think you can see in the picture. Think about things like: - what the object is - what material - what traces you can see - what they might tell us about how this object was made or used - anything really! . The aim is to get you thinking and put your detective hat on. Try to avoid looking at other people's comments, and don't worry about saying something potentially silly - archaeology is all about interpretation! . One week after the initial post, I will update the caption to describe what can be seen in the image, and what this can tell us about the object, so you can see how close you got. (Don't forget to check last week's post to see the results of that one) . Good luck everyone! . Also if you fancy subscribing to my (free) monthly newsletter, which includes monthly microwear challenges, you can do so through my website (link in description). . #MicrowearAnalysis #archaeology #archaeologist #ArchaeologyLife #ArchaeologyLovers #microscope #microscopy #MicroscopicAnalysis https://www.instagram.com/p/CnwSPqYK7e4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thearchaeologiststeacup]

Time for the next #MondayMicrowear challenge! . For those of you who aren't yet familiar with this weekly challenge: I post a microscopic picture and encourage people to write in the comments what they think they can see. Obviously, I don't expect everyone to get it right first time - I've had a lot of experience with this analytical method and the materials. But I thought it might be a fun little exercise to get you thinking about what exactly it is you're seeing, and what the tiniest traces can tell us about an object. . So how does this work here on Instagram? Well, I post a picture on a Monday, and then you have until the next Monday to write in the comments what you think you can see in the picture. Think about things like: - what the object is - what material - what traces you can see - what they might tell us about how this object was made or used - anything really! . The aim is to get you thinking and put your detective hat on. Try to avoid looking at other people's comments, and don't worry about saying something potentially silly - archaeology is all about interpretation! . One week after the initial post, I will update the caption to describe what can be seen in the image, and what this can tell us about the object, so you can see how close you got. (Don't forget to check last week's post to see the results of that one) . Good luck everyone! . Also if you fancy subscribing to my (free) monthly newsletter, which includes monthly microwear challenges, you can do so through my website (link in description). . #MicrowearAnalysis #archaeology #archaeologist #ArchaeologyLife #ArchaeologyLovers #microscope #microscopy #MicroscopicAnalysis https://www.instagram.com/p/CneDY_tqRHu/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thearchaeologiststeacup]

Time for the first #MondayMicrowear challenge of 2023! . For those of you who aren't yet familiar with this weekly challenge: I post a microscopic picture and encourage people to write in the comments what they think they can see. Obviously, I don't expect everyone to get it right first time - I've had a lot of experience with this analytical method and the materials. But I thought it might be a fun little exercise to get you thinking about what exactly it is you're seeing, and what the tiniest traces can tell us about an object. . So how does this work here on Instagram? Well, I post a picture on a Monday, and then you have until the next Monday to write in the comments what you think you can see in the picture. Think about things like: - what the object is - what material - what traces you can see - what they might tell us about how this object was made or used - anything really! . The aim is to get you thinking and put your detective hat on. Try to avoid looking at other people's comments, and don't worry about saying something potentially silly - archaeology is all about interpretation! . One week after the initial post, I will update the caption to describe what can be seen in the image, and what this can tell us about the object, so you can see how close you got. (Don't forget to check last week's post to see the results of that one) . Good luck everyone! . Also if you fancy subscribing to my (free) monthly newsletter, which includes monthly microwear challenges, you can do so through my website (link in description). . #MicrowearAnalysis #archaeology #archaeologist #ArchaeologyLife #ArchaeologyLovers #microscope #microscopy #MicroscopicAnalysis https://www.instagram.com/p/CnL_MR_KN6t/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thearchaeologiststeacup]

Time for the first #MondayMicrowear challenge of 2023! . For those of you who aren't yet familiar with this weekly challenge: I post a microscopic picture and encourage people to write in the comments what they think they can see. Obviously, I don't expect everyone to get it right first time - I've had a lot of experience with this analytical method and the materials. But I thought it might be a fun little exercise to get you thinking about what exactly it is you're seeing, and what the tiniest traces can tell us about an object. . So how does this work here on Instagram? Well, I post a picture on a Monday, and then you have until the next Monday to write in the comments what you think you can see in the picture. Think about things like: - what the object is - what material - what traces you can see - what they might tell us about how this object was made or used - anything really! . The aim is to get you thinking and put your detective hat on. Try to avoid looking at other people's comments, and don't worry about saying something potentially silly - archaeology is all about interpretation! . One week after the initial post, I will update the caption to describe what can be seen in the image, and what this can tell us about the object, so you can see how close you got. (Don't forget to check last week's post to see the results of that one) . Good luck everyone! . Also if you fancy subscribing to my (free) monthly newsletter, which includes monthly microwear challenges, you can do so through my website (link in description). . #MicrowearAnalysis #archaeology #archaeologist #ArchaeologyLife #ArchaeologyLovers #microscope #microscopy #MicroscopicAnalysis https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm5-S7DKjD0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=