Training opportunity for Thin-Section Petrography in ceramics studies. Deadline is 26 Janaury 2018:

Notice of Workshop at the Angkor Ceramics Unit
Training in Thin-Section Petrography for Use in Archaeological Ceramic Studies
5 – 9 March, 2018
Siem Reap, Cambodia

This workshop is designed for Southeast Asian practicing archaeologists and advanced students engaged in the study of ceramics and excavation of ceramic kilns. Led by two experienced senior specialists, the workshop will convey knowledge of the techniques and uses of polarized light microscopy of ceramics and stone, known as thin-section petrography, and standard ceramic engineering tests of sherds and raw materials.

The program will take place from Monday 5 March through Friday 9 March 2018 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, at the Angkor Ceramics Unit. The Angkor Ceramics Unit stores and studies ceramics excavated from kiln sites in Greater Angkor. In 2015 it was declared an official component of the Angkor International Center for Research and Documentation, a division of the Apsara Authority (Authority for the Protection of the Site and Management of the Region of Angkor), with the official endorsement of UNESCO.

The workshop will consist of a hands-on short course on thin-section petrographic analysis of archaeological ceramics, together with hands-on observation and testing of the structure (optical microscopy, chemical tests), composition (pXRF) and properties of sherds and raw materials.Participants will gain skills in low-cost but highly effective methods for identifying the mineralogical constituents of ceramic materials, discerning variability in materials, and relating that variability to differences in geological or archaeological sources and to ceramic technologies. A focus on the specific nature of Cambodian materials is a distinguishing feature of the workshop.

The primary workshop instructors will be Dr. Chandra L. Reedy, Professor in the Center for Historic Architecture and Design and Director of the Laboratory for Analysis of Cultural Materials, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; and Dr. Pamela B. Vandiver, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Co-Director, Program in Heritage Conservation Science, and Adjunct Professor, School of Anthropology in Archaeology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.

The workshop is organised by H. E. Tan Boun Suy and Dr. Ea Darith of the Angkor International Center for Research and Documentation, Apsara Authority, and Louise Cort, curator for ceramics, Freer|Sackler, Smithsonian Institution. Financial support is provided by the Luce Foundation and the Friends of Khmer Culture.

The workshop is open to 16 practicing archaeologists and advanced students—8 from Cambodia and 8 from other countries in Southeast Asia. Travel assistance, accommodation, food, and limited per diem will be provided.

Applications should be received no later than Friday 26 January 2018. Successful applicants will be advised by email.

APPLICATION

Please submit your application in English by email to Dr. Ea Darith, eadarith@yahoo.com and Louise Cort, cortlo@si.edu. Please provide the following information:

1. Name (family name in capital letters)
2. Age, gender
3. Email address
4. Home postal address
5. Institutional affiliation
6. Name of person to whom you are responsible (such as supervisor or head of department) and that person’s email address
7. Proposed means of travel to and from your home base and Siem Reap, and estimate of costs
8. Summary of education (degrees and dates) and previous experience in field archaeology and the study of archaeological ceramics
9. Brief statement of current research and research interests. Please add citations to your reports and publications, if applicable.

Thank you from the workshop team.