Updates on Archaeometallurgy

By Agnese Benzonelli, Associate Editor for Archaeometallurgy

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it has been difficult to keep up to date with conferences that have been cancelled, postponed, or moved online. Here is a recap of upcoming conferences, all of which are focused on or include archaeometallurgy sessions.

Only a few conferences were held, online, in 2020 and 2021, with most being moved to more secure times later in 2022 or 2023.

On Sunday 19th September 2021, as part of the 2nd international conference on Global issues of Environment & Culture, Maria Kostoglou (SOAS University of London) will chair a session titled “Ancient iron in Europe and China (ca. 8th to 3rd centuries BCE): transcultural comparisons in the study, representation and preservation of iron technological heritage.”

This year’s Archäometrie Kolleg workshop will focus solely on Archaeometallurgy. With both theoretical and practical classes, the participants will learn the basics about the properties of metals and their production from prehistoric times onwards, from sample preparation, to metallographic, phase, chemical and isotopic analysis. 

The Historical Metallurgy Society’s Research in Progress will run on 13th November 2021 in Denmark, where current, mostly unpublished research, will be presented. 

After the winter break, it promises to be a hot spring for archaeological science. Postponed since 2020, UKAS (UK Archaeological Sciences) and ISA 2020, will take place in April and May 2022 respectively. ISA 2022 will present a session focussed on metals technology and provenance (session 6) on Monday 16th and Thursday 21st May.

After the postponement of Accidental and Experimental Archaeometallurgy 2.0 to version 2.1 in June 2021, the final date of the now “Accidental and Experimental Archaeometallurgy 2.2” will be held in Dorset in June 2022. The conference will take place over two days and includes talks on topics ranging from copper and silver experiments, to iron ore and bronze casting and ten practical metallurgical experiments. These include iron and copper smelting, bronze casting, wire production, and smithing experiences. 

The date for the BUMA X conference in Bangkok, Thailand, originally planned for September 2000, is still to be confirmed.

After its 7th Edition, which was held online, the 8th Balkan Symposium on Archaeometry (2022) will be held in the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Laboratory of Physics, Belgrade, Serbia on a date still to be confirmed. 

The 12th Experimental Archaeology Conference (EAC) was held online in March 2021 with the theme of “around the world in 80 experiments”. Starting in Australia, it turned towards Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America and lasted for 4 days. The next edition will be held in 2023.

While we are all looking forward to meeting each other during the sorely missed conference coffee break, a number of social media pages are posting new research in the archaeometallurgy field. If you know of more pages, websites or groups, please do write to me (a.benzonelli@ucl.ac.uk) and I will update the list.

      SAS

https://www.facebook.com/SocArchSci

      LAB: Laboratory for Artefact Biographies

 https://www.facebook.com/LABmaterialculture

      Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory, ASCSA

https://www.facebook.com/groups/530144513679281

      The archaeology news network

https://www.facebook.com/groups/113801948634692

      MCAS

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MCASIOA

      BSA

https://www.facebook.com/pages/British%20School%20at%20Athens/138300966199400/

      Historical Metallurgy group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/36463147076

      Metals working group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/111173972232762

      Experimental historical bronze casting group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/886270998118066

      UCD experimental archaeology group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/UCDExperimentalArchaeology

      Experimental archaeology group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2414580946

      David Scott Instagram Page

https://www.instagram.com/davidscottmetals/?fbclid=IwAR3eowqa0UZFvpRsh3KpCGGmQ6SRESC9rd6kYdAJQrXKFSFNEky-aj9NFtY


2021 - 2023 Conferences 

Conference

When

Where

Website

2nd International Conference on Global issues of Environment & Culture

17-19 September 2021

On-line

 

https://shap-conference.com

 

Archaeometry Workshop on Material Analysis in Archaeometallurgy 

18–22 October 2021

Mannheim, Germany

https://www.archaeometrie-kolleg.de/en/workshop-autumn-2021

 

HMS Research in Progress 2021

13 November 2021

Aarhus, Denmark

https://historicalmetallurgy.org/hms-events/

UKAS2020 UKAS2022 – UK Archaeological Sciences (UKAS) 

20-22 April 2022

Aberdeen, Scotland

n/a

ISA 2020 ISA2022 - 43rd International Symposium on Archaeometry

16-20 May 2022

Lisbon, Portugal

https://www.isa2020-lisboa.pt

 

Accidental and Experimental Archaeometallurgy 2.0 2.1 2.2

9-11 June 2022

Dorset, UK

https://historicalmetallurgy.org/current-events/agm2022/

 

 

BUMA X

September 2022

Bangkok, Thailand

https://www.sac.or.th/interconference/bumaxbangkok2020/index.html

8th Balkan Symposium on Archaeometry

Dates TBC (2022)

Belgrade, Serbia.

https://bsa7.uniwa.gr

 

13th Experimental Archaeology Conference

Dates TBC (2023)

TBC

https://exarc.net/eac

 

 

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