00:00.00 archaeoteacup Okay, I'm back and I have a little bit more information from the Bazz Cardum Society Of Dwarish history yeah so basically they don't know whether to classify this object as a weapon or as a tool so they have two exhibitions currently planned in their community center. 00:06.54 Ashleigh Airey Oh great. 00:19.88 archaeoteacup They have a display for those objects associated with like battles fighting. You know, big power and ceremony and another display for those objects associated with like mining tools more functional sort of everyday objects and apparently deciding which one to put this historic stone x in has caused quite the debate within the society. So Amber how can we actually tell what this x was used for what method. Do you use. 00:47.90 Amber Ah, microware analysis is a really brilliant method to work this out and what. 00:49.91 archaeoteacup Qua What is what is my cri alison. 00:56.18 Amber So microwa analysilysis is the use of a microscope or different types of microscope to look at the traces left behind from an object's life. Um, which could be from manufacture. Its use. It's treatment. It's storage. And then we can think of many examples in our like in our kitchen. For instance where we could look at what the you know the lives of objects if we think about our cutlery drawer take out a knife and imagine when that knife was new. It was nice and shiny. And brand new and then now it's probably covered in loads of scratches and that's from like cutting things up and movement in the cutlery draw banging against other pieces of cutery and you know that's you swear that's microware and. We can look at these traces we can see microscopically. We don't need a microscope but if we did look at a knife under a microscope we see even more traces and and so that's what I do and many other archaeologistologists do to to Zoom into these micros scales on objects and see what has been left behind. Um, all the different interactions that objects have with people and other objects. 02:04.70 archaeoteacup And you can still see those traces even after like thousands of years amazing up 02:08.42 Amber Yeah, yeah, it's quite amazing. I mean sometimes things like stone Sometimes they're very weathered and that removes traces but often if it's not if they're not too weathered then there are amazing traces left behind that can tell you. So much information and when we don't have any other information about these objects then we can We can work Out. You know what? what actually happened and we can then use that to learn about the people who interacted with those objects. 02:40.28 archaeoteacup So very cool. 02:43.22 Ashleigh Airey That's very cool, very cool but like what equipment do you need to look at you swear like how do you do it. 02:52.50 Amber Yeah, so it's It's really essential to have a microscope a good method to use is to try and use both low and high power microscopes. So a low power microscope would be a stereo microscope. Um, and then. 02:54.63 Ashleigh Airey Okay. 03:07.20 Amber Additionally, using a high power microscope such as something like a metallographic microscope something that can go up to say times 200 times 300 then you can zoom in really far and see things like the polish left on objects and ah if you if you try and look at polish then you can identify. Things like contact material which is a little bit harder to identify at lower magnifications. But it's it's essential to go between like high ah low scales and and high scales in in magnification because you get to see different different different types of useware. 03:42.80 Ashleigh Airey And you said contact material. So what do you mean? by literally what it is come in contact with yeah so what kind of stuff would you would you see there. 03:48.41 Amber Yeah, yes, exactly. 03:56.26 Amber So if a stone has been in contact with wood then it would leave a specific type of polish. Um, of course if it had been in contact with wood for like one second and like nothing more then you probably wouldn't leave very many traces but like you'd use. So if you use an axe to chop wood for half an hour you're definitely going to find a nice bit of polish and wood polish on stone tends to and create a domed appearance on the top of stone grains and um, when this is quite developed it forms like a sort of domed plateau that's very smooth and has. 04:16.69 archaeoteacup Are. 04:32.35 Amber A directionality so it it follows a certain direction and has parallel duations through it that follows this direction and that's quite indicative of contact with wood. 04:43.71 Ashleigh Airey That's really really cool. Isn't it that you can you can gleam that piece of information from that and what can you do with that information. 04:51.90 Amber Um, well I mean really, that's essential to to work out if something was used and how it was used and being able to identify the content material can for us as if if we are ah, don't do high power analysis. And we're looking at something at lower magnifications we can say oh this has parallel striations on both Blade Edges. It was probably used with a chopping motion and the high topography of the stone grains is slightly rounded. Maybe it's a medium hardness contact material and. That could be wood but there are other other examples that are of a medium hardness and then if you look at Polish under higher magnifications that can give you give you more information. Well what kind of medium hardness contact material and then we've got 2 things oh that was in contact with wood and it was used in the chopping motion. 05:43.47 archaeoteacup I Wonder what they were doing. 05:45.48 Ashleigh Airey What were they doing I wonder like chopping woods. 05:45.69 Amber Great, Yeah, um. 05:49.79 archaeoteacup And how do you know what material that was used on like I see you can't just look at a piece of stone and be like aha this was clearly you you know Sherlock style this was clearly you as Don a piece of wood like what do you know? what? those traces are yeah exactly. So. 06:02.47 Ashleigh Airey His sister's name was dorothy and therefore. 06:04.30 Amber Ah, a. 06:08.57 archaeoteacup Ah, Robin was singing on a nearby branch. 06:11.44 Ashleigh Airey Um, yeah. 06:13.88 Amber Ah, well I mean it takes a lot of time to look at objects that have been used in experiments so experimental reference collections and then you have something and you know exactly how long it's been used for and how it's been used and what content material and it's developing. Ah, this knowledge of I mean I have this this image reference collection in my brain now from just looking at so many different things that when you look at something under a microscope. It's so much easier to then go? Ah yeah I think it might be that but then I also come across stuff that I haven't seen before. 06:36.48 Ashleigh Airey I think. 06:37.19 archaeoteacup That. 06:49.45 Ashleigh Airey Ooh. 06:49.78 Amber And then then that's exciting and I have to think about different possibilities and try and find other places where people might have found that also or or think about an experiment that needs to happen. 06:59.87 archaeoteacup And but so because of that like because you need to have that little reference collection in your head does that mind mean that you have to be specialized in like a particular material. So For example, could you also look at metal Axes and be like aha Yes I Also know what these we use on or is it. Very material specific. 07:20.60 Amber Ah, to some extent. It's material specific. Um, but it depends I mean I've in my training for use. But as a use for Analyst I trained in lots of different materials and then I focused on Stone. So. Ah, if you if you are a use Analyst. It wouldn't be that hard to then say oh I actually want to start looking at bone and the background knowledge and the skills are there to then look at reference collection and pick things up quite easily. 07:46.33 Ashleigh Airey Um. 07:51.80 archaeoteacup So you just have to make sure you have a hey I mean I'm not sure you could go to like and a job interview about like marketing and say hey I have these charts I can look at you I can look at your stone. 07:53.90 Ashleigh Airey It's a transferable skill Tillie. Ah. 07:56.29 Amber Um, yeah. 08:04.86 Ashleigh Airey Ah know. But no, maybe it depends on what your marketing saying. 08:05.80 Amber No, ah. 08:07.98 archaeoteacup And your bow. 08:13.90 archaeoteacup And I mean you mentioned that you know sometimes you come across things that you you haven't seen before how do you know what experiments to do like? do you just sort of pick randomly like right axes were were probably used on these materials so we do it. Do you have like. And know archaeological some kind of archaeological evidence that you can use it on or or I mean Neolithic is Prehistory. So I guess you wouldn't have written records. So how do you plan the experiments for the reference collection. 08:44.71 Amber Um, it's a bit of everything. It's useful to do some useful analysis to see oh I think this you know is was in contact with wood what was used in similar motions and then you can design experiments around those ah those hypotheses that you create from the traces. Um. 08:59.44 archaeoteacup Are the. 09:02.69 Amber That's a useful scenario. Um, but also I mean it's quite useful to think about how people lived in the past and what kind of things that we have evidence for them making and using that as a way to think oh okay, could you use an axe in this way and could you use an axe in that way and there um I mean there were many different ways you could. 09:11.35 archaeoteacup Who. 09:21.30 Amber Create an experiment. Um yeah I mean the possibilities are endless or I would love to just spend days and days and days and days and days using access in so many different ways. 09:29.15 archaeoteacup I Mean that sounds so much fun. Yeah wo cup will help. 09:33.29 Ashleigh Airey And does it does we come I want I want to do that who help? um so what's been your best experience with microware analysis like within your own research. 09:35.13 Amber Um, yeah, 60 09:48.77 Amber Um, I think this this definitely goes back to fighting against these traditional interpretations that axes are purely ceremonial and I've shown from doing work on neolithic polished stone axes from Britain. 09:52.60 Ashleigh Airey Death. 10:02.66 Amber Um, early bronzeage stone battle axes an axams from Northern Britain and then now my current project looking at Middle Nelithic b scandinavian battleaxes in all these cases I've been able to use microwa analysis to say these were utilitarian functional tools and the idea that they ah. Non-functional and purely ceremonial is incorrect and actually there's probably many more complex reasons why these objects might end up in in context seen the ceremonials such as burials and that I think is the most exciting thing for me. 10:32.41 Ashleigh Airey And. 10:37.32 archaeoteacup Ah, it is exciting. 10:38.91 Ashleigh Airey That that is very exciting I mean we mean to we always talk about how well I think every archae just talks about how burials are not for the dead they're for the living. Um, and yeah that what's in there represents something else. But yes it doesn't mean that it wasn't. 10:43.80 archaeoteacup Or shit and. 10:54.98 Ashleigh Airey Use and it's really really important to break down these older stereotypes that we have around different archaeological material and otherwise we just don't learn. We don't do archeology. Do we? It's all about collecting information. So yeah, that's really exciting. 11:06.61 Amber Yeah, exactly. It's also I think it just shows how much we as Archaeologists can very easily jump to assumptions and we can use our modern lived experiences to interpret the past and. Actually people in the past they probably thought about things very differently to us they interpret as things differently. They also had their own lived experiences and they lived in a world very different to ours so we have to really think outside the box and try and use different methods to be like well what actually was happening because it's probably not what we. 11:31.69 archaeoteacup Brother. 11:40.21 Amber Automatically think of. 11:40.24 Ashleigh Airey Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. 11:42.34 archaeoteacup Ah, well and especially in this case because we're in a fantasy universe. So there's even another step like of of removal that we have to you know, take in terms of our interpretation. So yeah. 11:54.17 Amber Yeah, well you know Fantasy is a wonderful way of actually opening up our eyes to other possibilities but there were so many fantasy worlds that have been created and are being created and these these think outside the box and being able to to look at fantasy and then go Oh Maybe I can apply this to. Archaeological thought was actually very useful. 12:15.75 archaeoteacup Um, I Very right blushing. Well so I agree indeed I think that. 12:17.89 Ashleigh Airey Tillyware useful. Oh I giveness. 12:29.46 archaeoteacup Microware or or use analysis and experimentar I think that sounds like the absolute best method that we can apply to this thing and I'm not at all biased in this decision either. Um in that respect respect. Um, but so am a seeing as you're here and yes I I do do microware analysis as well, but not on axes. 12:38.63 Amber Success. 12:47.91 archaeoteacup Um, and haven't done it on groundstone for a while. So I think Amber it might be the best thing as you're here and you're an expert in this particular object and material and kind of time period ish I guess in question would you be able to have a quick look at the stone as and just you know, let us know what you think we have a microscope over there. 13:05.69 Amber Of course to be very happy to do this. 13:06.89 archaeoteacup For you. 13:11.80 Ashleigh Airey Great. Okay, but before you do that? Do you have anything that you'd like to share with our listeners. Perhaps you've got some exciting projects on ah coming up or in future for you. 13:23.68 Amber Um I will be finishing my current project in September so watch this space with some publications possibly some articles may be a book I've not quite decided yet so that that that's coming up. 13:27.88 Ashleigh Airey O o. 13:33.51 archaeoteacup Ah. 13:35.44 Ashleigh Airey That's very exciting. 13:35.62 Amber And I also organize an experimental archaeology research group here at stockcomm university and we have an exciting workshop and in April where we're going to design various different experiments from different points of view. So that's something exciting that we're going to be doing. 13:49.50 archaeoteacup Ah. 13:51.41 archaeoteacup That. 13:53.59 Amber And um, because my current project ends in September I've been planning and submitting grant applications for a new project so funding for missing hopefully um, but the end of the year I'll be starting a new project exploring Zoomorphic stone. and slate axes and daggers these are so exciting. You can get these stone axes that have bare heads engraved what and slate daggers with elk heads on the ends of their handles. They're amazing. So hopefully I'll be able to do a project on those. 14:10.35 Ashleigh Airey Oh my God I love them. Yes. 14:14.71 archaeoteacup What? Ah ah what from where from what hang on this is all new to me where where what time period or like which culture. 14:21.23 Ashleigh Airey Okay, that's cool. That's cool, but. 14:28.95 Amber Ah, so these are these are near possibly late mesolithic and neolithic um and they span mostly across northern fannoscania so Norway Sweden and Finland but you find a few of them going slightly further south. 14:31.30 Ashleigh Airey Oh God amazing. 14:33.35 archaeoteacup Ah. 14:39.63 archaeoteacup Um, ah. 14:42.68 Amber And then you find some other kind of zoomorphic stone objects around the baltics. It's a country in the countries around the baltic sea and the neolithic very cool. 14:48.30 Ashleigh Airey Oh yay, that's so cool. That's so cool. Let us just no doubt for a second like that's so good. So you're gonna come back and tell us all about that. You better come back and tell us all about that. Yeah. 14:50.97 archaeoteacup Ah, that sounds so cool. Off right? die now. Yeah, we'll have to do another episode sounds good. Well but for now. 14:58.85 Amber Um, thinking Yeah, definitely. 15:07.72 archaeoteacup I Think that's about it for this episode of am my trial. We hope that you all enjoyed this. It wasn't so much a quest as a kind of scenario. Thank you? So so much Amber for helping us out with this particular problem. It was really great to have you join us and we've definitely learned a lot. So thank you, You're welcome to say goodbye. 15:26.59 Amber Um, ah yeah, you're welcome. Um. 15:27.59 archaeoteacup Sorry I I hadt added that it I should add that in in case people do you have the first guest I think who's actually reading the script along with it like most of fuck don't so then they just kind of automatically like I no wories my like you know, but. 15:32.83 Ashleigh Airey Ah, like what's happened. 15:43.28 Amber Oh yeah, you know there wasn't anything in the script I was like do it do I say something? Yeah, you're very well. 15:47.10 archaeoteacup I got am but so welcome I got yeah even do your color as well. Second okay there we go? Yeah, but. 15:49.50 Ashleigh Airey Or yeah. 16:01.89 Amber Um, and dismissus issue. 16:02.64 Ashleigh Airey Um, yeah, let me do that back again. Yeah, they. 16:05.90 archaeoteacup Um, should we do it again. So you could I mean you don't have to say you don't have to say you're very welcome. You can say whateverever you want. But I'll just do my little bigger. Well I think that that's about it for this episode of at my tro. We hope you enjoyed this quest ish scenario problem. 16:07.65 Amber Um, yeah, yeah, yeah. 16:22.14 archaeoteacup Um, thank you? So so much to Amber for helping us out with this particular problem. It was really great to have you join us and we've definitely learned a lot. So thank you. 16:28.90 Amber All It's been so great I've really enjoyed this and hopefully I can come back and talk about some lkheads and other axes with interesting ends. 16:34.29 archaeoteacup Yes, you've said it live now like on it's recorded. We have your promises exactly well good luck with that wishing you all the best and guess. 16:40.80 Ashleigh Airey Yeah, it's in blood. But yeah. 16:44.78 Amber Ah, yeah I better get the funding for the project now. Thank you. Thank you. 16:53.21 archaeoteacup Thank you to everyone here for listening in the meantime until our next episode. We are always looking for new episode ideas. So please if you have any suggestions for us. Do get in contact via email or social media. All of our contact information as well as all of the information on what Anne is doing in her research and several of the studies that have been chatted about Today. Can be found in the show notes. 17:14.11 Ashleigh Airey Hey Tilly I was just looking through these boxes and I found something else. That's a little bit weird. Yeah, they are but they're kind of long and strangely pointed. 17:20.99 archaeoteacup Oh others teeth. 17:31.38 archaeoteacup Ah, you know what? I think I know someone who might be able to help us with those.