Division of Archaeology

Laboratories

The Division of Archaeology and the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research jointly support a number of internationally recognised laboratories for archaeological science, including:

• The Charles McBurney Laboratory for Geoarchaeology—which is focussed on deciphering past landscapes and interpreting the use of space;
• The George Pitt-Rivers Laboratory for Bioarchaeology—which is focussed on utilising macrofossil analyses, phytoliths, pollen and broader palaeoenvironmental work to explore vegetation history, subsistence strategies, and past cultures;
• The Glyn Daniel Laboratory for Archaeogenetics—the first dedicated genetics laboratory established within an archaeological research institute;
• The Grahame Clark Laboratory for Zooarchaeology—which is focussed on studying animal remains from archaeological sites through such projects as shell isotopic analysis, seasonality of marine molluscs, the study of bone technology, and palaeopathology;
• The Dorothy Garrod Laboratory for Isotopic Analysis—which is focussed on the application of isotope analysis to questions in archaeology, palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment, ecology, nutrition and diet, provenance and origins.