Research:
The Anthrotopography Laboratory takes advantage of a common methodology (surface analysis) to link two strands of research into the material traces of human action at two fundamentally different scale: the microscopic and the landscape scale. We focus on two main questions: How did ancient landscapes and their associated environments influence past human migrations; and How did prehistoric people employ simple technologies to adapt to the diverse environments they encountered? Currently, landscape-scale project focus on using remote sensing and other geoarchaeological methods to predict and discover new sites and ultimately understand the role of Central Asian mountain foothills in connecting various parts of Asia during the Stone Age (see PALAEOSILKROAD and Maibulak Projects). At the microscopic scale, we are interested in characterizing use-traces through controlled experiment and using them to reconstruct the evolution of hominin gesture and motor control (see RoboCut Project).
Research Projects:
Equipment:
- Microscopy: Carl Zeiss Axio Zoom V16 Fully Automated Zoom Microscope System; Sensofar S-NeoX non-contact optical profiler with confocal, focus variation, and white light interferometry capabilities; binocular microscopes, petrographic microscope; several DinoLites for various applications
- Sample prep: rock saw, ultrasonic bath
- Software: AgiSoft 3D for photogrammetry and MountainsMap (on the Sensofar computer) for 3D topography analyses.
Contact: Radu Iovita | ri20@nyu.edu
Students should contact Radu Iovita if they are interested in using the equipment