Organized by: Matthew Dalzell, Canadian Light Source Inc.

Dr. Gelosomina "Pupa" De Stasio, University of Wisconsin

The purpose of this workshop was to bring current synchrotron users together with researchers from the archaeology, palaeontology and related fields to discuss the potential of synchrotron techniques to their work. The session was very well attended and there is a good chance that some exciting findings may come from ideas discussed during and after the presentations.

The afternoon session opened with an excellent synchrotron primer by Professor Christopher Hall of the Centre for Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. Professor Hall described the inherent advantages of synchrotron light to answering questions regarding the building materials of historic buildings and artifacts such as ceramics, illustrating his points with examples of research he and colleagues have performed using samples from Angkor Wat, King’s College Chapel and the Stone Age settlement Skara Brae.

Pupa De Stasio, director of the Synchrotron Radiation Center in Stoughton, Wisconsin demonstrated the utility of Photo-Electron Emission Microscopy (PEEM) for the study of biominerals and biofilms, illustrating how the technique has shed new light on the construction and microstructure of mother of pearl.

Paul Tafforeau, beamline scientist on ID19 at the ESRF, wowed attendees with animated reconstructions of fossils he and his colleagues have obtained from their work with synchrotron microtomography (CMT) and holotomography. Dr. Tafforeau ably demonstrated how the technique represents the next big step for palaeontology, providing not only unparalleled detail of otherwise hidden structures, but how CMT can also be used to increase our understanding of how fossil organisms lived and moved.

Ingrid Pickering, of the University of Saskatchewan’s Department of Geological Sciences, shared some truly intriguing and exciting discoveries that she and her colleagues Graham George and Brian Pratt found while using X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) to study fossils of the ancient and enigmatic Burgess Shale ‘lace crab’ Marella and trilobites.

Farideh Jalilehvand from the University of Calgary described the work she and her collaborators have been doing to understand the decay processes of wood from marine ship wrecks, and what their results mean to the preservation of Henry VIII’s flagship, Mary Rose.

Ron Martin from the University of Western Ontario and Ivan Kempson from the University of South Australia shared their findings from their study of Incan mummies from Peru. Dr. Martin provided insights into when to use synchrotron techniques and then discussed what he has learned about the diet and lifestyles of the Inca from the distribution of trace metals preserved in their teeth. Dr. Kempson added to the picture by the analyses he conducted of the mummies’ hair using synchrotron x-ray fluorescence (SXRF) and TOF-SIMS. His work suggests that the concentrations of trace nutrient metals such as copper and zinc may be indicative of deficiencies in the mummies’ diet or metabolic problems.

Sponsored by the CLS Users' Advisory Committee