Beyond the baseline: Broadening stable isotopic horizons in zooarchaeology

22nd to 25th March BERLIN

The second meeting for the Stable Isotope in Zooarchaeology ICAZ working group was held 22.3.2023 to 25.3.2023 at the MfN and FU in Berlin and also was accessible online. The focus of the meeting was 1. State of Art; 2. reconstruction of paleo-environments; 3. Herding and hunting strategies uncovered using stable isotopes. The meeting brought together over 60 participants in person and many more online. The meeting was a huge success with participants representing countries on a global scale with contributions from archaeozoologists, archaeologists, bioanthropologists but also, ecologists, organic chemists, geochemists, paleontologists and geologists. The meeting was funded by the DFG, ICAZ, FU and DAI. Student researchers were supported via conference prizes and assistance to travel in the form of cash. The full scientific conference program can be found below. Videos of some of the posters and presentations can be found on Youtube via the link below.

The meeting began with an evening welcome reception at the MfN, with keynote talks from Prof. Julia Lee-Thorp (Emeritus, University of Oxford) and Prof. Christian Voigt (Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife research, Berlin). These keynotes summed up the state of art of the use of stable isotopes in archaeology, archaeozoology and ecology.

The papers ranged from Mexican megafuana to London foxes, the scientific program provided lively debate. The meeting was assisted by post-graduate and doctorate helpers: Maria Rocio, Matteo Bormetti, Simone Hein, Anika Krause, Bastien Duwell and Maximilian Muschner.

Wonderful conference assistants.
This photo: Ismini, Matteo, Maria; Left: Ismini, Bastien, Anika

Prizes were awarded to post-graduate students for both oral presentations and posters. For the oral presentation, the winner was Karolina Varkuleviciut (CAU, Kiel) and runner up Samuel Johns (OGU, University of Bristol). For the posters, Gaia Mortier (University of Reading, UK) and runner-up Celia Díez-Canseco (IPHES, Universidade de Tarragona).