The Department of Anthropology Laboratory for MicroArchaeology (ALMA) aims to study the microscopic archaeological record.

We focus on developing, testing, and applying new approaches to understand the past using the invisible remains left by our ancestors.

ALMA's research has three main aspects: fieldwork, experiments, and the development of new methods.

Our research has an important fieldwork component. We study prehistoric and historical sites using a broad range of techniques, including microbotanical remains and the mineral composition of the sediments through FTIR. Our objective is to answer questions related to the site formation processes, human behavior, paleoecology, and pyrotechnology among others.

We support the archaeological research by conducting experiments in the laboratory and in the field. In the laboratory, we use a controlled environment to set up systematic experiments with few variables to understand the fundamental mechanisms of the formation and preservation of the fossil record. In the field, we simulate activities carried out in the past. The remains produced during these activities are studied using the same methods applied in the archaeological sites, allowing us to produce a reference set of data that can be used to trace these activities in the past.

Developing new methods or improving already established techniques is an essential part of the research carried out at ALMA. Producing data with higher resolution, carrying out faster and cheaper analyses, and increasing the reliability of the results in the field and the laboratory is the best way to improve our knowledge of the past.

ALMA in Spanish means soul or spirit. Our soul is of a multidisciplinary team that integrates knowledge from different fields of Science. Archaeology has integrated the discoveries in fields like Geology, Chemistry, Biology, or Physics to advance as a discipline. Our spirit is to give back some of this knowledge, by developing research in Archaeology that can be used in other disciplines.

Welcome to ALMA.