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Spring/Summer, 2021

We invite Stanford undergraduate students to participate in a collaborative research program between the Stanford Archaeology Center, Stanford Heritage Services, and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

This program will provide students a unique opportunity to participate in cross-disciplinary collaborative research using advanced scientific methods, including analysis of data from synchrotron radiation techniques on beamlines at SSRL, machine-learning approaches to “big data” analysis, and contextual archaeological interpretation.

The collaborative research project involves research on Chinese food and drink vessels. The artifacts were excavated from archaeological sites on Stanford lands and from the shipwreck site of the Frolic, which wrecked on the Mendocino coast in the mid-19th century during its voyage from China.

We use data from various synchrotron applications, including micro X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) and micro X-ray absorption near edge structure (µ-XANES), to to trace the source of the ceramics to China and reconstruct the technology of traditional Chinese “dragon kilns.” We are ultimately interested in understanding the experience of immigrants and how they preserved connections with their home country upon arriving in a foreign land.

The collaborative project engages multiple learning domains in the natural sciences, data science, social sciences, and humanities due to the multifaceted nature of the objects of inquiry and the inter-disciplinary analyses employed. The ceramic artifacts represent traditional Chinese ceramic technology, the lifeways of Chinese immigrants to the United States, and heritage of the Stanford community. Students will be encouraged to apply their unique skillsets and prior knowledge to generating ideas about how to approach problems encountered at various stages of the project.

The research project is linked with the Arboretum Chinese Labor Quarters project, an excavation project through the Stanford Archaeology Center and Stanford Heritage Services that aims to understand the lifeways and heritage of Chinese employees who worked in various capacities at Stanford during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through these inter-departmental connections, students will be exposed to further learning, research, and work opportunities.

This project will adhere to Stanford COVID-19 guidelines. If in-person laboratory research is restricted, the program will be adapted for fully remote participation.

To apply, contact Dr. Katrinka Reinhart: reinhart@stanford.edu

Site updated February 8, 2021