Tabea Koch

My current research focuses on the combination of biomolecular chemistry and experimental archaeology to investigate ancient adhesives. Previous research investigated the potential birch tar production methods employed in the Palaeolithic. Another area of interest is the provenance study of lithic raw materials, especially flint/chert, using archaeometric methods.

This project focuses on the combination of biomolecular chemistry and experimental archaeology to investigate ancient adhesives. Among the materials that I study are artefacts from a variety of European contexts dating from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age. The aims of this project are to get a deeper understanding of the production and transformation techniques of adhesives in regards to their functionality.