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![Isotope Analysis in Archaeology [Deeper Digs]](/images/default-source/default-library/laboratory_overlay1.tmb-seminar.png?Culture=en&sfvrsn=4a6b9134_1)
Isotope Analysis in Archaeology [Deeper Digs]
When: May 06, 2026 2:00-4:00 PM ET
Duration: 2 hours
Certification: RPA-Certified
Pricing
Individual Registration: Individual Registration: $99 for SAA members; $149 for non-members
Group Registration: Group Registration: $139 for SAA members; $189 for non-members
Emily Holt, Ph.D., RPA, Errant Heritage
Dr. Emily Holt, RPA, is an environmental archaeologist and archaeological scientist who directs the excavations of the Pran’e Siddi Project in central Sardinia (Italy). Emily received her PhD from the University of Michigan in 2013 and has held teaching and research positions at Oberlin College, the University at Buffalo, Miami University of Ohio, Cardiff University, and the Museum national ‘d’Histoire naturelle (Paris, France). Emily’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the European Research Council and has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including Nature. Emily’s research focus in isotope analysis is on strontium and strontium isoscaping.
Dr. Emily Holt, RPA, is an environmental archaeologist and archaeological scientist who directs the excavations of the Pran’e Siddi Project in central Sardinia (Italy). Emily received her PhD from the University of Michigan in 2013 and has held teaching and research positions at Oberlin College, the University at Buffalo, Miami University of Ohio, Cardiff University, and the Museum national ‘d’Histoire naturelle (Paris, France). Emily’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the European Research Council and has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including Nature. Emily’s research focus in isotope analysis is on strontium and strontium isoscaping.
Isotope analysis is increasingly used in archaeology to understand the diets, origins, and patterns of mobility of both humans and animals in the past, making it a useful tool for any archaeologist to consider applying in their work. This seminar will introduce nonspecialist archaeologists to the essentials of isotope analysis: what it is, how it works, and what it can be used to understand. The seminar will cover the major isotope systems commonly used in archaeological analysis (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, strontium, and sulfur) and provide a detailed case study to illustrate how they can be applied and interpreted. The seminar will close with a discussion of scientific and ethical concerns in sampling for isotope analysis.
By the end of this seminar, participants will:
1.Have a basic understanding of how isotope analysis works.
2.Will know which isotope systems are used to address which kinds of research questions, why those isotope systems work to address those questions, and how the results of isotope analysis can be interpreted.
3.Participants will develop an understanding of scientific and ethical concerns in sampling for isotope analysis such that they will be able to assess an assemblage’s appropriateness for informative and ethical sampling.
1.Have a basic understanding of how isotope analysis works.
2.Will know which isotope systems are used to address which kinds of research questions, why those isotope systems work to address those questions, and how the results of isotope analysis can be interpreted.
3.Participants will develop an understanding of scientific and ethical concerns in sampling for isotope analysis such that they will be able to assess an assemblage’s appropriateness for informative and ethical sampling.