In my lab, I analyze ‘invisible’ artifacts with the help of the PartAn3D, a dynamic image particle analyzer (starting int he Spring of 2024, the lab is in Stevenson SC2337A). I collect soils, mortars, and other granular dry materials from archaeological sites and use the PartAn3D to measure several dozen variables for each particle in a sample. To define the shape of the ancient artifacts I am looking for, I use experiments. In 2019, I invited stone-knapper Mike McBride to make stone tools from chert and obsidian. Together with graduate students, I have also participated in knap-ins. We have collected all the debris that the stone knappers produced and used it to define stone-knapping debitage. Machine learning and other data science approaches then allow me to identify these microartifacts in my archaeological samples.

The PartAn3D particle analyzer

Recent publications involving the particle analyzer:

Markus Eberl, Phyllis Johnson, Rebecca Estrada Aguila, Michael McBride (2023) Redefining lithic microdebitage with experimental archaeology. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 15:161.

Markus Eberl, Charreau S. Bell, Jesse Spencer-Smith, Mark Raj, Amanda Sarubbi, Phyllis S. Johnson, Amy E. Rieth, Umang Chaudhry, Rebecca Estrada Aguila, Michael McBride 2023 Machine learning-based identification of lithic microdebitage. Advances in Archaeological Practice 11(2):152–163.

Markus Eberl, Phyllis Johnson, Rebecca Estrada Aguila 2022 Studying lithic microdebitage with a dynamic image particle analyzer. North American Archaeologist 43(4):312–327.

Johnson, Phyllis, Markus Eberl, Rebecca Estrada Aguila, Charreau Bell and Jesse Spencer-Smith 2022 Using Tiny Artifacts to Answer Big Questions: Machine Learning, Microdebitage, and Household Spaces at Tamarindito. North American Archaeologist 43(4):328–347

Phyllis S. Johnson, Markus Eberl, Michael McBride, and Rebecca Estrada Aguila 2021 Using Dynamic Image Analysis as a Method for Discerning Microdebitage from Natural Soils in Archaeological Soil Samples. Lithic Technology 46(2): 111–118.