Archaeology Café: Big Data and Big Questions
Channel: ArchaeologySouthwest
Date: 14/10/2015

On October 6, 2015, Jeffrey Ferguson (University of Missouri) presented “Big Data and Big Questions: The Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor.”

From Jeffrey:

"Public dissemination of archaeological data is an important and challenging task for all archaeological research, but some types of data are easier to present to general audiences than others. In this talk, I would like to address the important role that chemical compositional studies play in our understanding of the past and how these data can present interesting information to the public.

The Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) has had a central role in studies of Southwestern pottery and stone tools for decades and this role is becoming ever more entrenched. I hope to explore new ideas for dealing with ever-expanding databases and the increasingly complex research that they can support. Many new research projects associated with Archaeology Southwest are attempting to wrangle these massive datasets into patterns meaningful to broader audiences."