Radiocarbon and Diet June 2023

Abstract submission

Abstract submission will open in early January, and will close 8th March.

Instructions: Abstracts for oral and poster presentations can be up to 250 words, and will need to be submitted via Oxford Abstracts on the link below. You can choose to submit to a session, or can select ‘other’.

Click here to submit your abstract

Grants and Prizes

1 travel grant for a student will be awarded to attend the conference in person. This will include free registration and a GBP300 grant. To apply, please send a 1 page letter describing what you intend to present and how attendance at this conference will aid your career development by 22nd February c14diet2023@arch.ox.ac.uk  

1 prize for best student presentation/poster will be awarded (GBP100), and will be assessed during the conference.

This had kindly been sponsored by IonPlus.

Preliminary program

Sessions

1. Reservoir effects: current challenges

This session will focus on the current challenges in quantifying and understanding the size and variability of marine and freshwater reservoir effects.

2. Diet reconstruction: from modelling to diet, chronology and mobility

This session will examine how past diets are reconstructed, how this can be used to inform radiocarbon chronologies, and vice versa.

3. Compound specific approaches

This session is devoted to the analysis of specific lipid compounds and amino acids for characterisation, radiocarbon and stable isotope analysis, and submissions may cover methodological or theoretical issues, as well as presenting new applications.

4. Diachronic change in subsistence practices and high resolution approaches

This session will explore the potential of studying tissues that turn over at different rates or preserve incremental growth structures to explore the diachronic change in subsistence practices using radiocarbon and isotopic methods.

5. Chronology of domestication

Chronology plays a significant role in understanding the process of domestication and the transfer of farming and horticulture practices between regions and groups of people. The session invites submissions on the challenges surrounding this complex topic, new methods and applications.

6. Chronology of dietary practices

The change and maintenance of dietary practices over time requires both accurate chronologies and dietary information. This session will explore how chronologies have been built to examine these practices over time.

7. Radiocarbon and diet in ecology and forensics

Whilst radiocarbon is routinely used to study the more distant past, it can be useful within the past 60 years. In this recent period, radiocarbon is exceptionally sensitive to the introduction of old carbon into the foodchain. This can make the construction of chronologies challenges, but provides an exciting potential for dietary studies.

Registration

Registration will open 22nd March

* Non-students from low-income countries will be able to access the student price. These include countries outside of the UK/ EU, Norway and Switzerland/ USA/ Canada/ Australia/ New Zealand.

The conference dinner will be held on 22nd June at the Cherwell Boathouse (GBP50).

Conference location

Dyson Perrins Building, School of Geography and the Environment, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY

The School of Geography shares a building with the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art and the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, and lab tours will be offered as part of the conference. We are close a range of museums, parks and of course, the Oxford Colleges, so please do take the opportunity to explore the city and university whilst you are here.

Conference dinner

The conference dinner will take place at the beautiful Cherwell Boathouse, Bardwell Road, Oxford, OX2 6ST. This is a 15-20 minute walk through the University Parks (or for those who are more adventurous and don’t mind some mud, a 30 minute walk through the wildflower meadows beside the Cherwell River).

Accommodation

Conference delegates will need to book their own accommodation. There is wide range of accommodation in Oxford, and a few hotels, colleges and B&Bs are suggested below (please note that these are suggestions not recommendations).

Keble College: https://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/conferences/accommodation/

(closest to conference)

St Anne’s College: https://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/conferences-bb/accommodation/book-b-b/

St Stephen’s College (Cowley): https://www.ssho.ox.ac.uk/about/bb/

(note there is no reception after 9pm)

Wolfson College: https://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/bed-and-breakfast

(close to conference dinner)

Easy Hotel, Summertown: https://www.easyhotel.com/hotels/united-kingdom/oxford/oxford (regular buses/ 30-40 min walk to the conference)

Linton Lodge: https://www.bw-lintonlodgehotel.co.uk/

(close to conference dinner)

Cotswold House at 363 Banbury Road https://www.cotswoldhouse.co.uk/

(regular buses/ 30-40 min walk to the conference)

The Burlington House https://www.burlington-hotel-oxford.co.uk

(regular buses/ 30-40 min walk to the conference)

The Buttery (4* hotel) http://www.thebutteryhotel.co.uk/

Local organising committee

Rachel Wood, Christopher Ramsey, Rick Schulting, Amy Styring, Diane Baker, Robyn Mason, Amy Bogaard, Peter Ditchfield, Bethan Linscott, Lorena Becerra Valdivia, Dave Chivall