Yesterday has been a very busy day. The Archaeology day at UPF was a blast. I have never seen so many different - yet very related- topics, discussed in the same workshop. We had presentations ranging from isotopes in archaeobotanical studies (delivered by one of the senior members of the project G Fiorentino), to the archaeology of papyri. From the use of earth observation techniques to the role of feminism in archaeology. From the analysis of residues for the identification of ancient wine production and consumption to the use of geostatistics to identify anthropogenic signals in archaeological contexts.
It is almost overwhelming to think of all the possibilities that archaeology offer as a multidisciplinary field. There are so many interesting and compelling avenues of research that somehow it is difficult to concentrate on one research topic (even if it is in itself multidisciplinary). I strongly believe that archaeology has reached a new stage of maturity and can unravel the big mystery of how our society came to be and what are the mechanisms that control socio-environmental dynamics in the present. We, as archaeologists need to make an effort to reach out more to society. I dream about the day when the common reaction to me saying that I am an archaeologists won't be: 'Oh, so you must have visited the pyramids!' or ' Oh, when I was little I really wanted to study dinosaurs too (?!?)' but 'Oh, thanks for making us understand how we become what we are and for pointing out what we can do better for our society and for the environment!'