Although Covid-19 is still lingering, we are slowly, but surely, getting momentum in our activities.
Heavy metals progress and excavations at Værøy, Lofoten
Although Covid-19 is still lingering, we are slowly, but surely, getting momentum in our activities.
As to our isotope and chemical element (heavy metals) investigations of Younger Stone Age and Early Metal Age diet and health, we have now gotten the results of 75 new samples from Atlantic cod, harp seal and humans. Preliminary analyses of the results look very promising. We will continue to process the data over the autumn and aim to get them published as soon as possible.
We have also made a small excavation at the important, extremely bone-rich site, Nordlandet, at Værøy in the outmost Lofoten archipelago. Partly excavated in the 1980s, we needed additional 14C-dates and otherwise to maximize the information potential by taking profile samples for aDNA, heavy metal, multielement pXRF, phosfate, lipid, pollen, entomological and phytolite analyses. We also found huge amounts of bird bones in the midden layer. We have almost only gotten back from the field, but will also in this case continue our work in our labs over the autumn.
ARCWAYS was hardly formally approved before Covid-19 struck and Norway went into lockdown on 12 March 2020.
ARCWAYS & COVID-19
ARCWAYS was hardly formally approved before Covid-19 struck and Norway went into lockdown on 12 March 2020.
This has naturally caused havoc to all plans, work and progress for the year. Being confined to working from home and with only occasional limited, access to our offices and not the least our laboratories, is one thing, but the impact on the work in cooperating chemical laboratories is also important to mention.
We look forward to get into full mode again, hopefully by mid-2021.