Chargé(e) de Recherche (H/F) identification of lipids on prehistoric ceramics from the Caucasus

- Stratigraphic excavations;
- Management of archaeological material and samples in the field, management of samples in the laboratory;
- Study and analysis of archaeological organic residues (lipids and short-chain acids from fruit/vine products) testifying to alimentary practices of past populations.
- Processing of data from the excavations;
- Bibliographical research on biomolecular archaeology, lipidomics, pre- and protohistory of the Caucasus, Near East and Eastern Europe
- Valorisation of results (scientific reports, participation in international conferences and publications);
- Participation in the activities of Laboratory CEPAM (team meetings and seminars)

- Fieldwork in Azerbaijan;
- Archaeological excavations in Azerbaijan;
- Sampling and biomolecular analysis of ceramics and visible organic residues;

This job offer is part of a scientific collaboration between archaeologists, dendrochronologists, environmentalists, palynologists, archaeozoologists and geochemists around the activities of the MEAE archaeological mission "Boyuk Kesik" in Azerbaijan (dir. G. Palumbi) and those of the DAI mission in Georgia (dir. S. Hansen) and around the ANR-DFG project "From Kura-Araxes to Early Kurgans. Tracing 3rd millennium social and cultural changes in the Kura river valley (Georgia and Azerbaijan). Environment, food, chronology". The aim of this project is to understand the radical changes in social orders, subsistence patterns, cultural values, lifestyles and living patterns during the third millennium BC in the South Caucasus, particularly in the Kura river valley. The project is based on an archaeological and bioarchaeological approach and relies on field research and laboratory studies in collaboration with numerous French and German researchers. The project , entitled KUR(A)GAN (PI G. Palumbi, CEPAM, Nice), is financed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) and the activities will be based at the ORA (Organic Residue Analysis) laboratory of the Department of Pre- and Protohistory of the University of Tübingen and in Nice at the Laboratry CEPAM (Cultures - Environments. Prehistory, Antiquity, Middle Ages) laboratory. The Tübingen laboratory is adapted and dedicated to the study of archaeological organic residues that may be preserved on the surface or impregnated in ceramic vessels. This laboratory has significant experience in the combined studies of lipids present in most natural substances and short chain acids present in significant quantities in fruit products. CEPAM is equipped with an analytycal platform dedicated to biochemistry. At CEPAM, the selected candidate will be integrated into the STEP team (Technical Systems, Ethnoarchaeology, Prehistory). A 10-day mission is planned in Azerbaijan.