The Integrated Laboratory for Archaeological Sciences (ILAS) was created in 2023 to facilitate research in the archaeological sciences, including, but not limited to, paleoethnobotanical, zooarchaeological, petrographic, and bioarchaeological analyses. The laboratory is shared between the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World (JIAAW) and the Department of Anthropology. 

The ILAS is located in Room 407 of the Medical Research Laboratory (MRL) building at 89 Waterman Street on the Brown University Campus.

Explore the Integrated Laboratory for Archaeological Sciences (ILAS)

The Paleoethnobotany Laboratory at Brown (PEBLab) was created in 2023 to facilitate research using paleoethnobotanical methods, including macrobotanical (carpological and anthracological) and microbotanical (phytolith and starch grain) analyses. Researchers at the PEBLab include faculty and students from the Department of Anthropology and the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World (JIAAW).

Research at the PEBLab focuses on foodways and ethnoecology. Research teams draw botanical residues from artifacts, teeth, and sediments to understand human-plant relationships in the historic and ancient past. Paleoethnobotanical research enables teams to pose new questions about human adaptations to climate shifts and human impacts on local environments over time. Researchers can also illuminate culinary practices and gastronomic traditions, using paleoethnobotanical methods to extract and analyze food residues.

Explore the Paleoethnobotany Laboratory (PEBLab)

The Historical Archaeology Lab houses the Cocumscussoc Archaeological Collection, an assemblage of 17^th-early 20^th century artifacts studied by students in the Material Culture Practicum course. Recent projects include a Point Count Analysis of the composition and distribution of petrographic inclusions under an optical microscope at 10x magnification to determine the origin of “Iberian” ceramics; water absorption and hardness tests of yellow “Dutch” bricks to assess their use; and a type-variety approach to the study of black-glazed earthenware ceramics recording wall thickness, paste and glaze colors with a Munsell Color Chart, and other attributes such as rim and base diameters with a radius chart to differentiate utilitarian and serving vessels. Cross-mending glass sherds, initiated in course research and continued during a department research apprenticeship, reassembled unidentified tablewares such as a pressed-glass salt cellar decorated with patriotic motifs and tumblers with molded “Gothic” panels like those on ironstone ceramics popular in the 19^th century that added to the comparative value and knowledge of the collection.