Organic residue analysis in archaeology

Talk by Ester Oras, Professor of Archaeochmistry, University of Tartu, Estonia, Visiting Professor at Globe Institute, UCPH.

Organic residue analysis (ORA) is one of the subfields of biomolecular archaeology which has been extensively used for reconstructing ancient dietary practices, but also for exploring past adhesive and embalming materials. This talk aims to introduce the principles of ORA and combined methodological approaches used in this praxis. I will highlight the potential and merits of ORA in archaeological research through case studies of ancient ceramics from the Baltic Sea region, adhesives across Northern-Eurasia, and embalming resins from the ancient Egypt.

Biography Ester Oras

Ester Oras is the Professor of Archaeochemistry at the Institutes of Chemistry, and History and Archaeology, at the University of Tartu in Estonia, and the Pro Futura Scientia fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study. She is the founder and director of the interdisciplinary Archemy Lab, focussing on the symbiosis of archaeology with biomolecular and environmental sciences. Her main interest lies is ancient dietary and disease reconstructions using cutting-edge analytical techniques, and she is currently executing an ERC Starting Grant called FoodID on this topic. Ester is a spokesperson for cross-disciplinary scientific work, who has initiated several synergetic frameworks combining humanities and natural sciences at home and internationally, including coining a new paradigm Biomolecular Humanities in her recent paper in iScience.

She is also an active spokesperson for DEI and gender equality in academia, who initiated the celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in Estonia in 2020. Ester is also a founding member of the Estonian Young Academy of Sciences.