For the past 45 years, the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology (CMRAE) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has integrated science and engineering with the humanities and social sciences primarily through the detailed analysis of the structure and properties found within materials associated with past/preindustrial human activity. The mission of CMRAE has always included providing high-level, hands-on training in practical analytical techniques on archaeological and ethnographic materials, so that students are able to research topics of their own choosing with sufficient skill. As part of this educational mission, CMRAE offers yearlong academic courses that train students from eight affiliated educational and cultural institutions in the greater Boston area in materials science approaches to the analysis of material culture. Training courses of this type are unique to the United States in both the depth of training offered and in the integration of materials science with archaeology, and the approach has had far-ranging influences on both fields.

CMRAE is now expanding its educational mission to make materials science-based training more widely accessible. Unlike some current popular solutions, like three-day boot camps or week-long short courses in a specific analytical technique, CMRAE is introducing a three week summer intensive in ceramic petrography. Learning a new skill set takes ample practice time, and the three weeks intensive schedule allows students to develop the experience needed to carry out meaningful archaeological materials analysis. Our three-week summer intensive course provides advanced training in the analysis of material culture through combined lectures, seminars, and hands-on laboratory practical sessions that target many kinds of technological and cultural information. The extended format of the course enables students to receive 60 hours of targeted lectures and 80 hours of supervised laboratory experience.

The summer intensive program is open to upper level undergraduate students, graduate students, or early career researchers with an interest in materials analysis of cultural materials with previous exposure to ceramic petrography. This program parallels archaeological field school programs, but builds practical, lab-based, post-excavation analytical skills. Each day of the intensive will be comprised of morning lectures and afternoon laboratory modules. These modules are aimed at identifying and characterizing material types, processing methods, determining the location(s) of manufacture, material properties and potential function. In addition to the scientific background, the class will emphasize how these features were influenced and affected by social, ideological and environmental constraints. The summer intensive will also provide introductions to complementary analytical techniques common in materials science, including electron microscopy, elemental composition (ICP-MS, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry), X-ray diffraction and RAMAN spectroscopy.

Course participants will benefit from a course handbook, complete with instructions for thin section and polished section preparation, methodological guidelines, and reference materials, that they will be able to take back to their home institution to continue the practice of their freshly honed analytical skills. Most importantly, they will be guided by experts in the field of archaeological ceramic analysis through three weeks of lab exercises designed to boost and strengthen their analytical skills. Students will be encouraged to bring materials from their own research projects in the form of prepared ceramic thin sections to study. They will also be able to meet and network with several highly regarded research specialists in both materials science and anthropological fields enabling them to build new and meaningful relationships with professional researchers in their area of interest. CMRAE will offer a certificate of completion to all participants that successfully finish the course.

Frequently Asked Questions

NOTE: details subject to change.

Miscellaneous Information

Program Dates & Location

June 09-27, 2025

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Building 16, Room 536 (fifth floor)

Getting Here

By Air

The closest airport to MIT is Boston Logan International Airport (https://www.massport.com/logan-airport/). The airport is connected to the Boston subway system (mbta.com) via a shuttle bus to the Airport (blue line) stop or via the Silver Line bus service to South Station (red line).

By Subway/Bus

The MIT campus is located near the Kendall/MIT red line T stop. Numerous bus lines also run to Kendall (notably the 64, 68, 85, CT2) and the Number 1 bus stops on Mass Ave near the front entrance to the MIT buildings and the student center. More information on subway and bus lines in Boston are available here (mbta.com).

By Car

If arriving by car, the street address 77 Mass Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139 is generally used. This is the front of the main steps to the main campus buildings. Please note that parking on campus is extremely limited, and we do not provide parking passes for students attending the summer program. Rideshares are up to the individual student.

Campus Buildings

To orient yourself on the MIT campus, there is an interactive map at whereis.mit.edu that can be helpful. Please not that almost all buildings on the MIT campus are referred to by their number, not their name. If asking people for directions to the lab, building 16 will be unstop while the Dorrance building will not. In general, all rooms at MIT are designed by a building number, followed by a room number, which starts with the floor number. Our lab 16-536 is a building 16 on the fifth floor, room 36.

Housing and Meals

Participants will be assigned a single dorm room on the MIT campus. A catered lunch will be provided to participants each weekday during the program. Other meals and weekend meals are the responsibility of the participants.

WiFi

MIT has a guest network for summer program participants called MIT Guest. After connecting, participants will be taken to a registration page where they will submit their name and contact information (phone or email), which will allow them access to the internet during their time at MIT.

MIT also participates in EDUROAM, which is available in residential, academic, and administrative buildings throughout the campus. Fore more information, visit https:/www.eduroam.org/

Safety Training

Participants will arrive on the first day of the program at 9 AM in the lab 16-536 for mandatory safety training, which will cover all aspects of the facility. Participants should only bring vital supplies to campus, such as a notebook, laptop, and writing utensil. The lab does not have much storage space for large amount of luggage.

Required Wardrobe

Because the program will take place in a laboratory environment, participants are required to wear proper laboratory attire each day. This includes close-toed shoes (no sandals or flip flops), covered legs, and safety equipment while using dangerous machinery. If participants do not wear proper clothing to campus, they will not be permitted inside the lab that day.

Lectures

The program is scheduled each day from 9 AM to 5 PM, with a morning coffee break, lunch break from 12-1, and afternoon breaks as needed. The first day, participants should plan to arrive at the lab by 9 AM for the mandatory safety training and facility tour.

The typical daily schedule will include some lectures in the morning, followed by laboratory exercises and field trips and microscope time after lunch. The final schedule posted on the website as soon as it is available.

All students are strongly encouraged to bring a collection of thin sections from their own projects to sturdy during the program. Students should expect to produce a full laboratory writeup of their collection by the end of the program. If students do not have thin sections of their material prepared, sherds can be sent to MIT prior to the program and we will prepare the thin sections for a fee.

Each student will receive a laboratory reference manual for their use during the program which can be taken home after the completion of the intensive. A bound laboratory notebook will also be kept during the program.

Library

Students will have access to the MIT libraries during public hours, although borrowing privileges will not be extended to participants. (libraries.mit.edu).

Mail

Participants should contact their individual housing for information about receiving mail and packages during the program.

Insurance

MIT does not provide health or accident insurance for the participants of the CMRAE Summer Intensive in Ceramic Petrography; this is your individual responsibility.

Smoking

MIT is a non-smoking facility, and no tobacco use is allowed in the buildings.

• All forms of smoking, tobacco use, and unregulated nicotine products are prohibited including but not limited to:
  • cigarettes, cigars (commercially or self-rolled)
  • pipes, hookahs, water pipes
  • electronic devices that deliver nicotine or other vaporized liquids
  • smokeless tobacco (e.g., snuff, snus, chew)
• Tobacco use including smoking, chewing, dipping, electronic smoking devices, or any other use of tobacco products.
• Smoke or smoking: The act of inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying of any lighted or heated plant product intended for inhalation, whether natural or synthetic, including tobacco and marijuana. This includes the use of any electronic smoking device that creates an aerosol or a vapor in any electronic smoking device that creates an aerosol or a vapor in any manner or in any form or the use of any oral smoking device for the purpose of circumventing the prohibition of smoking.