We are currently finishing up a batch of 30 micromorphology thin section slides from a Neolithic rock shelter in northern Spain. The slides look beautiful, don’t they?! The samples have been easy to impregnate, they were already very dry. The grinding was sometimes challenging because of the different texture and density of the sediments (Can you see the beautiful layering on some of the slides?). Some very fine layers of ashes (?) tended to grind much more quickly that coarser layers with gravels, which forced us to be extra careful and sometimes reach the right thickness in several steps. All the slides will be ready to ship back to the researcher in few weeks. The thin sections will be used for micromorphology and phytolith analysis to investigate the animal husbandry during the Neolithic period.
