Dr Laine Clark-Balzan, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, UK
Laine Clark-Balzan conducts applied and developmental research in optically stimulated luminescence dating. For her doctoral thesis, ‘Dating the Aterian using techniques of luminescence dating and implications for mapping the dispersal of modern Homo sapiens,’ she used multigrain and single grain techniques to date several Middle Stone Age sites in Morocco. She also developed a new methodological approach, which utilizes ultra-sensitive scientific cameras to measure the OSL signal.
Laine is interested in using mathematical methods to better constrain chronological sequences. She constructs models that integrate stratigraphic and chronological data via Bayesian statistics, in order to interpret complex local and regional stratigraphies.
