Archaeology in a Tray: Integrating Students with Autism in Laboratory Research
Community Archaeology in Israel/Palestine - Raz Kletter
Nimrod Marom [+]
University of Haifa
Nimrod Marom is an Associate Professor of archaeology at the University of Haifa. Trained as an archaeozoologist, his academic interests include human-animal interactions in Anthropocene social and ecological systems. In recent years he has been involved in several projects in this range, including animal transportation in Iron Age Israel, and human impact on mammal communities in the Judean Desert.
Nofar Shamir [+]
University of Haifa
Nofar Shamir is an MA student at the Department of Archaeology and a team member in the
Laboratory of Archaeozoology. She was also responsible in guiding and teaching the students with autistic fundamentals in archaeology.
Inbal Vortman-Shoham [+]
Avnei Derech La’Haim [Milestones for Life]
Inbal Vortman-Shoham is co-founder and co-manager of Avnei Derech La’Haim (ADL), an
Israeli association for people with disabilities. Inbal is a graduate of the University of Haifa
with a major in Special Education and Archaeology and a master’s degree in Law. Under her leadership ADL establishes new paradigm shifting initiatives and provides services to hundreds of teens and adults with disabilities each year. Avnei Derech La’Haim is a Special Consultative organization for the United Nations ECOSOC (since 2021).
Marissa Hartston [+]
University of Haifa
Marissa Hartston is a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) with 20 years of clinical
experience within the field of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Marissa works with autism in her own clinic and teaches the Autism course within the faculty of Speech and Language Therapy at the University of Haifa. Marissa manages the SPARC center at the University of Haifa, whose aim is to link research into community work within the field of Special Needs.
Roee Shafir [+]
University of Haifa
Roee Shafir is an archaeozoologist and the manager of the Laboratory of Archaeozoology,
University of Haifa, Israel. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Haifa, Department of
Archaeology and has a BA and MA in archaeology, as well as an MA in conservation
archaeology from the University of Haifa.
Lee Perry Gal [+]
University of Haifa / Israel Antiquities Authority
Lee Perry-Gal is a Research Fellow at the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies,
University of Haifa, and head of the zooarchaeology branch at the Israel Antiquities Authority. Lee is a zooarchaeologist focusing on the eastern Mediterranean during the protohistoric and historic periods. Her main research interests pertain to the economy, cultural complexity, and human-environment interaction of ancient cultures through the study of animal remains.
Bat-Sheva Hadad [+]
University of Haifa
Bat-Sheva Hadad is a Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Haifa. Her work focuses on elucidating the way developmental mechanisms drive changes in visual cognition and how those changes are refined by visual experience, both in typically developing children and in those diagnosed with autism. Her lab uses psychophysical behavioral tests to uncover the mechanisms underlying perceptual atypicalities that are increasingly invoked as contributory causes of the fundamental characteristics of ASD.
Guy Bar-Oz [+]
University of Haifa
Guy Bar-Oz is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Haifa. His research focuses on the cultural and biological heritage of the ancient Levant. His research team is a hub for a collaborative scientific network with a strong foundation in anthropological and biological research. His main research efforts deal with developing and applying novel methods for reconstructing in high resolution the culture and environmental landscape of past societies. In the last few years his main research concentrates on human impact on ancient environments and collapse and resilience of past societies in marginal environments
Description
Persons with special needs are often excluded from participation in archaeological activities. This chapter presents two ongoing projects focusing on students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which may provide a template for the empowering and integration of individuals with special needs within archaeological research. These projects revolve around ‘picking’, i.e. sorting of archaeological materials recovered by sieving sediments from ancient sites. The work is based on transforming working environments by fostering community engagement within archaeology at the University of Haifa. Both the participants and the project directors found this to be a successful, mutually-beneficial collaboration.