Alice Knaf
Alice is a trained geochemist and geologist. Her research interest lies in studying the composition of materials encountered in cultural heritage, to answer questions about their provenance, manufacturing technology and authenticity. She is further interested in technique optimization of portable in-situ laser ablation sampling systems, and on the development of essentially non-invasive analytical methods.
Her current research is focused i) on the development, evaluation, and application of an innovative portable ultraviolet (213nm) laser ablation sampling device with subsequent trace elemental and radiogenic isotope (Sr-Nd-Pb) analyses for provenance studies of vitreous (historic glass) and pale colored materials (feldspar minerals, teeth, porcelain) encountered in the Yale collections; and ii) on the material identification and provenance of ancient Babylonian cylinder and stamp seals stored at the Yale Sterling Memorial Library using pXRF, pRaman and pLIBS.
She conducted her PhD research at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam (Netherlands) focusing on the geochemical characterization and discrimination of circum-Caribbean jadeite – omphacite jade source rocks, potentially exploited by indigenous societies. After determining the geochemical fingerprint of pre-colonial jade celts and paraphernalia, the generated database served as a fundament for predicting their provenance by applying statistic multi-class regression analyses. The findings contributed to reconstruct the circulation of goods in the pre-Hispanic Caribbean. She earned her Master of Science degree in Geochemistry and Geology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich (Switzerland) and her Bachelor of Science degree in Geosciences at the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) and the Technical University (TU) in Munich (Germany).