image/svg+xml
219
XI/2/2020
INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA
NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
A look at the region
From
Amélie
to
Terrascope
: Creation, Development, Struggle and Re-birth
of a Small French Independent Archaeological Laboratory
Sabrina Save
a*
, Joseph Kovacik
a
a
Amélie, études environnementales & archéologiques/Terrascope Thin Section Slides, 120 boulevard Blanqui, 10000 Troyes, France
1. Introduction
Based in Troyes, France, in the southern Champagne
region, the laboratories named
Amélie
and
Terrascope
are the two heads of the same entity created in May 2007
by Joseph Kovacik and Sabrina Save. While
Amélie
constitutes the historical institution dedicated to palaeo-
environmental and archaeometric analysis,
Terrascope
is
a recent addition exclusively dedicated to the manufacturing
of micromorphological thin sections. Fully private and
independent, these two labs were conceived around
an unconventional way of thinking about archaeology,
commercial archaeology and archaeological research:
be an actor of the world archaeological community – do
innovative, sustainable research with people we like – all within
a commercial context. The philosophy and development of
the company is deeply linked to the personality and personal
history of its creators and directors, Joseph and Sabrina. In
this paper, we want to share with you our personal history
and the history of our company, and cast light on what we
think it means to be an independent archaeologist, how to be
innovative and conduct advanced research in a non-academic
environment, and how to build and maintain a successful
business by always being ready to reinvent oneself.
2. Creation of
Amélie
2.1 Portraits
2.1.1 Joseph James Kovacik
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Joseph is the oldest
son of a carpenter and home-maker, and had a typical
1970s upbringing meaning lots of mucking about, mostly
unsupervised (swimming at the pond with friends and no
adults, riding mini-bikes miles from home with friends and
no adults). Average at school, although excellent in history
and geography, the only thing important for his parents
was for him to go to “University”. Starting in Chemistry
at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and quickly
failing, Joseph looked hard at what he was good at and
what he wanted, a large part of which was not to pass his
life inside a building. Rather than return to his long-time
Volume XI ● Issue 2/2020 ● Pages 219–226
*Corresponding author. E-mail: contact@terrascope-tss.com
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received: 9
th
September 2020
Accepted: 29
th
September 2020
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24916/iansa.2020.2.6
Key words:
palaeo-environment
palaeo-pollution
pXRF
thin section
geochemistry
ABSTRACT
Created in France in May 2007 by Joseph Kovacik and Sabrina Save,
Amélie
is a small independent
laboratory, stafed and partnered with the best specialists in Europe, providing palaeo-environmental
and archaeometric services to the French Archaeology community. During its 13 years of existence,
Amélie
and its owners have been through many hurdles and run fantastic projects, always trying
to be forward-thinking and bring high-level research and academia into commercial archaeology,
while ensuring the sustainability of the company. One example of their endeavour to innovate is
the theoretical framework and methodology they developed to survey large mechanically-stripped
archaeological surfaces with pXRF to investigate human impact on soil chemistry. In February 2018,
while the future of
Amélie
was unclear due to three consecutive years of declining turnover, a short stay
in Cambridge as visiting scholars re-focused Joseph and Sabrina, with them deciding to launch a new
project: the creation of a new facility dedicated to the production of micromorphological thin sections,
Terrascope
. Since this Cambridge sabbatical, many exciting projects have emerged and reshaped the
future of
Amélie
, Joseph, and Sabrina. This is their backstory.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2020 ● XI/2 ● 219–226
Sabrina Save, Joseph Kovacik: From Amélie to Terrascope: Creation, Development, Struggle and Re-birth of a Small French Independent Archaeological Laboratory
220
passion for history (lots of time in buildings), Joseph fell
into Anthropology, and particularly Archaeology. Enchanted
by a series of inspiring professors and graduate students at
UWM, Joseph started working for the UWM Archaeological
Research Laboratory (geoarcheology coring of lake
sediments in the middle of a Wisconsin winter), as well
as for other university commercial feld units, museums,
and the US Forest Service. Turning things around after his
disastrous start (why-oh-why did he choose chemistry?),
he found himself accepted into the Master’s programme at
Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. Again having
good fortune and inspiring professors, he was awarded the
Center for Archaeological Investigations graduate research
assistant position, giving him the chance to work on both
feld and laboratory projects throughout southern Illinois
and the American Southwest (including archiving the
remains of Lewis Binford’s frst archaeological excavation
carried out for SIU; what great letters between Binford,
the University and the communities in which the feldwork
was being undertaken!). It was at SIU that he meets Robert
Preucel (then a simple Post-doc), a meeting that changed
his life forever, introducing him to both a diferent kind of
archaeology (post-processualism) and also to Ian Hodder.
Encouraged by Robert, Joseph applied to the University of
Cambridge to study with Ian Hodder, and was accepted – it
is a good thing he worked hard at SIU and was able to show
that even students with a poor undergraduate grade-point
average can make good in the right circumstances: the right
motivation, good grades in the relevant classes, and a lot of
feld experience. So of to Cambridge, where in addition to
working on his thesis and participating in all that Cambridge
has to ofer, he also began to work in France, in particular at
the site of Vix, which became the starting point for another
obsession: France.
Following the completion of his thesis, Joseph returned
to both the United States and to commercial archaeology,
with the latter the true constant archaeological presence
throughout his time as an archaeologist, helping to pay for
his undergraduate education, and paying for his Master’s
degree. Moving to Albuquerque (New Mexico), Joseph took
up the position of Principal Investigator for a large civil
engineering frm, directing archaeological investigations for
them across the American Southwest. However, transformed
by his Cambridge experience, he longed to return to the UK,
and eventually secured a position as the London Director
for one of the principal cultural resource frms there.
Managing both small and large, urban and rural projects,
and having the chance to direct an excellent team, as well
as developing and directing a long-term research project in
France, disagreements with the company owners prompted
a change, leading to a similar position in the Republic of
Ireland. More of the same – great projects, great team, great
research project in France, less great bosses – led him to
pose the question, why could not I be my own boss, work
on great projects, with great people and do great research?
And so, after more than 20 years working for others, and
with the encouragement and support of a series of senior
French archaeologists, and with one of his French colleagues
(Sabrina) as a business partner, he decided to quit the UK
and set up his own company,
Amélie
, in France.
2.1.2 Sabrina Save
Sabrina was born in December 1983 in Saudi Arabia, where
her parents lived for two years (her father was teaching at the
University of Petrol and Minerals of Dhahran). Returning
to France at 6 months old, she never had the chance to see
her birthplace again. After moving homes several times
in the suburbs of Nantes, the whole family moved near to
Aix-en-Provence in 1999. In 2001, she started University
at Aix-Marseille University, initially wanting to combine
Earth Sciences and Archaeology, something impossible in
the French system as Hard and Social Sciences are totally
separate, both administratively and physically (the campus
of each are 50 km apart). Finally, she chose Archaeology,
which was at the time linked to Art History (although
not anymore). During her frst years she feels attracted to
Middle East Archaeology (identity crisis?), but as very
little Middle Eastern Archaeology courses were available
at Aix-Marseille, she started studying, on the side, Semitic
languages: Sumerian, Akkadian, Arameen, Arabic, Ugaritic,
Hittite, and Moabite. For a moment, she thought about
pursuing a Master’s in that discipline, but she liked feldwork
too much to give up Archaeology for a pure desk job (she
spends at least 3 months per year, the most she can, digging
on research excavations – which is how she met Joseph in
2004); like so many female students, her own #metoo moment
made the choice easier. She convinces her Archaeology
professors to supervise her on a Master’s on some topic in
the Middle East and fnally ends up doing her degree on
Cyprus (that is the most “east” her supervisor would agree
to go). She thinks about doing a PhD afterwards, but cannot
fnd an appropriate laboratory in France for what she wants
to do. Luckily a new commercial unit in Aix-en-Provence
was just opening and they were looking for people for their
frst rescue excavation. She applied and was recruited as site
supervisor. It was during this period that Joseph contacted
her and ofered her to be his business partner in
Amélie
. She
thus resigned her position in Aix-en-Provence after 9 months
and joined Joseph in Lorraine. She was then 23 years old.
2.1.3 Amélie
The initial idea for
Amélie
was for it to gain an agreement
issued by the French Ministry of Culture, allowing the
company to carry out developer-funded excavations within
France. After the frst unsuccessful attempt (in total we made
three, unsuccessful, applications; the main criticism being
our overtly Anglo-Saxon approach), and as an efort to start
working and bolster our chances for future applications, we
decided to start ofering palaeo-environmental services to
the French developer-funded sector. We had been working
for years, in England, Ireland, and France on research
excavations, with a group of world-renowned specialists, all
of whom were familiar with the constraints of commercial
archaeology – research questions that are not your own,
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2020 ● XI/2 ● 219–226
Sabrina Save, Joseph Kovacik: From Amélie to Terrascope: Creation, Development, Struggle and Re-birth of a Small French Independent Archaeological Laboratory
221
limited budgets and, of course, tight deadlines. Friends,
colleagues, and even some enemies in French archaeology
had all told us how difcult it was to fnd reliable specialist
services while working on commercial projects. The
professional contacts – throughout Europe and the United
States – we had. We also knew what we wanted, whether
doing excavations or specialist services: to work with the
best people, people we liked, and do great archaeology.
3. Development and Struggles
3.1 Growth and innovation
It took several years for
Amélie
to establish a clientele
and make a decent turnover from palaeo-environmental
studies – and allow Sabrina and Joseph to receive a salary.
From mid-2008 to early 2010, Joseph worked full time for
a temping agency, doing night shifts in “agro-industry” (do
not buy industrially-made brioche!), and building side walks
(pavements) and roundabouts during the day. Sabrina also
worked occasional night shifts in a lemonade factory or in
the lab of a factory turning liquids into powder. In March
2010, Joseph was recruited as the regional director (Grand
Est) for a young commercial excavation company,
Eveha
,
a role he still holds today (again working for others, but
c’est
la vie!
). From 2011 to 2015,
Amélie
’s turnover continued to
grow with Sabrina working full time (paid!) to help French
archaeologists investigate and understand their sites.
Projects run by
Amélie
vary considerably in size and
complexity, from plant macro-remains analysis of a single
bulk sample to the processing of several hundred buckets of
sediment and large pluri-disciplinary analysis. The majority
of our projects, however, involve a mean of three diferent
disciplines, with plant macro-remains being the most in-
demand study (mostly done in partnership with Lisa Gray,
UK), and complemented with other palaeo-environmental
studies (
Quest
, University of Reading) or chemical analysis
(
Amélie
, University of Bristol, University of Durham).
Over the past 13 years we have undertaken numerous “big
projects” involving up to a dozen specialists. For example,
near La Rochelle,
Amélie
teamed with
Quaternary Scientifc
,
to direct several large-scale, palaeo-environmental studies on
the evolution of the coastline, taking boreholes (Figure 1) and
applying a large suite of palaeo-environmental approaches to
the sediments collected, the aim of which was to reconstruct
the ancient coastal environment and shorelines as they related
to the Neolithic occupation of the uplands (Lang
et al.
, 2020;
Save, 2011; Save
et al.
, 2012; Soler
et al.
, 2013).
Being a company built on restlessness and a desire to
innovate and experiment, in 2011
Amélie
acquired a portable
X-ray fuorescence spectrometer (pXRF), paid for in part
through State subventions awarded to the company – in
large part due to our innovation. Joseph and Sabrina chose
the most versatile pXRF available at the time (Innov-X
Delta Premium) as they wanted to be able to analyse all
types of archaeological materials: metal, ceramic, glass,
sediment, etc, both in our lab, in the labs of others, and
(why not) in the feld if necessary. As the possession and
use of devices emitting ionising rays (a pXRF) falls under
the control of the French Nuclear Safety Authority, it was
necessary for someone within
Amélie
to become certifed
in radioprotection: Sabrina undertook the special training
and passed the exam: she is now lead scientist, commercial
director and a
Personne Compétente en Radioprotection.
Our initial idea was to ofer pXRF analysis to museums for
conservation and archiving purposes, but, as with so many
things, the “business” of pXRF analysis of archaeological
artefacts did not really take of. Commissioned for a few
Figure 1.
Joseph Kovacik taking boreholes
in a paleochannel of the Seine, La
Villeneuve-au-Châtelot, France. Photo by
Sandy Poirier.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2020 ● XI/2 ● 219–226
Sabrina Save, Joseph Kovacik: From Amélie to Terrascope: Creation, Development, Struggle and Re-birth of a Small French Independent Archaeological Laboratory
222
studies, including a silver coin hoard, a large jewellery
assemblage from an Iron Age cemetery, a World War I metal
sculpture found in a war trench in the French Ardennes (Léty
et al.
, 2019), a set of Iron Age coin pellet moulds (Auger
et al.
, 2018), and an Iron Age sword (Teyssonneyre
et al.
,
2017), these artefact studies remain elusive. However,
Sabrina and Joseph also started using the spectrometer to
survey mechanically-stripped archaeological surfaces on
commercial excavations (Figure 2) as means of investigating
the impact of human activities on soil chemistry – both of
them are feld archaeologists at heart and miss being outside,
on site. Buildings, activity areas, courtyards and large empty
spaces in enclosures are mapped, with projects ranging
from measuring a few tens of square metres up to 5 ha on
a single archaeological excavation. The results are better
than interesting, with the analysis able to distinguish rooms
and activity areas within buildings, pathways and spatial
organisation invisible to the naked eye in outdoor spaces
(Save
et al.
, 2020). Word spread among archaeologists about
the detail of the data and results, resulting in more contracts,
but also more enemies and detractors. While the technique
is being developed by several researchers in Europe and
elsewhere, Sabrina is the only person using it in France, is the
only person using it on larger scales, is not an academic, has
no PhD, and runs a
private
laboratory (and she is a girl) …
The results are there, but recognition remains elusive.
3.2 Should we close?
From 2011 to 2015, the business was growing, so much so
that Sabrina started to think about employing a new person
to help her in the company. But in 2015, a price war in
France, led by
INRAP
, and with the aim of killing the private
archaeology companies and restoring its monopoly of the
commercial market, was raging. The mean price per hectare
for all commercial excavations dropped by 40% and all the
commercial units cut their costs, starting with their analysis
budgets. Needless to say, this had a huge impact on
Amélie
and our turnover dropped dramatically for the next three
years. It became hard for Sabrina to make a living and she
had to cut her salary, which was already pretty low (even for
an archaeologist), to the French minimum wage. Despairing
at the situation and seeing no light at the end of the tunnel,
Sabrina thought about closing
Amélie
and changing her
profession. She started reading to take the exam to become
a Customs inspector (why not?). Thinking she would pass
the exam (foolishly), she planned to go back to school
near Lille and train for a year. Joseph, who did not want to
give up on Sabrina’s work on geochemistry and the human
impact on the landscape (he has always been championing
the approach in the commercial excavations he conducts for
Eveha
), applied for the Field Archaeologist in Residence
Fellowship at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological
Research, University of Cambridge. Sabrina almost passed
the Customs inspector examinations (the Customs inspector
exam actually has the lowest success rate in France, about
2%) and Joseph won the Fellowship at Cambridge. And here
started a new adventure...
4. Re-birth
4.1 Cambridge
In February 2018, Joseph arrived in Cambridge to spend
a month at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological
Research. It was weird to be back after 20 years. Everything
had changed so much! When Joseph left Cambridge in 1995,
the McDonald Institute had just been inaugurated by Prince
Charles himself, and housed only a few staf, students and
Figure 2.
Sabrina Save taking
in situ
pXRF measurements the sediment on
a mechanically stripped surface to survey
a large Neolithic building, La Villeneuve-
au-Châtelot, France. Photo by Sandy Poirier.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2020 ● XI/2 ● 219–226
Sabrina Save, Joseph Kovacik: From Amélie to Terrascope: Creation, Development, Struggle and Re-birth of a Small French Independent Archaeological Laboratory
223
post-docs. Now it is one of the largest and most important
centres for archaeological excellence in the world. Sabrina
joined Joseph after the frst week to enjoy Cambridge and
the Haddon Library, and during the third week they met
Charles French for cofee: Charlie and Joseph met over
20 years ago in Cambridge when Joseph was doing his
PhD and Charlie was a new university Lecturer starting
the McBurney Laboratory for Geoarchaeology. Discussing
life in Cambridge, archaeology, and geoarchaeology, the
conversation turned to thin section preparation, the limited
number of laboratories ofering this service, and the long
delay in processing the samples: all factors incompatible
within a commercial archaeology framework. Sabrina
had been ordering thin section preparation for years from
a variety of UK-based laboratories and had thought, on
occasion, about opening her own facilities as the delay to
get thin sections was getting worse, often extending to more
than six months (without the study!). Joseph and Sabrina
had looked at the equipment online, knew the theory and had
“read the books”, but both had no idea how to proceed: what
does a working lab actually look like and how does one learn
to make thin sections? Having trained a very large number
of practising micromorphologists, Charlie was fully aware
of the thin section market situation and its consequences
on research. He also informed Sabrina and Joseph that
Earthslides
, the private thin section laboratory run by Julie
Boreham, was about to close because of Julie’s imminent
retirement. He ofered for Sabrina to visit the McBurney thin
section facility and start thin section preparation training
with the chief lab technician, Dr Tonko Rajkovaca, which
she eagerly accepted. The next morning Sabrina met Tonko
and started her training in the lab with another researcher
visiting Cambridge. And she liked it! A lot!
As the Field Archaeologist in Residence at the McDonald
Institute, Joseph was spending his time researching, in
particular, reading and having fruitful discussions with others
who were interested (or not) in the geochemical analysis of
large, mechanically-stripped archaeological surfaces. The
Field Archaeologist fellowship is not, however, just about
pursuing one’s personal research questions – at its core it
is designed to encourage interaction between academic
and feld (and in particular commercial) archaeologists,
specifcally showing how commercial archaeology can be,
and is itself, research. As part of this interaction, cofee
breaks are essential, and the McDonald Institute is the
place where archaeologists meet and discuss. One morning
at cofee break, as Joseph was chatting with a Post-doc
researcher about how commercial companies can provide
space and money to innovate in archaeological practice, the
McDonald Research Facilitator, Katherine Boyle, overheard
him talking about Sabrina being trained at the McBurney
Laboratory. She joined the conversation and asked Joseph
more about the training and Sabrina, and ofered to meet
Sabrina to discuss possibilities for further training and
research. The two met the day after: with Sabrina explaining
her background and research ambitions. Katherine saw the
potential and suggested Sabrina apply with Cambridge for
a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship, despite the fact that
she did not possess a PhD – who would have known that
someone without a PhD could apply for such a prestigious
fellowship!
4.2
Terrascope
Back in Troyes with their heads full of dreams, Joseph and
Sabrina started writing to the diferent equipment providers to
request quotations and build a business plan to present to the
bank and Chamber of Commerce for fnancing the new lab.
They decided to install the new facility in the laundry room
of their house, behind the garage, to save money on rent and
give a better chance to the business to start and grow. Any
money not going to rent would go to Sabrina’s salary or as
investment in the company – every Euro counts. But a thin
section lab is not small and requires a specialised space, so
all the equipment (mostly professional) that was actually
stored in the laundry room had to move. A shed was built
in the backyard and the laundry room emptied, a laboratory
plan drafted, plumbers and electricians called to modify
the water and drains, bring electricity to where the future
Figure 3.
Sabrina Save mounting samples
in the thin section lab
Terrascope
, Troyes,
France. Photo by Sabrina Save.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2020 ● XI/2 ● 219–226
Sabrina Save, Joseph Kovacik: From Amélie to Terrascope: Creation, Development, Struggle and Re-birth of a Small French Independent Archaeological Laboratory
224
benchtops would be located, and install special three-phase
outlets for the grinding machine (which, serendipitously,
was already present in the house). To save money again,
Joseph and Sabrina completed building out the rest of the lab
themselves – they double the cinderblock walls and ceiling,
install the lighting, and paint. Sabrina designs the benchtop
and shelving – with thanks to a large Swedish furniture
company (Figure 3).
Despite the good management of
Amélie
over a 13-year
period and a supportive bank, assembling the budget
necessary to create a new lab from scratch was still difcult.
Sabrina requested a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce
to ask about subvention possibilities, although it proved
difcult to obtain a meeting with the actual person: every time
she called, people asked what type of business was
Amélie
,
and when she said, she was an archaeologist, everybody
shut down and said they “don’t do archaeologists”. We
had been here before, and persistence was essential. After
several weeks of trial and error, someone ready to listen to
the project was found; after explaining how thin sections are
made, the adviser suggested the work could be qualifed as
a “craft activity” because thin sections are custom-made, it
is a job of precision and skill, and therefore meets the criteria
of being classifed as “craftsmanship”. The Chamber of
Arts and Crafts was then contacted, and with difculty, an
appointment was made. More explanations of the project,
the company and its people (of course, our business is very
diferent from what they are used to), it seemed there was
a good chance to get a subvention from the Region Grand
Est, around 20% of the price of the equipment!
Terrascope
was registered as a “Craft” business, with a large range of
other paperwork also submitted (this was France, after all),
in order to apply for the subvention. Twenty percent of the
price of the equipment would be fantastic and really helpful
but Joseph and Sabrina knew it would take some time for
the business to start and be proftable. They needed to fll
the inevitable gap between the frst loan payments and the
frst substantial income generated by the lab, and decided to
invest some of their own money into the project; they had
already paid for the refurbishing of the laundry room from
their personal savings, and with these gone Joseph ofered
to sell the two Banksy prints he had bought for £50 in
London 15 years ago, when Banksy was still a little-known
street artist. The sale of these two prints allowed them to
invest into the company. While the walls of the living room
were now empty, a smaller bank loan could be agreed; the
subvention, which was awarded by the Grand Est Region,
provided a cushion to support the start of the business over
the frst year or two. In March 2019, just over one full year
from the frst meeting for cofee with Professor French in
Cambridge during which we discussed the possibility of a
new lab, all the equipment was received and installed, with
Terrascope
fully operational (Figure 4).
The frst clients arrived quickly. The new website
specifcally dedicated to the thin section lab was already in
place (terrascope-tss.com); Sabrina created it over the last
month of the lab’s preparation. Joseph’s friend Tom Knauss,
a talented designer based in Milwaukee, created the logo
and graphic charter for
Terrascope
(and for
Amélie
as well).
The frst orders for thin sections were completed and the
researchers happy with the quality of the slides, with several
coming back quickly with more blocks! The list and locations
of clients quickly grew: United Kingdom, Czech Republic,
Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, United States, South
Korea! Wow! The lab was very busy! Of course, all the slides
were not always perfect on the frst try – but that is part of the
job (Figure 5). Learn from each sample, each sediment, and
fnd a solution to each problem, one at a time, to produce the
best slide possible. It is “craft work” after all.
In January 2020, Sabrina was contacted by the Chamber of
Arts and Crafts: The President wanted to visit (the President
of the Chamber, not of France). She agreed, though warning
them that the lab is small and in the laundry room of the
house in case they are expecting something grandiose (she is
always worried about what people will think). The President
and the person in charge of Communication came: Sabrina
ofering them a tour, explaining what thin sections are and
how they are made, what they allow us to study, and who
Figure 4.
The Brot grinding machine, the
Pfeifer vacuum chamber and the Vodex
fume cabinet,
Terrascope
, Troyes, France.
Photo by Sabrina Save.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2020 ● XI/2 ● 219–226
Sabrina Save, Joseph Kovacik: From Amélie to Terrascope: Creation, Development, Struggle and Re-birth of a Small French Independent Archaeological Laboratory
225
our clients are. Impressed, they suggested Sabrina submit
an application for recognition as a “Madame Artisanat”, the
Chamber of Arts and Crafts competition that aims to promote
Women in Crafts. There was a small dossier to complete and
a week-end in a hotel-spa to win. With the paperwork done
and submitted, Sabrina was awarded the special prize of the
jury, “Madame Artisanat – Coup de Coeur”, from amongst
30 other candidates, all of diferent backgrounds. Local
newspapers and radios asked for interviews, which gave her
the chance to not only speak about the importance of women
in science and business, but also of archaeology. The prize
will not have an impact on the company turnover – but it is
gratifying.
5. Marie Curie,
Terrascope
,
Amélie
: Developing across
several fronts
Where are we heading now? In addition to developing
and managing
Amélie
and the new
Terrascope
laboratory,
geochemistry plays a larger and larger role in our research,
with the infuence of the Cambridge fellowship continuing.
Going back to the ofer from Cambridge to support Sabrina
in the submission of a proposal to a MSCA fellowship,
Sabrina needed to develop and design a truly “academic”
research project. The theoretical framework emerged
quickly – Sabrina had, in fact, been working on it for years
without really knowing: to further consolidate the theory
and methodology for investigating the impact of human
activities on soil chemistry by combining geochemistry with
micromorphology and coring survey. It also takes on board
lessons learned from the large-scale commercial projects
Joseph manages, and builds on a shared idea that research
and commercial archaeology are inseparable. The proposal
was written (with Joseph acting as critique to sharpen her
arguments and improve her English) and submitted, to an
enthusiastic response, within Cambridge, and in particular
with Charles French, Martin Millett and Chris Evans.
However, the unconventional path taken by Sabrina and
Joseph in their professional lives, and the problems this can
cause, came again to the forefront in October 2018. Back in
Cambridge for further thin section training in the McBurney
lab, and with thoughts dominated by the imminent opening
of
Terrascope
, Sabrina received a bureaucratic email
informing her that her application had been declared
ineligible for the Marie Curie scheme because of her (lack
of) qualifcations. Not having a PhD is used as a red fag,
and again appears to stop this particular adventure. However,
fortune and good luck are often made; being in Cambridge
at the time, the Research Facilitator, Katherine Boyle, who
initially suggested Sabrina apply and who had supported her
application throughout the process, was categorical: Sabrina
had more than the four years of research experience required
for an application for a MSCA, and thus encouraged Sabrina
to appeal the decision. Warned of the low success rate of
appeals (around 1%), a formal appeal was made, ftting with
what may be the unwritten motto of our company: “why not,
nothing to lose in trying”. The appeal was won and the dossier
was reviewed. The fnal result, however, was negative.
The MSCA application process did, however, have
unintended consequences. In preparing the dossier, and
in thinking about how better to integrate geochemistry,
the study of archaeological landscapes, commercial
archaeology, and micromorphology, new connections were
made, and new projects developed, with
Amélie
winning its
frst geochemical survey project outside of France. A new
respect, both professionally, and for the companies, was also
gained.
While
Amélie
works primarily for the French developer-
funded archaeology sector, albeit with specialists from across
Europe, the US and beyond,
Terrascope
is a fully French
company working for specialists throughout the world, and
to be honest working for very few French researchers. The
“Anglo-Saxon perspective” of Joseph and Sabrina, which
was the reason why they changed direction 13 years ago, is
a part of this, although what this perspective is, depends on
who is looking: for us, it is an openness to share our research,
to build teams, to be part of the community; for some others,
it is liberal economics and chasing the elusive Euro. Another
is that both of us were, and are, willing to take risks, willing
to sufer being the outcasts as it were, to pursue our vision
of archaeology and archaeological research. While Sabrina
was not successful in her frst (or second) MSCA proposal
Figure 5.
Photograph of a mammoth thin-section slide manufactured by
Sabrina Save, Troyes, France. Photo by Sabrina Save.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2020 ● XI/2 ● 219–226
Sabrina Save, Joseph Kovacik: From Amélie to Terrascope: Creation, Development, Struggle and Re-birth of a Small French Independent Archaeological Laboratory
226
(the third and last is being prepared for submission in 2020),
the personal confdence and professional recognition gained
as part of the process of preparing that initial dossier cannot
be underestimated or disassociated from our history. The
MSCA opening was the result of an opportunity won (the
Field Archaeologist in Residence Fellowship), based on
questioning what we were doing and why, which was one
of many such questionings stretching back to our beginning.
Questioning, restlessness, an ability to take risks, and above
all a desire to innovate and do interesting work as well as
work that interests us, is the history of both Sabrina and
Joseph, it is the history of their companies. It will also be the
future of their companies, with the once separate paths of the
two beginnings to become one.
Aknowledgment
We would like to thank Lenka Lisá for giving us the
opportunity to share our story with you, in the same
unconventional way we are practicing Archaeology and
pursuing our careers.
References
AUGER, L., SAVE, S., KOVACIK, J., 2018. Lot de plaques à alvéoles mis
au jour à Bourges en contexte protohistorique (Cher, France): contexte
archéologique, typologie et analyse. In: E. Hiriart
,
ed.
Monnaies et
Archéologie en Europe celtique. Mélanges en l’honneur de Katherine
Gruel.
Bibracte, 29, pp. 205–212.
LANG, C., SAVE, S., HILL, T., BATCHELOR, C., YOUNG, D., LINCOLN,
P., MARINI, N., 2020.
Rapport fnal d’intervention et d’étude paléo-
environnementale, Octobre 2019, Ors, Château-D’Oléron (17): sondages
carottés, étude paléo-environnementale (pollens, macro-restes végétaux
et diatomées), micromorphologie et géochimie.
Unpublished report.
LÉTY, C., BLONDEAU, R., BARIL, Q, BRÉNOT, J., ZÉLIE, B., SAVE,
S., BERNARD, M., 2019. Du métal allemand dans des mains françaises.
Une sculpture de poilu dans la guerre des tranchées (Argonne, France).
Les Nouvelles de l’Archéologi
e, 155, 12–17.
SAVE, S., 2011. Périgny (Charente-Maritime). Etude paléo-
environnementale du marais de Tasdon, en contrebas de l’enceinte
néolithique des 4 Chevaliers.
Bulletin Scientifque Régionale Poitou-
Charentes
, 292–293.
SAVE, S., BATCHELOR, C.R., GREEN, C.P., YOUNG, D.,
CAMPBELL, G., ATHERSUCH, J., CAMERON, N., 2012.
Etude
paléoenvironnementale du 7–11 Rue de la Fabrique, La Rochelle (17)
,
France.
Unpublished report.
SAVE, S., KOVACIK, J., DEMARLY-CRESP, F., ISSENMANN, R.,
POIRIER, S., SEDLBAUER, S., TEYSSONNEYRE, Y., 2020. Large-
scale geochemical survey by pXRF of archaeological settlements and
features: new perspectives on the method.
Archaeological Prospection
,
27, 1–16.
SOLER, L., SAVE, S., DUPONT, C., ROQUE, C., 2013. Le Fief des 4
Chevaliers, Etude paléo-environnementale aux abords d’une enceinte
néolithique sur le littoral atlantique à Périgny (Charente-Maritime,
France). In: M.-Y. Daire, ed.
Ancient Maritime Communities and the
Relationship between People and Environment along the European
Atlantic Coasts / Anciens peuplements littoraux et relations Home/
Milieu sur les côtes de l’Europe atlantique. Proceedings of the HOMER
2011 Conference, Vannes (France).
British Archaeological Reports
International Series 2570, Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 635–646.
TEYSSONNEYRE, Y., ROSCIO, M., SAVE, S., 2017. Note sur une épée
de type Rosnöen à Saint-Loup-de-Varennes (Saöne-et-Loire): un dépôt
métallique en contexte terrestre, un dépôt daté du Bronze fnal initial.
Bulletin pour l’Association pour la Promotion des Recherches sur l’Age
du Bronze (APRAB)
, 15, 161–169.