From Amélie to Terrascope: Creation, Development, Struggle and Re-birth of a Small French Independent Archaeological Laboratory

Sabrina Save,Joseph Kovacik

doi:10.24916/iansa.2020.2.6

Abstract

Created in France in May 2007 by Joseph Kovacik and Sabrina Save, Amélie is a small independent laboratory, staffed 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.

Highlights

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 palaeoenvironmental and archaeometric analysis, Terrascope is a recent addition exclusively dedicated to the manufacturing of micromorphological thin sections. 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
2.1.2 Sabrina Save Sabrina was born in December 1983 in Saudi Arabia, where her parents lived for two years

Summary

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 palaeoenvironmental and archaeometric analysis, Terrascope is a recent addition exclusively dedicated to the manufacturing of micromorphological thin sections. 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. We want to share with you our personal history and the history of our company, and cast light on what we

Creation of Amélie

Sabrina Save Sabrina was born in December 1983 in Saudi

Amélie The initial idea for Amélie was for it to gain an agreement issued by the

Growth and innovation It took several years for

Should we close? From 2011 to 2015, the business was growing, so much so that

Cambridge In February 2018, Joseph arrived in

Findings

Terrascope Back in Troyes with their heads full of dreams, Joseph and