From June 22-27, 2018, an international interdisciplinary workshop in anthropology, archaeology and soil science has taken place at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA, on the topic "Soil and Human Culture Dynamics During the Holocene Epoch". This collaboration, led by Dr. Sean Downey (OSU), Dr. Peter Kühn (UT) and Prof. Dr. Bruce James (UMD), was initiated within the framework of the SFB1070 and the exchange program of the University of Tübingen (UT) and the University of Maryland (UMD). After Tübingen (2016) and Maryland (2017), this is the third meeting of German and American scientists on the topic of resource cultures. The cooperation is financed by the institutional strategy of UT (German Research Foundation, ZUK 63), UMD, The Ohio State University (OSU), and the OSU Sustainable and Resilient Economies Discovery Theme.

The topics of this year's meeting are 'Managing World Soils for Food, Climate and Peace' and 'Favor - Disfavor? Development of Resources in Marginal Areas'. The workshop included an intensive two-day writing workshop, a fieldtrip to local archaeological sites, and a networking event including research talks lightning presentations by OSU, UT, and UMD faculty and students. There was a day-long outing to Hopewell Cultural National Park where National Park Service Chief Archaeologist staff provided explanation and interpretation of the sites ancient burial mounds. The workshop ended with a day-long discussion of future collaborative research and graduate student training activities.