Research Clusters
Human Palaeoecology
This cluster is at the forefront of developing research agendas and methodologies to investigate human engagement with plants and animals. The unique combination of facilities in the Division of Archaeology allows us to combine the expertise of the Glyn Daniel Laboratory for Archaeogenetics, the George Pitt-Rivers Laboratory for Bioarchaeology and the Grahame Clark Laboratory for Zooarchaeology. This has seen us pioneer the contextualisation of archaeogenetics by integrating it with classic archaeobotany and archaeozoology in research on the domestication and early history of wheat, barley, millet and horses. Our scope also includes the investigation of palaeodiet, climatic change, and patterns of human and animal seasonal mobility through research being undertaken in the Laboratory for Isotopic Analysis. We also investigate consumption by connecting classic fields of bioarchaeology with physiology, animal ecology, nutrition and social theory.
Researchers and scholars involved with the Human Palaeoecology cluster include: