Job Titles

Department of Archaeology
I conduct research on the persistence of proteins in ancient samples, using modelling to explore the racemization of amino acids and thermal history to predict the survival of DNA and other molecules. Using a combination of approaches (including immunology and protein mass spectrometry) my research detects and interprets protein remnants in archaeological and fossil remains.
With former PhD student Dr Mike Buckley I developed ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry) a way to rapidly identify bone and other collagen based materials using peptide mass fingerprinting.
https://sites.google.com/palaeome.org/2018-ancient-proteins/home
The application of ancient proteins to archaeology
Analysis of protein evolution and decay
I am presently involved in the following research projects in:
2016 - 2021 Niels Bohr Professor of Palaeoproteomics: University of Copenhagen: To establish new research capacity in plaeoprotemics in Denmark
2018 - 2023 Beasts to Craft: Parchment as a biological archive
2019 - 2023 ArcHives: Beeswax as a biological archive
Also visit: https://evogenomics.snm.ku.dk/palaeoproteomics/
Students that work with me have to be self motivated as my post in Cambridge is only 40%, 60% of the time I am in Copenhagen. At present I have sufficient students, and do not think that I can realistically supervise more than I am planning to take on in 2021 from the ChemArch and PlaCE ITNs
I do not take self funded students, but will try to work with you to help find funding.
I like to collaborate so if you do contact me, I may try to find a way for you to work with my colleagues and I.
Demarchi, B., Hall, S., Roncal-Herrero, T., Freeman, C. L., Woolley, J., Crisp, M. K., Wilson, J., Fotakis, A., Fischer, R., Kessler, B. M., Rakownikow Jersie-Christensen, R., Olsen, J. V., Haile, J., Thomas, J., Marean, C. W., Parkington, J., Presslee, S., Lee-Thorp, J., Ditchfield, P., … Collins, M. J. (2016). Protein sequences bound to mineral surfaces persist into deep time. eLife, 5, e17092.
Hendy, J., Colonese, A. C., Franz, I., Fernandes, R., Fischer, R., Orton, D., Lucquin, A., Spindler, L., Anvari, J., Stroud, E., Biehl, P. F., Speller, C., Boivin, N., Mackie, M., Jersie-Christensen, R. R., Olsen, J. V., Collins, M. J., Craig, O. E., & Rosenstock, E. (2018). Ancient proteins from ceramic vessels at Çatalhöyük West reveal the hidden cuisine of early farmers. Nature Communications, 9(1), 4064.
Jensen, T. Z. T., Niemann, J., Iversen, K. H., Fotakis, A. K., Gopalakrishnan, S., Vågene, Å. J., Pedersen, M. W., Sinding, M.-H. S., Ellegaard, M. R., Allentoft, M. E., Lanigan, L. T., Taurozzi, A. J., Nielsen, S. H., Dee, M. W., Mortensen, M. N., Christensen, M. C., Sørensen, S. A., Collins, M. J., Gilbert, M. T. P., … Schroeder, H. (2019). A 5700 year-old human genome and oral microbiome from chewed birch pitch. Nature Communications, 10(1), 5520.
Teasdale, M. D., Fiddyment, S., Vnouček, J., Mattiangeli, V., Speller, C., Binois, A., Carver, M., Dand, C., Newfield, T. P., Webb, C. C., Bradley, D. G., & Collins, M. J. (2017). The York Gospels: a 1000-year biological palimpsest. Royal Society Open Science, 4(10), 170988.
Verdugo, M. P., Mullin, V. E., Scheu, A., Mattiangeli, V., Daly, K. G., Maisano Delser, P., Hare, A. J., Burger, J., Collins, M. J., Kehati, R., Hesse, P., Fulton, D., Sauer, E. W., Mohaseb, F. A., Davoudi, H., Khazaeli, R., Lhuillier, J., Rapin, C., Ebrahimi, S., … Bradley, D. G. (2019). Ancient cattle genomics, origins, and rapid turnover in the Fertile Crescent. Science, 365(6449), 173–176.
List on Google Scholar
I currently supervise students investigating in a range of topics related to the use of proteins to address archaeological research questions from evolution, to diet, disease, demography and chronology. I am interested in supervising students with a passion to work across disciplines who wish to study for an MPhil or a PhD in the following topics:
Fellow of the British Academy
Niels Bohr Professor in Palaeoproteomics, University of Copenhagen
Member of the Royal Danish Society of Science and Letters
Postal Address:
Department of Archaeology
Downing Street
CB2 3DZ Cambridge
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