Welcome to Durham UniversityDepartment of Archaeology

Academic community in Durham One of the largest Archaeology Departments in Europe Excellent facilities (library, laboratories) ~75 undergrad students per year, 80 taught

postgraduates,110 research postgraduates. 28 full-time members of academic staff, 15 post-

doctoral researchers, 10 admin and technical support staff, 20 staff in commercial unit.

Chemistry, Physics, Biology

Anthropology

GeographyAncient History

Classics

History

ARCHAEOLOGY

Research groups Prehistory of Eurasia Landscapes of Complex Society Ritual, Religion, Belief and Place The Archaeology of Northern England Bioarchaeology

Bioarchaeology Research Group

Rebecca Gowland (Convenor) Mike Church Gary King Greger Larson Andrew Millard Janet Montgomery Charlotte Roberts Peter Rowley-Conwy

Key Themes

Diet, domestication and the origins of agriculture

Diasporas and migration Origins and evolutionary

history of disease Environmental change and

chronologies Society and identity

Plant remains

Insect/parasite remains

Animal bonesIntegrating

Social theory

Human bones

DNA Analysi

s

Isotopic Analysis

Morphometrics

Excavation

Statistical modelling

MaterialsMethods

Biomolecules

Diet, Domestication and Origins of Farming

We want to know the timing and geography of animal domestication. We combine the time depth of

archaeology and the resolution of DNA and geometric morphometric analyses to gain unprecedented insights into the past and the origins of modern civilization.

We also use domestic animals as proxies to understand the trajectories along which people migrated.

From hunter-gatherer niche construction to the origins and spread of agriculture

Spread of farming

Identificationof domesticates

Future work involves dismantling the evidence for: Mesolithic ‘cereal pollen’ in Europe and the Islamic revolution in cereal cultivation

Hunter-gatherers are not just passive recipients of nature’s bounty

Diet, Domestication and Origins of Farming

High-resolution isotope analysis of early Neolithic human dentine from Shetland

Reconstructs diet at sub-annual scales Shows sporadic consumption of

marine resources by some individuals Some children were eating marine

resources just prior to death suggesting they were consumed at times of crop failure and crisis

Diet, Domestication and Origins of Farming

Montgomery et al. in press Antiquity

Investigating ancient diets at the Mesolithic- Neolithic transition

• Testing hypothesis based on historical data for mobility• Isotope analysis• Over 50% of 100 are non-local; all ages and both sexes • Britain, Scandinavia, S Mediterranean, North Africa• Stature/health indicators differ between locals/non-locals • No differences in burial practices• American J Physical Anthropology in press

Diasporas and MigrationBamburgh Bowl Howl (7th-8th C)

Archaeological validation of early

colonisation events suggested by

palaeoecological records in the North

Atlantic

A methodology

for island system

colonisation on a global

scale

North Atlantic is an unparalleled region for investigating fundamental themes of human / environment interaction including:1) establishing trajectories of environmental change.2) identifying timing and nature of human impact on the environment.3) investigating economic adjustments to marginality.Supported by 2 major ($900K & $1.2m) NSF consortium grants from 2007.

Environmental change and chronologies

Future: Biochar (carbon sequestration mitigation method): Analytical calibration of modern biochar models using the archaeological record on a global scale.

Environmental Change and Chronologies

High-resolution oxygen isotope analysis of human dentine

Individuals from the Royal Mint Black Death cemetery who died in AD 1349

Their teeth formed in the preceding c. 50 years enabling a short-term high-resolution climate sequence to be constructed

Reconstructing short-term variations in climate from human teeth

Environmental Change and Chronologies

Novel statistical approaches for multiple dating techniques

Applications to old and new sites

Global review of chronology of hominid fossils

Millard, AR (2008) A critique of the chronometric evidence for hominid fossils: I. Africa and the Near East 500-50 ka. Journal of Human Evolution 54 848-874

• Origin/evolution of the bacteria causing TB Britain/Europe • aDNA analysis of skeletons through time (500 samples)• Collaboration: Arizona State University• Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 2012 • 19th century AD Leeds, W Yorkshire crypt; female skeleton• Strain not common then in Britain but seen in N America

Over 60 museums

The Biomolecular Archaeology of Tuberculosis

Origins and Evolutionary History of Disease

Origins and Evolutionary History of Disease

Funding: Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition Féminine Québec: Postdoctoral

Bursary in Archaeology, 2010; European Commission’s Marie Curie Co-Fund Programme: IAS International Junior Research Fellowship, 2011; Wolfson Research Institute

Early Career Award, 2013

Current investigations include Neolithic to 19th century sites in England and Lithuania

Reconstructing past living conditions, palaeodietary practices, health, sanitation, and human-animal relationships

Parasites from medieval YorkLeft: Diphyllobothrium latum; Trichuris trichiura; Toxocara cf. canisRight: Pediculus humanus

Archaeoparasitology and immunological analysis

Investigating the early presence of malaria in Anglo-Saxon England Support with immunological techniques Examining the impact of disease ecology on: settlement location and

duration, the creation of liminal places and marginal identities.

Gowland and Western 2012, AJPA

Spatial Epidemiology of Malaria

Origins and evolutionary history of disease

Society and Identity

Examining the inter-play between biology and society; embodiment of social processes within the bones and teeth.

Includes: Health inequalities, social stigma and

disease (e.g. Leprosy) Identity and the life course:

perceptions of childhood and adolescence, child care and diet, old age, high resolution isotope analysis

Ethnic and national identities (e.g. Roman London, Viking identities)

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WetwangQueenfordLIA DorsetRB DorsetIsola Sacra

In excess of £3.5 million

A selection:Pigs, People and Neolithisation (£460,010, NERC)Reconsidering Austronesian homeland and dispersal (£806,738)Dog domestication (£981,098, NERC)Diet and Health in Ancient Nubia (£199,000, Leverhulme)Invisible Dead (£211,539,Templeton Foundation)Timelines in teeth (£125,000 NERC)Uig Landscape project (£200,000 Historic Scotland)Adolescence, Migration and Health in Medieval England (£217, 811, Leverhulme).Figure not including two NSF Consortium grants totalling over 2 million dollars.

Grant Income (current cycle)

Books/Edited Books: 7Book Chapters: 51Peer-reviewed papers: 112Professional journals: 11

Publications (current cycle)

World Archaeology International Journal of

Osteoarchaeology Journal of Archaeological

Science Bulletin of the History of

Archaeology (Melbourne) Journal of Interdisciplinary

Studies in History and Archaeology (Allahabad)

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology (Michigan)

Danish Journal of

Archaeology (Copenhagen) Frontiers in Livestock

Genetics Plos One Journal of the North Atlantic Homo International Journal of

Palaeopathology (Deputy editor)

Childhood in the Past

Editorial Boards

PGR

Completed since Jan 2008: 16 Current: 33 Destinations include: Lecturer at Aberdeen,

Technical Support, Durham University, Natural History Museum, Postdoctoral Researchers, Learning Assistant Oriental Museum Durham; Consultant for Deloitte, USA; Archaeology South East, University College London; Higher Education Academy (HEA) - Academic Development Officer for Awards and Recognition;

PGR Students

Proposed infrastructure changes: ancient DNA and isotope facilities to support teaching and research.

HIGHAR – High-resolution Isotope-analysis of Growing Humans for Archaeological Research, EU Consolidator grant submitted Feb 2013 2.6 million Euros - to investigate diet, health, nutrition and developmental milestones

UnDEAD - Unifying Domestication and Evolution using Ancient DNA), The DNA results will be combined with shape analyses and isotopic evidence to gain a full picture of the ecology of domestication at different levels of biological organisation.

Application of Next Generation Sequencing techniques to archaeological animal remains to generate even greater resolution that will enable us to quantify degrees of admixture between populations and to establish where, when, and how many times animals were domesticated.

Future…

Future… Combining cutting-edge multidisciplinary approaches to pursue

key archaeological and evolutionary questions Research in all areas of the group is leading to fundamental

shifts in our understanding of past human-environment interactions

Methodological innovations which will influence the way research is conducted in the future

Developing a number of significant impact strands (e.g. domestication, Biochar)

Bioarchaeology is one of the Dept’s key strengths – unparalleled in UK

Well-supported by Dept and University– external collaborations and internationalisation – internal collaboration improved through active engagement