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PhD students

Here you'll find links to our current PhD students along with their thesis titles.

  • A Comparative Model on the Identity of Women in the Late Iron Age – Romano British Period in Mortuary Contexts.

  • Evaluating Public Engagement and Narratives within the Archaeological Landscapes of the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors.

  • The sustainability of resin use in the Eastern Mediterranean, from the Middle to Late Bronze Age.

  • Tyranny and Social Organisation in Archaic Athens.

  • The Encomium in Late Antiquity. The Rhetoric of Praise in Late Antique Greek Poetry.

  • Ancient Egyptian Paddle Dolls: Attributes and Analysis.

  • A study of terms of possession within the private economical documents from the Ramesside workers' village at Deir el-Medina.

  • British Far East Prisoners of War on the Moluccan Island of Ambon, and related Japanese War Crimes 1942-1949: One Thousand Men of Liang.

  • Episodic Labour Mobilisation During the Levant’s ‘Dark Ages’: The View from Khirbet al-Mudayna al-‘Aliya.

  • Time-slicing cemeteries: New method for understanding Iron Age identity in Britain before Rome (400 BC–AD 43).

  • Depictions of Female Figures on Lycian Tombs from the Classical to the Roman Period: An Iconographic Study Supported by Virtual Reflectance Transformation Imaging.

  • Portraits of Hybridity: Understanding Hybrid Cultural Identity in Roman Egypt through the Hawara Mummy Portrait Panels.

Daniel Lowes

Postgraduate Research Student

D.G.Lowes@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Daniel studied at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, receiving a BA in Ancient History. After this he remained at Newcastle and was awarded a MA in Classics and Ancient History.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"The Hellenistic Coins of the Late Republic’"

Daniel’s thesis is focusing on the culture and politics of the final 25 years of the Roman Republic through the medium of coins. While the focus of the coins will be on those of Caesar, the Triumvirs and then Octavian, it will also be part of an ongoing deep study into the influence of the Greek East on the Roman Republic. In recent years there has been a growing acceptance that the Hellenistic East has had a major impact on the workings of Rome with works such as Gruen’s ‘Greek Culture and Roman Policy’ and Feeney’s ‘Beyond Greek’. The importance of coinage cannot be understated and there are few that have connected the dots between the ideas of self-representation within these coins of the Late Republic and with the influence of the Hellenistic East. Hopefully by using them as a primary data set we can understand how the Roman elite interacted with imagery and self-representation.

Research Funding

Self-funded

Susannah Marshall

Postgraduate Research Student

Susannah.Marshall@liverpool.ac.uk

 Research Interests

  • The interplay of religion, politics, and propaganda in Egyptian royal inscriptions from the New Kingdom
  • Just war theory in the Near East and Classical worlds
  • Virtual heritage

James McDonough

Postgraduate Research Student

micmac@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

James was awarded a BA and an MA in Archaeology from the University of Liverpool. 

Outside of his studies, James previously worked for the Merseyside police force for many years, before retiring in 2005. 

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"An Archaeological Investigation into the British Sieges of the Peninsular War from 1811-1812"

James' research examines the military success of the British Allied forces against the French during the Peninsular War and the differing results experienced during sieges as opposed to pitched battles, with the latter proving much more favourable for the British forces. James looks to analyse this anomaly.

Research Funding

Self-funded.

Serafina Nicolosi

Postgraduate Research Student

Serafina.Nicolosi@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Serafina was awarded a BA in Ancient History from the University of Pisa. She achieved her MA in Classics at the same university. 

Outside of her studies Serafina has worked as a museum consultant and as a communications officer for a small business.

Research Interests 

Thesis Title

"Imagining Miletos: identity and representations of archaic Milesian elites"

Serafina's research explores Archaic Ionia, which was a meeting place between Greeks, local populations and inhabitants of the neighbouring empires of Lydia and Persia. As part of this diverse and fascinating context, the community of Miletos described by ancient Greek sources can represent, depending on the viewpoint of the reader, an important example of opposing reactions to such peculiar conditions: ethnic and cultural coexistence and integration or racial tension and ethnic cleansing; political cooperation and diplomatic agreement or military conflict with its powerful neighbours.

My research explores the identity of the archaic Milesian aristocracy, with the aim of defining whether and to what extent it was influenced by interaction with the autochthonous Carian component, relations with the Lydian and Persian establishments and dynamics of intra-élite competition. A privileged perspective for this investigation is offered by the upper-class women of Miletos: as they are both indication of male status and important players in the shaping of cultural, social and ethnic identities, their representations in both literary and archaeological evidence have a lot to reveal.

Her broader research interests encompass cultural heritage marketing, corporate communications, the Classical period and Ancient Greek society.

Research Funding

Funded by the University of Liverpool Graduate Teaching Fellowship.

Diana Nikolova

Postgraduate Research Student

D.T.Nikolova@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Diana was awarded with a BA in Egyptian Archaeology from the University of Liverpool. Subsequently, at the same university, she achieved her MA in Archaeology.

Outside of her studies, Diana has worked as a volunteer at both the World Museum and the Garstang Museum, helping to create two exhibitions while working at the latter institution.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Debasement and Economic Fluctuations in Hellenistic Egypt: Compositional Analysis of Ptolemaic Silver and Bronze Coinage."

Diana's research aims to establish the level of debasement (the practice of lowering the amount of precious metals in a given coin) if any in Ptolemaic silver and bronze coinage. In order to determine this, a representative corpus of coins will be tested using a minimally invasive technique. The samples will then be analysed using a microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometer (MP-AES). The main aim of this thesis is to present a coherent charting of the economic changes that occurred during the Ptolemaic Dynasty, a time span filled with royal infighting and territorial wars.

Research Funding

Funded by the University of Liverpool Graduate Teaching Fellowship.

Claire Ollett

Postgraduate Research Student

c.l.ollett@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Claire was awarded with a 1st Class BA in Egyptology from the University of Liverpool. Later on, whilst attending the same university, she achieved her MA, with distinction, in Egyptology. 

Outside of her academic life, Claire co-designed the museum exhibition: 'From Egypt's Sands to Northern Hills: John Garstang's Excavations in Egypt', which toured six different museums. In addition to this, Claire designs and delivers tailor-made Egyptology sessions in schools and museums.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Architecture, Iconography and Texts in the Temple of Hatshesut at Deir el-Bahari Motivations and Agenda"

Hatshepsut directed substantial resources to the monumental development of the sacred landscape of Thebes, and developed various mechanisms and communication strategies to legitimise her kingship within it. Her 'Mansion of Millions of Years', Djeser-djeseru, is built to her specifications and is the epitome of the integration and symbiosis of monument and landscape. Utilising a three-fold methodology examining the architectural context, iconographic programme and textual composition of this royal cult temple I am analysing the programme of royal self-presentation in order to develop a theoretical reflection on the meaning and functionality of the temple itself and its place within the broader sacred landscape. Further, I am seeking to elucidate Hatshepsut's motivations for utilising archaic and traditional forms, alongside innovative elements, within her overarching scheme to see if it is possible to establish if a specific personal agenda was at play, and if so, what it was.

Research Funding

Funded by the Duncan Norman Research Scholarship.

Henry Pelgrift

Postgraduate Research Student

Henry.Pelgrift@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Henry was awarded a BA in Archaeology from the George Washington University. After securing his undergraduate degree, Henry then went on to achieve his MA in Mediterranean Archaeology from University College London.

Outside of his studies, Henry has worked at the British Museum as part of the department of the Middle East. He has also participated in over 13 seasons of archaeological fieldwork.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Untold Stories: How Cylinder Seal's defined Ancient Near Eastern Material Culture Studies"

Henry's research focuses on the impact of cylinder seals in the development of the art history and archaeology of the ancient Near East. Henry's thesis looks at individual scholars and amateurs from the Early Modern Period through today whose work helped advance the study of cylinder seals both in its own right and in the wider context of interpretation and reception of ancient Near Eastern Material Culture. This is analysed in context with the development and trends in art history and archaeology of the ancient Near East as the fields were established. Henry's thesis will show that cylinder seals were essential to the development of ancient Near Eastern Material Culture Studies and that their influence is still felt today.

Henry's broader research interests include; the study of Art History and archaeology in the context of the ancient Near East, object biographies and the histories of museum artefacts.

Research Funding

Self-funded.

Jo-Hannah Plug

Postgraduate Research Student

j.plug@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

(Jo-)Hannah Plug was awarded with a BA and an MA in Near Eastern Archaeology at Leiden University. Subsequently, she worked as a research assistant at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University. She has done archaeological fieldwork in the Netherlands, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Oman and Turkey. Currently, Hannah is a Graduate Teaching Fellow at the University of Liverpool (Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology).

Research Interests

Hannah's Doctoral research focuses on Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, a key site for the Late Neolithic. At this site major innovations in society, technology and subsistence have been observed, several of which culminate at the end of the 7th Millennium calBC. Importantly, the excavations at the site have yielded an important discovery: a sequence of cemeteries.

Considering that human remains represent a proxy for the impact of changing lifestyles on populations, the investigation of mortuary data can provide valuable insights into the mechanisms behind, and effects of, societal change. Variations in diet and mobility are reflected in the chemical composition of the bones; those in health and lifestyle in the pathology of the deceased. Also, social and cultural reactions to a changing world are potentially reflected in funerary practice. In her PhD research Hannah is currently working to integrate these data-sets within one interpretative framework.

Hannah's broader research interests include the study of mortuary practice in the Neolithic Near East, stable isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating, and the study of complex site stratigraphies.

Thesis Title

"Uncovering a Community: Investigating lifestyles and death ways at Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria."

Research Funding

Funded by the University of Liverpool Graduate Teaching Fellowship.

Federico Poggiali

Postgraduate Research Student

F.poggiali@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Federico was awarded with a BA in Archaeology from the University of Firenze. Federico went on study Archaeology at the University of Siena, where he attained his MA. 

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Environmental change and prehistoric landscape practices in the south-west Italian peninsula during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition: a study of anthracological remains from Grotta del Romito, Grotta della Serratura and Grotta d'Oriente."

The main aim of Federico's project is to investigate the environmental context of late Pleistocene and early Holocene hunter-gatherer landscape practices in the southwest Italian peninsula during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, through the analysis of wood charcoal macro-remains. A key focus of my research will be to assess the impact of climate-induced changes in past vegetation, and how these affected the evolution of regional landscapes. The project will integrate direct evidence obtained about prehistoric vegetation from the study of anthracological remains with high-resolution palaeoclimatic datasets. The GIS-assisted reconstruction of prehistoric woodland vegetation catchments and vegetation management strategies will also contribute to the creation of predictive models for locating Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites in this part of the Mediterranean.

Three cave sites from which archaeobotanical assemblages are currently under analysis have been selected for inclusion in this study: Grotta del Romito, Grotta della Serratura and Grotta d’Oriente.

His wider research interests include the Neolithic sites of Europe and Palaeoclimatology.

Research Funding

Jointly funded by the University of Liverpool Studentship scheme and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Lucy Quine

Postgraduate Research Student

L.Quine@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Lucy was awarded with an MA in Literature and Film from the University of York. Lucy then went on to achieve another MA, this time in Classics whilst at the University of Liverpool. 

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Herodotus in Modernity"

Lucy's research seeks to explore literary responses to Herodotus’ Histories in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Over the millennia following its composition Herodotus’ work has been an attractive resource for a diverse range of authors, and this was certainly the case during the last century. Indeed, the broad scope of the Histories is reflected in the variety of genres that feature engagements with it. Herodotus can be found, for example, in historical fiction, fantasy, historiographic metafiction, travel literature, and even in anti-racist polemics. Lucy's aim, therefore, is to examine what trends are in evidence across these examples, as well as identifying the contexts and agendas that have informed their construction.

Research Funding

Self-funded.

Bela Santa

Postgraduate Research Student

b.santa@liv.ac.uk

Biography

Bela was awarded with an MA in Ancient History from the University of Liverpool. 

Outside of her academic life, Bela works as an ESOL teacher, helping to provide support for people whose first language is not English.

Research Interests 

Thesis Title

"C19th Hungarian scholarship and the Roman Empire."

Bela's research examines how 19th century Hungarian scholars interpreted cultural change in the Roman Empire. The aim of the dissertation is to explore how western (German, British) scholarship influenced Hungarian study of the Roman Empire regarding research agendas and the concepts of ‘imperialism’ and ‘Romanization’ as well as to examine whether Hungary’s particular historical situation had any influence on the way the Roman Empire was interpreted; and how, if at all, Hungarian ideas about identity were conditioned by Hungarian interpretations of the Roman past.

Research Funding

Self-funded.

Charlotte Sargent

Postgraduate Research Student

c.sargent@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Charlotte achieved a 1st Class BA and then an MA with distinction, both in Egyptology, whilst studying at the University of Liverpool.

Outside of her studies, Charlotte works as a curatorial assistant at the Garstang Museum and Co-organises the ACE Work in Progress seminar series.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"The Conceptualisation, Expression and Social Context of Friendship in Egypt in the 2nd Millenium BC"

Charlotte's two main research agendas involve an investigation into the linguistic expression of friendship in Egypt in the 2nd millennium BC and, secondly, the location of friendship in a social context. The vocabulary of friendship identifies primary data, and categorises its narrative through defining contemporary attitudes. This then provides the basis for the place and function of friendship in social networks, ideology, and etiquette. Charlotte's study will exploit a broad range of textual sources, including biographies, documents, literature, letters, and funerary texts, all of which present interpersonal relationships in unique contexts.

Research Funding

Sir Joseph Rotblat Alumni Scholarship.

Ozlem Saritas

Postgraduate Research Student

osaritas@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography 

Ozlem was awarded with a BA and an MA in Archaeology from Istanbul University. Subsequently, Ozlem achieved an MSc in Osteoarchaeology from the University of Sheffield.

Research Interests 

Thesis Title

"Hunting and Early Herding Strategies in the Neolithic of Central Anatolia: the 9th millenium site of Boncuklu Höyük"

Ozlem's research examines the site of Boncuklu Höyük, a site which witnesses the appearance of some of the first sedentary communities in Central Anatolia. In general, the inhabitants appear to be indigenous hunter-gatherer-foragers, but it is not clear whether they initiated the herding or management of local species, or received imports from colonizing farming communities. To address this question, this research project intends to focus on the zooarchaeological assemblages from Boncuklu Hoyuk, and place them in a broader context of Central Anatolia, to attempt to understand the nature of human-animal interactions through time. Indigenous domestication should be marked by gradual changes in morphology, body size, age structures and relative abundance in the Neolithic. The wild managed or domesticated status of species at Boncuklu Hoyuk will be established by using zooarchaeological methods.

Ozlem's broader research interests include the study of domestication, human-animal relationships, animal symbolism and animal consumption in the Roman-Byzantine period.

Research Funding

Funded by the Ministry of Education in Turkey.

Christopher Scott

Postgraduate Research Student

hscscot5@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Christopher was awarded a BSc in Archaeology from Sheffield University. Christopher attained his MSc in Palaeoanthropology whilst studying at the University of Liverpool.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Deconstructing a stone age icon"

Christopher's research examines the hand-axe, which is perhaps the most iconic tool of early human evolution. Despite this, very little is known about how they functioned and what they were used for. The very term “hand-axe” also presumes that they were only ever hand held and never hafted onto a handle. This ability to haft a lithic and make a composite tool, while simple to the modern mind, represents a qualitative difference in technology and cognition which represent the emergence of the human adaptation – culture. An experimentally informed microscopic use-wear approach is proposed to determine whether the later Middle Pleistocene hand-axes from Kalambo Falls, Zambia and Beeches Pit, UK, were hafted.

Christopher's wider research interests include the evolution of pedagogy in humans, the origins of fire use and the evolution of technology through time.

Research Funding

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Dan Socaciu

Postgraduate Research Student

d.socaciu@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Dan recieved a BA and an MA in Archaeology from the University of Pisa.

Outside of his studies, Dan has worked on archaeological field schools in Dhiban and Metsamor in the Near East. In addition to this, Dan has presented at the BANEA 2017 and Broadening Horizons 5 conferences.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Multiculturalism in the ancient world: a critical interdisciplinary assessment of the Urartian kingdom, its material culture and peoples"

Dan is using GIS to analyse both the spatial distribution and the chronology of Urartian inscriptions. This is highlighting an uneven distribution, with a focus of royal activities only in certain areas, disconnected from each other. I will choose single sites as case studies for some of these areas, in order to analyse the presence of local cultures within Urartian sites, and the continuity in time of the sites. Dan's goal is to emphasise the different regional identities within the kingdom of Urartu, and also to analyse how different ways of doing archaeology, influenced by the political and social environment of the different modern states, created the images and interpretations of Urartu we currently have.

Research Funding

Self-funded.

Dominik St Angelo

Postgraduate Research Student

domstangelo@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Dominik was awarded with a BA in Computer Science and History from the World University in Puerto Rico. Dominik went on to get another BA, this time in Archaeology and Ancient History from the University of Liverpool. Later, while studying at the same university, Dominik attained his MA in Archaeology.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"An examination of Greek and Etruscan city wall construction during the archaic age (including the impact of Urbanization upon) and the development of a modelling system to determine the man-hours and costs of such building."

City walls and fortifications are probably the most understudied major civic construction project of any ancient city. Dominik's dissertation creates a methodology to analyse city wall construction to determine the man days and money required to build such monumental structures. It also examines the role of Urbanization upon wall building and the fact that the walls were most likely, a direct result of this formal structuring of the cities. It also provides a means of allowing the user the flexibility to modify parameters to play ‘what if’ games regarding possible scenarios arising from analysis of current and possible past site and environmental conditions for any period’s city walls/fortifications.

This dissertation creates a methodology to analyse city wall construction to determine man days and money required to build such monumental structures. It also examines the role of Urbanization upon wall building and the facts that the walls were most likely, a direct result of this formal structuring of the cities. It also provides a means of allowing the user the flexibility to modify parameters to play ‘what if’ games regarding possible scenarios arising from analysis of current and possible past site and environmental conditions for any period’s city walls/fortifications.

Research Funding

Self-funded.

Kevin Stoba

Postgraduate Research Student

k.stoba@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Kevin was awarded with a BA in Archaeology and Ancient History from the University of Liverpool. Later on, whilst studying at the same university, Kevin was awarded with an MA in Ancient History.

Outside of his studies, Kevin has over four years experience of teaching people English whilst living in Russia.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Mapping Mithraic Cults Across the Roman West"

Kevin's project explores the iconography, ritual, epigraphy and architecture associated with Mithras-worship across the Roman west. Much Mithraic scholarship has tried to construct ‘beliefs’, doctrines, and mythical narratives, and in doing so has often treated geographically diverse evidence as representative of a uniform phenomenon (‘Mithraism’). However, although there is some remarkable uniformity in the evidence, there is also clear regionalisation. I am using network analysis to demonstrate and probe these tendencies towards regionalisation. This involves building and examining networks (based on typologies of Mithraic data) which show regional clustering, sites which bridged different clusters, and the strength of ties within clusters and elsewhere.

Kevin is also developing visualisations of the dispersal of this data and the regionalised patterns which emerge. Network approaches inform the investigation into the spread of Mithras-worship, relationships within/between Mithraic groups, the lived experience of participants, and the role of Mithraic culture(s) in identity formation.

Kevin's broader research interests include Classical era religion, ancient cult religions and mythologies, religious art and iconography.

Research Funding 

Arts and Humanities Research Council and the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (AHRC and NWCDTP).

Elizabeth Thomas

Postgraduate Research Student

Hsethom5@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Elizabeth was awarded a BA in Archaeology and Egyptology from the University of Liverpool and later on received an MSc in Archaeology, also from the University of Liverpool.

Thesis Title

"Reflections in Time: investigating the social role of mirrors in Ancient Egypt through metallurgical analysis."

Research Funding

AHRC NWCDTP Studentship.

Lucy Timbrell

Postgraduate Research Student

lucy.timbrell@liverpool.ac.uk 

Biography

Lucy Timbrell is a PhD student in the Archaeology of Human Origins research group. She completed her BSc in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Liverpool and her MPhil in Biological Anthropological Science at the University of Cambridge. Her doctoral research at the University of Liverpool involves understanding population dynamics during the Middle Stone Age, using a combination of habitat modelling and geometric morphometrics of lithic points. As part of her research, she is working collaboratively with museums across Africa and Europe to develop remote methods of data collection. Alongside her PhD, Lucy coordinates popular science communication initiative Conversations in Human Evolution, co-organises the Evolutionary Anthropology Webinar Series and is one of the founders of the NOrthern Palaeo EvoAnth (NOPE) network. She is also a statistics tutor with the KnowHow team based at the University of Liverpool library.

Thesis Title

"Movement, interaction and structure: modelling population networks in the eastern African Middle Stone Age"

Research Interests

modern human diversity; human-environment interactions; past population structure; geometric morphometrics; Middle Stone Age

Research Funding

North-West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (AHRC)

The Leakey Foundation Research Grantee

The Wenner Gren Foundation Dissertation Grant

The Lithic Studies Society Jacobi Bursary Awardee

Francesca Tomei

Postgraduate Research Student

F.Tomei@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Francesca awarded BA and MA in Classical Archaeology from the University of Pisa. Then in 2017 she completed her MSc degree (Scuola di Specializzazione) in Archaeology from the University of Padova. She has been involved in various excavation projects in Italy, Turkey and Greece and she also worked in commercial archaeology in Vicenza (Italy).

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Ancient Greek pottery kilns in their landscape setting: exploring the intersection of technology, environment, society and economy"

Francesca’s project aims to investigate pottery kilns in mainland Greece and the Aegean islands from the Archaic (sixth-fifth centuries BC) to the Hellenistic period (second century BC). ). It will provide an anthropologically informed understanding of their typology and technology of production, the socioeconomic and landscape contexts of their life histories, and how these aspects changed through time.

Main objectives of the project are: understanding the development of pottery kiln technology through the period, reconstructing the potential impact of regional geographies and landscape settings on the technology of kiln construction and use, and reconstructing the relationships between the kiln technology chosen in specific instances and the wider social and economic settings in which a kiln operated.

She will address her research questions by developing a database of ancient Greek kilns (e.g. chronology, geographic position, construction techniques and materials, fuel use, key productions, and information on landscape setting) and she will investigate the spatial and geographical contexts of pottery production using GIS to model the landscape and land uses practices associated with ceramic production.

Moreover she will explore the character of technological development over the period, which may not have been linear, and she will compare of kilns from different areas and periods in order to understand how the technology varies and changes over time and across regions.

 

Francesca’s broader research interests include ancient pottery production, use and exchange, experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology.

Research Funding

Art and Humanities Research Council - North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (AHRC-NWCDTP).

Ademar Quint Camara

Postgraduate Research Student

A.Quint-Camara@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

Ademar was awarded MA in Egypt and Near East Archaeology from University College of London.

Research Interests

Thesis Title

"Multimodal Literacy in the Southern Levant Iron Age II from a materiality and literary formulae approach.”

Ademar is searching at inscriptions from Iron Age II Southern Levant (specifically Israel, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistine) to understand the different social context writing was used. The analysis focus on the materiality of texts as a commonly overlooked aspect of writing, the literary formulae and the function those inscriptions played in society. He is also looking at how writing reflects different types of literacy and how different individuals in society perceived them. 

Jason Walton

Postgraduate Research Student

j.walton3@liverpool.ac.uk 

Biography

Jason was awarded a BA in Archaeology from the University of Manchester and later awarded an MSc (also in Archaeology) from the University of Liverpool. 

Thesis Title

"The Aftermath of the 8.2k Climatic Event in Southeast Anatolia: A Study of Anthracological Remains from the Late Neolithic Site of Domuztepe."

Research Interests 

Human responses to environmental change are inextricably linked to the shifts observed in value systems and forms of socio-political and economic organisation. During prehistoric times, resource fluctuations typically associated with climatic events often exerted a strong influence on societal structures and acted as catalysts for social transformation. They key aim of my project is to explore the environmental consequences of, and societal and economic responses to, the 8.2 thousand years BP (Before Present) climatic event, a period of rapid decrease in global temperatures and rainfall that lasted ~300 years and marked the transition from the early to middle Holocene in southeast Anatolia. Across Southwest Asia, this cold and arid episode affected in varying degrees the earliest known farming communities in the Old World resulting in complex, and often contested, patterns of socioeconomic change. 

Research Funding

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

Margherita Zona

Postgraduate Research Student 

M.Zona@liverpool.ac.uk

Biography

I was awarded a MA Honours in Anthropology and Archaeology from the University of Aberdeen. Subsequently, I achieved an MSc in Zooarchaeology with distinction from the University of York, where I also received a prize for best MSc research thesis in Zooarchaeology (2017).

Research Interests

Thesis Title

“Revealing the human exploitation of salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) on the Pacific coast of North America: A morphometric and biomolecular approach to reconstructing precontact subsistence strategies and human responses to climate change”

Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are a key economic and subsistence resources for both contemporary and past indigenous peoples along the Pacific coast of North America. This project aims to investigate the past ecology, abundance and distribution of the seven Pacific salmonid species from pre-contact sites along the Pacific coast of North America. Key to this is the accurate identification of these morphologically similar species from archaeological sites in order to reconstruct in detail (and for the first time) past species distributions and changing subsistence strategies. While ancient DNA analyses have successfully identified distinct salmonid species, these methods are destructive and often cost-prohibitive. Geometric morphometrics (GMM) represents a cheaper and non-destructive alternative for the identification of archaeological Oncorhynchus species and has proven successful in capturing subtle biological variations of many other closely related taxa. Preliminary results using modern wild specimens and verified by DNA analysis and ZooMS (collagen fingerprinting), demonstrated that GMM is effective in identifying certain species of Oncorhynchus with a high level of confidence. The final results of this research will aid in the refinement of changing human subsistence strategies surrounding this keystone species, as well as provide a deep-time perspective on both the pre-industrial population baselines and native salmonid ranges for modern conservation policy and climate change studies.

My broader research interests include bioarchaeology, human-animal relations through time and the applications of zooarchaeology to modern faunal conservation and climate change studies.

Research Funding

Arts and Humanities Research Council - North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (AHRC-NWCDTP)