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British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow
Bournemouth University and the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL)
Dr Sarah Elliott
Environmental Archaeologist
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow
Photograph courtesy of Jerome Poulalier
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British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow
In January 2019 I started a three year British Academy Fellowship titled: 'Investigating Neolithic villages and farming communities in Jordan: developing and validating new scientific multi-methodologies'.
This research will develop new scientific inter-disciplinary methods and tools to investigate human and animal occupation signatures recorded in cultural deposits that accumulated in Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlements in Jordan. The project will involve the analysis of sediment samples from known activity areas in modern villages and dung samples from targeted animal species, which will then act as a comparative dataset to interpret samples from Neolithic sites.
2019-2022
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Biography
I am an environmental archaeologist and a geoarchaeologist with a focus on Middle Eastern Neolithic Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology.
My research focuses on applying scientific methodologies to investigate human and animal occupation/activity signatures. I currently hold a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship in partnership with the Council for British Research in the Levant (http://cbrl.ac.uk/british-Institute-amman).
I completed my degrees at the University of Reading. My PhD focused on Neolithic sites in the Zagros Mountains (https://www.czap.org/). I previously worked at Bournemouth University on the INEA project (https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/projects/identifying-activity-areas-neolithic-sites-through-ethnographic-analysis-phytoliths-geochemical-residues-inea). I also held two Postdoctoral Fellowships at the British Institute in Amman (CBRL), and a Teaching Fellowship at the University of Aberdeen. Most recently I was a Posdoctoral fellow on the PAST project at the University of Exeter (http://amazoniapast.exeter.ac.uk/).
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Research
My research applies scientific methodologies to modern reference material, ethnoarchaeological and archaeological samples. I utilise a combined scientific approach to investigate human and animal signatures and activities in Neolithic villages in Jordan. The Neolithic period represents the transition from mobile hunter-gatherers to sedentary farmers. My specialisms are phytolith analysis (plant silica remains), thin section micromorphology, geochemistry and dung studies (faecal spherulites). In my research modern samples are collected from known contexts in order to apply the scientific methodology to samples where I can also collect the intangible heritage. These samples include plant material, animal dungs and modern sediments from traditionally built abandoned villages. The modern and ethnoarchaeological results are then used to inform on the scientific results from the archaeological samples. The archaeological samples originate from a range of Neolithic villages in Jordan from the early Neolithic up until the late Neolithic.
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Published Work
Journal Articles
Iriarte, J., Elliott, S., Maezumi, S.Y., Alves, D., Gonda, R., Robinson, M., Gregorio de Souza, J., Watling, J. and Handley, J., 2020. The origins of Amazonian landscapes: Plant cultivation, domestication and the spread of food production in tropical South America. Quaternary Science Reviews, 248
Matthews, R., Matthews, W., Richardson, A., Raheem, K.R., Walsh, S., Aziz, K.R., Bendrey, R., Whitlam, J., Charles, M., Bogaard, A., Iversen, I, Mudd, D. and Elliott, S.., 2019. The early Neolithic of Iraqi Kurdistan: current research at Bestansur, Shahrizor Plain. Paleorient, 45(2).
Baird, D., Fairbairn, A., Jenkins, E., Martin, L., Middleton, C., Pearson, J., Asouti, E., Edwards, Y., Kabukcu, C., Mustafaoğlu, G., Russell, N., Bar-Yosef, O., Jacobsen, G., Wu, X., Baker, A. and Elliott, S., (2018). Agricultural origins on the Anatolian plateau. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115 (14), E3077-E3086.
Elliott, S., Palmer, C., Allcock, S. L. and Jenkins, E., (2017). Examining Neolithic Building and Activity Areas through Historic Cultural Heritage in Jordan: A Combined Ethnographic, Phytolith and Geochemical Investigation. Bulletin for the Council for British Research in the Levant, 12 (1), 21-28.
Jenkins, E.L., Allcock, S.L., Elliott, S., Palmer, C. and Grattan, J., 2017. Ethno-geochemical and Phytolith Studies of Activity Related Patterns: A Case Study from Al Ma’tan, Jordan. Environmental Archaeology, 22 (4), 412-433.
Elliott, S., (2017). A New and Extensive Ethnoarchaeological Dung Reference Collection for Investigating Animal Occupation, Seasonality and Diet in the Past. Bulletin for the Council for British Research in the Levant, 12 (1), 56-60.
Elliott, S., Bendrey, R., Whitlam, J., Aziz, K. and Evans, J., 2015. Preliminary ethnoarchaeological research on modern animal husbandry in Bestansur, Iraqi Kurdistan: Integrating animal, plant and environmental data. Environmental Archaeology: the journal of human palaeoecology.
Elliott, S., 2014. The Origins and Spread of Domestic Animals in Southwest Asia and Europe. Reviewed by Sarah Elliott. Archaeological Review From Cambridge, 29, 185-235.
Mithen, S., Wicks, K. and Elliott, S., 2012. Croig Cave: a Late Bronze Age ornament deposit and three millennia of fishing and foraging on the north-west coast of Mull, Scotland. The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 142.
Chapters
Elliott, S., Matthews, W. and Bull, I., 2020. Early Neolithic animal management and ecology: integrated analysis of faecal material. In: Matthews, R., Matthews, W., Raheem, R. and Richardson, A., eds. The Early Neolithic of the Eastern Fertile Crescent Excavations at Bestansur and Shimshara, Iraqi Kurdistan. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 353.
Elliott, S., Bendrey, R., Whitlam, J. and Aziz, K., 2020. Ethnoarchaeological research in Bestansur: insights into vegetation, land-use, animals and animal dung. In: Matthews, R., Matthews, W., Rasheem, K. and Richardson, A., eds. The Early Neolithic of the Eastern Fertile Crescent Excavations at Bestansur and Shimshara, Iraqi Kurdistan. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 91.
Matthews, R. et al., 2020. Long-Term Human-Environment Interactions in the Neolithic of the Central Zagros of Iran and Iraq, 10,000-6000 BC. In: Eidem, J., ed. Zagros Studies. Proceedings of the NINO Jubilee Conference and Other Research on the Zagros Region. Peeters Publishers.
Allcock, S. and Elliott, S., (2019). Chapter 42. Sedimentary Analysis of Construction Materials. In: Mithen, S., Finlayson, B., Maričević, D., Smith, S., Jenkins, E. and Najjar, M., eds. WF16, The Excavation of an Early Neolithic Settlement in Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan. Stratigraphy, Chronology, Architecture, and Burials.
Elliott, S., 2018. The Phytoliths. In: Fulford, M., Clarke, A., Durham, E. and Pankhurst, N., eds. Late Iron Age Calleva. The pre-conquest occupation at Silchester insula IX. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.
Allcock, S. and Elliott, S., 2018. Sedimentary Analysis of Construction Materials. In: Mithen, S., Finlayson, B., Maričević, D., Smith, S., Jenkins, E. and Najjar, M., eds. WF16, The Excavation of an Early Neolithic Settlement in Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan. Stratigraphy, Chronology, Architecture, and Burials. Oxford: Council for British Research in the Levant.
Bendrey, R., Whitlam, J., Elliott, S. and Aziz, K., 2016. ‘Seasonal rhythms’ of a rural Kurdish village: Ethnozooarchaeological research in Bestansur, Iraq. People with Animals Perspectives and Studies in Ethnozooarchaeology. Oxbow Books.
Shillito, L.-M. and Elliott, S., 2014. Phytolith indicators of plant resource use at Sheikh-e Abad and Jani. In: Matthews, R., Matthews, W and Mohammadifar, Y., eds. The Earliest Neolithic of Iran: 2008 Excavations at Sheikh-E Abad and Jani. Oxbow books.
Jenkins, E., Baker, A. and Elliott, S., 2014. Past plant use in Jordan as revealed by archaeological and ethnoarchaeological phytolith signatures. In: Mithen, S. and Black, E., eds. Water, Life and Civilisation. Climate, Environment and Society in the Jordan Valley. Cambridge University Press.
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Qualifications
January 2016
University of Reading
PhD Archaeology
AHRC funded. Title: 'Investigating early animal management in the Zagros Mountains of Iran and Iraq: Integrating field and laboratory methods for the identification and analysis of ancient faecal material'
September 2008
University of Reading
MSc Geoarchaeology
NERC funded. Thesis title: 'Phytolith analysis from three sites in Jordan: a trajectory from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A to the Pottery Neolithic'
July 2007
University of Reading
BA Ancient History and Archaeology
Dissertation title: 'Phytolith analysis and interpretation-a tool for identifying vegetation and possible plant exploitation at an archaeological site on Coll, in North-western Britain'
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Teaching
Bournemouth University
2019
Environmental Archaeology
Currently my main teaching responsibilities at Bournemouth University are on the ‘Environmental Archaeology’ second year course.
This includes practical sessions e.g. heavy residue sorting, Geoarchaeology and Archaeobotany (micro remains) and lectures, e.g. Geoarchaeology, Archaeobotany: macro remains, Archaeobotany: micro remains and archaeological case studies (Viking Iceland and Amazonia)
Bournemouth University
2019
Studying Ancient Materials
I teach about organic artefacts in a hands-on lecture and practical for first year archaeology and anthropology students.
University of Aberdeen
2016-2017
An Introduction to Archaeology; Geoarchaeology, Current Issues; Dissertation Module Part 1
During this teaching position I was awarded a student nominated teaching award.
This position was a nine-month teaching fellowship to provide maternity cover to support teaching in Archaeology. I was an undergraduate course co-ordinator and taught first to fourth year students. Specifically teaching and coordinating modules in Geoarchaeology (third year), an Introduction to Archaeology (first year), dissertation based module (third year) and Current Issues in Archaeology (fourth year).
University of Reading
2009-2014
Practicing Archaeology; Mesolithic of Northwest Europe; Micromorphology;
First to third year lectures and masters teaching
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News & Resources
Want to be an archaeologist?
Video with advice about becoming an archaeologist and studying archaeology at University
Film about archaeology in Jordan
Copy and paste to web browser for video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgBorKvoDLo
Arabic Version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3P1EDBKYag
Near Eastern Archaeology Conference at BU 2021:
Bournemouth University are delighted to be hosting the BANEA 2021 virtual conference from 3rd-5th March 2021. The keynote lecture will be given by Dr Allison Mickel, Lehigh University who will be addressing the topic of 'Decolonising Archaeology: Diversity and Inclusivity' and we welcome papers from across the spectrum of Near Eastern Archaeology. Please find below a link for conference registration and abstract submission. Abstracts should be no more than 250 words and need to be submitted by 10th January 2021. There is no cost to attend but delegates do need to be BANEA members.
Please find further details here:
Check out the BU Research Blog
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Outreach
Talks, presentations and outreach activities
Cafe Scientifique talk
"Cafe Scientifique is a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Meetings take place in cafes, bars, restaurants and even theatres, but always outside a traditional academic context.
Cafes around the world have paused as part of governments’ measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
But to keep their regular dose of science – and goodness knows we need it – going, several cafes are experimenting with taking the cafe online. Join them if you can – the beauty of an online cafe is that you can join from anywhere."
I presented this talk via Zoom to an audience from across the country. The topic of this talk was the 'Discovering the First Farmers'. This drew upon my PhD research which is the basis for my current research fellowship.
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Get in Touch
Bournemouth University,
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Fern Barrow,
Poole,
BH12 5BB,
UK
+44 1202 9 62045
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