MRC INTEGRATIVE EPIDEMIOLOGY UNIT (IEU)

SEMINAR SERIES

 SEMINAR

 Thursday 2^nd June, 2016

16.00 – 17.00 - Room OS6 – Oakfield House

 Richard Evershed

Professor of Biogeochemistry, School of Chemistry

University of Bristol

 

“Resolving dietary enigmas in Neolithic farmers using preserved biomarkers and carbon isotope signatures”

 Abstract

A critical dimension of the Neolithilisation of Europe was dietary change wrought by the introduction of the new “agricultural package”. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the pattern of adoption of agriculture and the degree to which Mesolithic hunter-gatherer-fisher practices were abandoned, was far from consistent across the European landscape. Indeed, there appear to be contradictions between a number of lines of evidence. For example, stable isotope signatures of human bones indicate that marine product exploitation was abandoned in the British Isles, even amongst remote coastal and island communities, when the “agricultural package” arrived from mainland Europe. Further, there is a seeming contradiction that early Neolithic farmers were producing milk at a time when genetics indicate they likely lacked the biochemical capacity to effectively digest it. Remarkably, simple lipid and proteins residues, preserved in fragments of archaeological pottery and bones, provide unique molecular and carbon isotope signatures that allow resolution of these apparently counterintuitive observations.  The current status of this area will be reviewed with our latest findings presented by way of examples.

Biography

Evershed develops and applies state-of-the-art chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques to derive molecular and isotopic information to improve our understanding of extinct and extant environments. He is a leading authority in the field of ancient biomolecule research, being responsible for developing significant areas of the field. His work explores the processes of deposition and biomolecule survival on archaeological and geological timescales, and the exploitation of preserved biomolecular proxies to provide new information regarding human behaviour. His research interests currently focus on the reconstructing the diets and agricultural practices of prehistoric people and probing the environmental impacts of modern farming systems on soil and aquatic ecosystem function.

 

 

ALL WELCOME