Kali Wade

Archaeobotanical Consultant, Atlatl Archaeology Ltd.

  • Title Archaeobotanical Consultant, Atlatl Archaeology Ltd.
  • Education MSc, University of Edinburgh, 2015
    BA, University of Lethbridge, 2013

Areas of Interest

Paleoethnobotany/archaeobotany; Microbotanical analyses; Phytoliths; Subsistence practices and plant utilization of hunter-gatherer groups

Research Interests & Fieldwork

The most exciting part of my position is playing host to the varied and cutting edge research projects taking place in the Environmental Archaeology Lab. Working under Prof Marston ensures the lab is kept busy, happy, and working hands-on with archaeological material from a range of contexts. I routinely assist in the research process and have the pleasure of coordinating our talented team of undergraduate volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering in the EA Lab, please send me an email!

My personal research interests lie primarily in phytolith analysis, and particularly, phytoliths’ potential to reconstruct ancient diet, technology, and paleoenvironment. I am currently building a laboratory phytolith reference collection focused on the Near East’s Bronze and Iron Ages, although this continues to expand to address other locales and time periods to suit the various researcher projects in the lab. I am currently analyzing two phytolith assemblages from Israel, exploring aspects of the plant record related to preservation and taphonomy and plant types and quantities.

Projects

Tel Shimron Excavations, Israel

The Megiddo Expedition, Israel

Brown University Petra Terraces Archaeological Project, Jordan

Publications

Kali Wade, Lisa-Marie Shillito, John M. Marston, and Clive Bonsall. 2019. Assessing the potential of phytolith analysis to investigate local environment and prehistoric plant resource use in temperate regions: a case study from Williamson’s Moss, Cumbria, Britain. Environmental Archaeology: The Journal of Human Palaeoecology. DOI: 10.1080/14614103.2019.1619980

Marston, John M., Kali Wade, Kathleen Forste, and Kristen N. Wroth. New Directions in Old World Paleoethnobotany. In preparation for Journal of Archaeological Research.

Marston, John M., and Kali Wade. Macrobotanical remains: seeds and non-wood plant parts. In preparation for Megiddo VII: Decoding Death: The Shmunis Family Foundation’s Investigation of Two Elite Bronze Age Tombs. Edited by Melissa S. Cradic, Matthew J. Adams, Mario Martin, and Israel Finkelstein. Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv.

Wade, Kali, Emily Brown, and John M. Marston. Microbotanical remains: phytoliths. In preparation for Megiddo VII: Decoding Death: The Shmunis Family Foundation’s Investigation of Two Elite Bronze Age Tombs. Edited by Melissa S. Cradic, Matthew J. Adams, Mario Martin, and Israel Finkelstein. Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv.

Reports

Wade, Kali, Kathleen Forste, and John M. Marston. Islamic Shimron Phytoliths Report 2017/2019. Report prepared for Tel Shimron Excavations.

Wade, Kali. BUPTAP Phytolith Report. 2019. Report prepared for Dan Plekhov, BUPTAP Brown University.

Wade, Kali, and John M. Marston. 2018. Preliminary phytolith results from Tomb 50, Tel Megiddo. Report prepared for The Megiddo Expedition.

Brown, Emily, Kali Wade, and John M. Marston. 2018. Using morphometrics to identify cereal phytoliths in Tomb 50 at Tel Megiddo, Israel. Report prepared for The Megiddo Expedition.

Conference Presentations

“Plant Use and Elite Burial Customs at Middle Bronze Age Tel Megiddo, Israel” (with Emily Brown, Melissa S. Cradic, and John M. Marston) Poster presented at the 42nd Annual Conference of the Society of Ethnobiology, 2019.

“Phytolith Perspectives on Agriculture in the Islamic Golden Age city of Kath” (with Sydney Hunter, Elizabeth Brite, John M. Marston) Poster presented at the 42nd Annual Conference of the Society of Ethnobiology, 2019.

“Microbotanical and macrobotanical remains from Middle Bronze Age Tomb 50, Tel Megiddo” (with John M. Marston and Melissa S. Cradic) Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2018.

“A microbotanical study of landscape use by enslaved communities at James Madison’s Montpelier” (with Sydney A. Hunter and John M. Marston) Poster presented at the 41st Annual Conference of the Society of Ethnobiology, 2018.

Phytolith Analysis of Cumbria’s Prehistoric Populations” (with Lisa-Marie Shillito and Clive Bonsall) Poster presented at the 40th Annual Conference of the Society of Ethnobiology, 2017.

Science Communication

Wade, Kali. Plants, Food, and Old World Heritage. August 2018. Blog submitted to the Forage!Blog, Society of Ethnobiology.

Service

Social Media Coordinator, Society of Ethnobiology (June 2018-May 2020)

Promotion and Outreach Coordinator: Publicity and Community Engagement, Society of Ethnobiology (March 2019-May 2022)

Forage!Blog Co-editor, Society of Ethnobiology (June 2019 – June 2020)

View all profiles