News
EALab members present at IWGP 2025
The 20th conference of the International Workgroup for Palaeoethnobotany (IWGP), held in Groningen, Netherlands, included nearly 300 participants and presentations. Three of these were contributed by EALab members! Dr. Karen Stewart gave a presentation titled "The Future of Archaeobotanical Data Sharing in New England: Bridging Generational Gaps," Trevor Lamb contributed the presentation "Roots as Food and Flavor in Alaska’s Kodiak Archipelago, 3200–200 BP," and Marston contributed a poster titled "Agricultural Innovations in Medieval Central Anatolia." EALab alumna Angela Zhang also attended, along with BU alumnae Dr. Susan Allen (University of Cincinnati) and Dr. Chantel White (University of Pennsylvania). A rich week for learning and discussing recent archaeobotanical research!
Marston publishes article in American Anthropologist
Marston contributed to a special section in American Anthropologist, titled "Archaeology, Politics, and Environmental Crisis," which addresses the role of archaeology in addressing contemporary environmental crises. Marston's contribution, titled "Politics of Resilience and Materialism in Archaeological Explanation," argues for better uses of resilience thinking and materialist perspectives in explanation of the past, with the integration of political ecology lending a valuable dimension to such studies. The article is available here.
Dr. Karen Stewart defends doctoral dissertation!
Congratulations to Dr. Karen Stewart, who successfully defended her doctoral dissertation in Anthropology, titled "Rethinking Recovery, Preservation, and Practice in Historical Archaeobotany in New England." In this study, Karen argues for the underappreciated potential of waterlogged plant remains from historical period sites in New England, and demonstrates differences in plant macroremain preservation between site types in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Congratulations Dr. Stewart!!
Marston and EALab alumnae publish on Megiddo
EALab director Marston and alumnae Emily Brown (CAS '19) and Kali Wade (former EALab Lab Supervisor) contributed three chapters to the recently published monograph Megiddo VII: The Shmunis Excavations of a Monumental Middle Bronze Tomb and its Environs, edited by Matthew J. Adams, Melissa S. Cradic and Israel Finkelstein. Our chapters include analysis of macrobotanical and phytolith assemblages from the elite Middle Bronze Age Tomb 16/H/50, as well as morphometric analysis of the phytoliths to assess cereal species inclusions in the tomb.
The book can be downloaded for free as open-access, currently available here.
Angela Zhang (CAS ’24) is lead author of article on Egyptian wood use
Alumna Angela Zhang (CAS '24), along with lab member Peter Kováčik and lab director Marston, are co-authors with Kathryn Bard, Professor Emerita of Archaeology and Classical Studies, on a new article: "Wood Fuel Use in the Predynastic Upper Egypt Nile Valley" in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. This article, based on analyses by Zhang and Kováčik of wood charcoal from two sites excavated by Bard in 1989, provides the second ever published wood charcoal analysis of Predynastic sites from the Nile Valley of Upper Egypt. BU media's The Brink previously covered Angela's research that led to this article. Congratulations to Angela on her first article!
Marston publishes open-access article in Antiquity
John M. Marston and Lorenzo Castellano (UCLA) have published a new open-access article in Antiquity, titled "Climate, political economy and agriculture in first and second millennia AD Anatolia". In this article, Marston and Castellano draw on a comprehensive synthesis of published archaeobotanical data from Anatolia (modern Turkey), as well as integrated palynological and zooarchaeological evidence, to reconstruct agricultural strategies between the Roman and Ottoman periods and explore the role of political economy and climate behind observed agricultural changes.
Nicole Hultquist publishes new isotopic research in JAS
Nicole Hultquist is first author on a new article in the Journal of Archaeological Science, titled "Strontium isotopes and the geographic origins of camelids in the Virú Valley, Peru". This paper, based on her MSc research at Trent University, uses strontium isotopes to confirm that camelids (llamas and alpacas) were raised locally in coastal Peru by the Early Intermediate Period, not only imported from the Andean highlands. Other individuals show clear signatures of movement from the highlands, implying sustained trade networks between the coast and highlands. The article is available open access here. Congratulations, Nicole!
Nicole Hulquist second author of biogeoscience article
Nicole Hulquist is the second author on a recently published study that sources atmospheric methane production using "clumped" stable isotopes (molecules containing multiple heavy isotopes). The article appears in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, a publication of the AGU. Read more in the article here. Congratulations, Nicole!
Karen Stewart wins CNEHA student paper competition
EAL lab member Karen Stewart won the student paper competition at the annual meeting of the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology this past weekend for her paper "Small But Not Forgotten? Plant Remains from CRM Excavations of Historical Sites." Congratulations, Karen!
Owen Lannon (CAS ’24) hired at NOSAMS
Owen Lannon (CAS '24) has started a new position at the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility (NOSAMS) at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Falmouth, MA. Owen's work involves processing organic carbon samples for their radiocarbon AMS. Congratulations, Owen, on the new job!