News

Lab alumna Emily Johnson (CAS ’17) selected for NSF GRF

By John M. MarstonApril 1st, 2020in Alumni, Funding, News

Environmental Archaeology Laboratory undergraduate alumna Emily Johnson (CAS '17), currently a doctoral student in Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been selected as one of seven archaeologists nationwide for a 2020 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. This prestigious fellowship will fund three years of her doctoral research. Congratulations, Emily!

Johnson and Marston publish nixtamalization research in JAS

By John M. MarstonDecember 5th, 2019in Alumni, Publications, Research

Environmental Archaeology Lab alumna Emily Johnson, now a PhD student at UC Santa Barbara, is first author (with Marston) on an article just published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. This research is based on Emily's undergraduate honors thesis at BU, which received the Michael A. Sassano III and Christopher M. Sassano Award for Writing Excellence in the Social Sciences in 2017. The article identifies, for the first time, a direct archaeological marker of nixtamalization (the process of soaking maize in an alkaline solution to create hominy or masa, which is used to make tamales and tortillas). This is a practice that predates European arrival to the Americas, and while it the practice of nixtamalization is believed to have a deep history, there has never been a way to identify this practice directly until now. These modified starch particles should be able to be found in a variety of archaeological contexts, including ceramic vessels used to prepare nixtamal and grinding stones on which it was ground into flour. Congratulations to Emily on her first publication!

Sydney Hunter: Fulbright Scholar and BU alumna featured by University of Liverpool

By Kali WadeNovember 18th, 2019in Alumni, News, Publicity

Fulbright Scholar and EA Lab alumna Sydney Hunter is  highlighted for her current Master's work at the University of Liverpool. Her current research is focused on ancient environmental reconstruction using macroscopic plant remains with Professor Eleni Asouti in the Liverpool Archaeobotany Laboratory. Read the wonderful coverage of Sydney and her work on Liverpool's Department of Archaeology, Classics, and Egyptology Bio of Sydney Hunter. We have no doubt Sydney will continue to excel in her studies—well done, Sydney!

Marston and Hunter make BU Today’s front cover

By Kali WadeOctober 7th, 2019in Outreach, Publicity

A video highlighting collaborative research by Marston and laboratory alumna Sydney Hunter (CAS '19) was showcased on the cover of BU Today and BU's Research Publications outlet The Brink today! Learn how ancient plants can inform our understanding of ancient landscapes, focusing on a remarkable ancient pea recovered from the archaeological site of Sim-Ata 1 in western Uzbekistan, excavated in 2018 as part of the Khorezm Ancient Agriculture Project, directed by Dr. Elizabeth Brite. Find the story and The Brink's spectacular video here.

Marston and West co-authors on Science article

By John M. MarstonAugust 30th, 2019in Publications, Research

John Marston and Catherine West are co-authors on a paper published today in Science. The article is a reconsideration of the entire history of land use of the Earth. It was sourced by asking regional experts to contribute their areas of expertise and thus represents an expert consensus on land use histories. Marston and West are among those experts who contributed as authors. The primary finding of the article is that humans transformed some areas of the Earth more substantially at earlier dates than previously thought based on global simulations produced from paleoenvironmental evidence, and that environmental archaeological data may provide a better approach to reconstructing past land-use change than paleoenvironmental data alone.

Welcome Evan McDuff!

By Kali WadeJuly 24th, 2019in News, Publicity

Welcome to Evan McDuff, the newest member of the Environmental Archaeology Laboratory! Evander completed his MA in Classical Studies from Brandies in 2018 with his thesis entitled "The Potentiality of Phytoliths in the Study of Roman Spices". You can find his spirited science communication piece summarizing his work here. Evan will begin his doctoral program at BU in Anthropological Archaeology in September, working with Drs. Marston and West. Welcome, Evan!

Marston wins NSF support for new isotopic research

By John M. MarstonJune 27th, 2019in Funding, Research

The National Science Foundation Archaeology Program has funded the proposal “Spatial Analysis of State Agropastoral Economies”, which is directed by John M. Marston (Boston University, lead PI) and David Meiggs (Rochester Institute of Technology). Over the two-year award, Marston and Meiggs will conduct research to examine how societies manage sustainable agricultural production across the varied landscapes under their control. By integrating multiple isotopic techniques to study both plant and animal remains from the archaeological site of Gordion in central Turkey, the project will enable a new understanding of the dynamics of imperial agricultural strategies in the past, with implications for agricultural sustainability in the present day.

Wade and Marston’s work published in Environmental Archaeology: The Journal of Human Palaeoecology

By Kali WadeJune 1st, 2019in Publications, Research

EA Laboratory Supervisor Kali Wade has published her first article, resulting from her MSc thesis work at the University of Edinburgh, with co-authors Lisa-Marie ShillitoJohn M. Marston, and Clive Bonsall. Read "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" in Environmental Archaeology: The Journal of Human Palaeoecology here. Congratulations Kali!

Marston promoted to Associate Professor

By Kali WadeMay 28th, 2019in News, Publicity

Congratulations to Prof. Marston, who has achieved tenure and promotion to the rank of Associate Professor! Marston is a member of the Department of Anthropology and core faculty in the Archaeology Program, and is affiliated with the Biogeosciences and Medieval Studies programs. In addition to his research, teaching, and advising, Marston is the current Director of Graduate Studies for the Archaeology Program, co-editor of Ethnobiology Letters, and director of the Environmental Archaeology Laboratory. Congratulations Mac!