I am an archaeologist/archaeobotanist working on the ecology, evolution and social implications of early farming systems in Europe and western Asia, with comparative interests in other parts of the world. Key methods in my research include: excavation/recovery of primary farming evidence (especially the remains of crops and their associated arable weed flora), survey of present-day ‘traditional’ field systems (quadrat weed survey, crop sampling and GIS survey) to build heuristic models, functional plant ecological analysis of present-day weed flora to identify responses to arable land management practices, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of modern and archaeobotanical crop materials to gauge e.g. crop water status and potential manuring, respectively, use of plant C and N isotope data in models of ancient food webs and human diet and integration of farming/dietary inferences with material culture, including household architecture, indicators of social identity and assessment of wealth inequality.
 
I am a speaker in the special session on ‘Science and Archaeology’ organised by the Council for British Research in the Levant. My talk is entitled, 'Farming in the deep past, and lessons for the future: the agroecology of early urban societies in western Eurasia'.