Internal seminar AMGC

On Thursday, October 30th, part of the Make-Up of the Cities team presented their work during a seminar for the Archaeology, Geochemical and Environmental Changes (AMGC) research group.

Charlotte opened the seminar with a presentation on the research she will be conducting during her PhD. Her talk began with reflections on urbanisation, both in the present and the past, and smoothly transitioned to her central research question: Who were the first city-dwellers that laid the foundations of cities in our medieval past? She aims to trace their origins through stable isotope analysis and to gain deeper insight into their socio- economic backgrounds and first urban environments by studying written and cartographic sources.

Next up was Lucy, who treated us to a talk covering a wide range of topics. She began by highlighting key aspects of her PhD project, during which she explored the Pictish past of Scotland using a variety of methods, including osteology, isotope analysis, and DNA analysis. She then gave an engaging overview of her outreach activities, ranging from teaching non-archaeologists how to excavate, to sieving for bones with children, and even dressing up as a Roman citizen for themed days in the field.

Closing the seminar was Patxi, who took us on a pilgrim’s journey across Europe. His academic path began close to home, researching the pilgrimage history of Santiago de Compostela, the city where he grew up. After completing his MA thesis on the topic, he continued this line of research during his PhD, performing stable isotope analyses on several dozen individuals found beneath the cathedral floor, and other pilgrims from all over the North of Spain, aiming to trace their origins. He concluded his presentation by highlighting some of his other work, including research on marginalised groups in medieval Spain.