Research Interests

My main research interest is the changing nature of the relationship between people, plants and their environment during the transition to farming in North-West Europe and the environmental consequences of the spread of agriculture across the North Atlantic islands (Atlantic Scotland, Faroes, Iceland and Greenland) from prehistory to the Viking-Norse periods. My research focuses on the archaeobotany and environmental archaeology of Scotland, North-West Europe and the North Atlantic islands (Atlantic Scotland, Faroes, Iceland, Greenland).

Main Research interests:

  • Archaeobotany: continuity and change in crop production, land use, wild plant gathering, use of fuels and human-environment interactions
  • Mesolithic and Neolithic archaeology: hunter-gatherer and early farmer economies, speed and nature of the transition to agriculture, adaptations to challenging environments (e.g. islands and mountains) and environmental change
  • Archaeobotanical taphonomy and experimental archaeology
  • Role, potential and issues with the use of archaeological data to inform current and future responses to climate/environmental change