Author: Alexandra Livarda

Ancient Plants, New Partnerships: Archaeobotanical Research on the island of Lesvos, Greece

Marina Daniel has recently returned from an extended research stay on the island of Lesvos as part of her newly launched doctoral project at ICAC-URV, that started in May under the supervision of Dr Alexandra Livarda and Professor Joaquín Ruiz de Arbulo Bayona. Her PhD investigates the agricultural economies of the prehistoric Aegean through archaeobotanical…
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ICAC archaeobotanists collaborate with colleagues in Barcelona and France to explore agriculture in Roman Gallia

Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow Dr Jessie Feito (‘FoodMod-RGB: Modelling food plant trade in the Roman provinces of Gaul and Britannia’ [HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01]) recently returned from working in the University of Barcelona, Department of Biology isotope lab with Professor Jose Luis Aarus Ortega, Maria Dolors Serret Molins, and Joel Segarra Torruella. She spent a few weeks processing samples from the Roman site…
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New archaeobotanical collaboration on the archaeobotany of the Bronze Age town of Akrotiri, Santorini 

This June-July Dr Alexandra Livarda visited the archaeological site of Akrotiri at Santorini, Greece, to start a new research collaboration with Dr Anaya Sarpaki, the head archaeobotanist of this important site. Akrotiri was a Bronze Age town, buried under the ashes of the volcanic eruption that led to the destruction of this busy and prosperous…
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Our Roman archaeobotanists in fieldwork and conferences

Our MSCA post-doctoral fellow, Dr Jessie Feito, went for another year to Pompeii with the Casa della Regina Carolina Excavations (University of Bologna, Cornell University, Harvard University). Jessie does the archaeobotany for the project, using archaeobotanical macroremains (e.g., seeds, fruits) to explore plant use within the house and plant-human interactions in one of the largest…
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Workshops and new archaeobotanical projects in East Mediterranean

Charlotte Diffey, our Beatriu de Pinós fellow and member of ICAC’s archaeobotany team, had a really busy month travelling at the east of the Mediterranean!  Charlotte started with a visit in Istanbul where she co-ran the Environmental Archaeology Workshop at ANAMED on the 16th – 17th of May funded by Koҫ University. Several graduate students from Koҫ…
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NEW PUBLICATION! From 3D grain shape to past agriculture: a new generation of morphometric analysis

We have just published a new paper in the Journal of Archaeological Science presenting a high-performance approach to 3D morphometrics through deep learning and tabular foundation models. The study uses barley grains as a demanding case study, but its implications extend well beyond archaeobotany: it shows how the full three-dimensional shape of small archaeological and biological objects…
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Research synergies between ICAC and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS)

Dr Alexandra Livarda visited the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences at Sofia between the 12th and 15th of May after an invitation by the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research and the National Archaeological Institute & Museum. She was warmly received by Dr Kaloyan Pramatarov, Dr Nataliya Ivanova and Dr Mila Andonova who have been excellent hosts throughout.…
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‘Food taboos in archaeology’ – another CUP Elements out and free to download until 24th of March

One week after the publication of the ‘Hunting and Eating symbols’ by Nerissa Russell in the series ‘Elements in the Archaeology of Food’, edited by Katheryn C. Twiss (Stony Brook University, NY) and Alexandra Livarda (ICAC/GIAP-CERCA), a new book is already out! This one explores the fascinating history of food taboos: ‘Food taboos in archaeology’…
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Hunting and Eating Symbols: new Element in the Archaeology of Food series – Golden Open Access until March 16th

The series ‘Elements in the Archaeology of Food’, edited by Katheryn C. Twiss (Stony Brook University, NY) and Alexandra Livarda (ICAC/GIAP-CERCA), are taking off! Soon after the publication of the last book ‘The behavioural ecology of food’ on the 23rd of January, a new volume is freshly out of the typesetter!  ‘Hunting and Eating symbols’ by…
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First GIAP SEMINAR 2025-2026: “Agricultural Strategies and Environmental Change in Ancient Anatolia”

We are pleased to announce the first presentation in our 2025-2026 seminar series. We are especially delighted to welcome Professor John (Mac) Marston, Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology at Boston University.The presentation will take place on Wednesday, February 25, at 3 p.m. (CET) and will be online.  Access the webinar here – there is no need…
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