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Hardy, Karen
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ICREA Research Professor at UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). Humanities
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I joined ICREA in 2008. Following a PhD in the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, I worked on projects based in Hungary, Scotland and Papua New Guinea. From 1997-2005 I co-directed the Scotland's First Settlers project which explored the early post glacial environment and human population around the Isle of Skye. In 2005 I was awarded a Marie Curie OIF to visit the University of Sydney where I set up an international project on the diagenesis of ancient starch. My return phase took place at the University of York where I remain a research associate.
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Research Interests
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My interest lies in human adaptations and diet in the pre-agricultural world, notably the use of plants and coastal resources. Plants are likely to have been as important in the past as they are today but detection of them is difficult. Dental calculus preserves biographical detail which we can extract and identify. This is offering new insights into ancient diet and aspects of life in the past. As far as is known, widespread exploitation of coastal resources developed in the early post-glacial period. The Saloum Delta, Senegal offers an outstanding ‘living laboratory’ to learn about traditional uses of coastal resources and modern ‘archaeological’ sites. West coast Scotland is particularly significant, it represents part of the north western edge of the ancient northern European plain and it also contains many shell middens and archaeological sites. The shell middens preserve organic material which can be used for environmental and cultural reconstruction throughout the Holocene.
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Key Words
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Prehistoric Europe, pre-agricultural diet, ethnoarchaeology, shell middens and coastal archaeology.
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