Julia Lee-Thorp
Biographic Data
| ID | 2740958 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Julia Lee-Thorp |
| GIVEN NAMES | Julia |
| FAMILY NAME | Lee-Thorp |
| SIGNATURE | LEE-THORP J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oxford |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 217 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 3 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Copyright Page
Dedication
The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Diet
The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Diet provides a comprehensive overview of the evidence for human diet from our earliest ancestors in Africa to the increasing importance of material culture, through to the more recent dispersals of humans across the globe. As human populations expanded into new environments, they encountered new conditions, plants and animals, that led ultimately to the current diversity of subsistence modes and regional…
Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Diet
Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape Province: An Early–Middle Pleistocene Paleoenvironmental Sequence for the Interior of South Africa
Localities in the interior of South Africa, such as Taung and Vaal River sites, were intensively researched after hominins were discovered (Péringuey, 1911; Dart, 1925a; Goodwin, 1928), but then neglected for the fossil-rich, dolomitic breccia sites in Gauteng Province (e.g., Cooke, 1963, 1967; Vrba, 1976; Brain, 1981, Brain and Sillen, 1988; Bamford, 1999; Pickering and Kramers, 2010; Herries and Shaw, 2011; Reynolds et al., 2011; Lee-Thorp and …
A stable isotope perspective on archaeological agricultural variability and Neolithic experimentation in India
Stable carbon isotope and molar microwear variability of South African australopiths in relation to paleohabitats and taxonomy
Further insight into Neolithic agricultural management at Kouphovouno, southern Greece: Expanding the Isotopic Approach
The ups & downs of Iron Age animal management on the Oxfordshire Ridgeway, south-central England: A multi-isotope approach
Year-old record of Middle and Later Stone Age innovation in an East African tropical forest
The Middle to Later Stone Age transition in Africa has been debated as a significant shift in human technological, cultural, and cognitive evolution. However, the majority of research on this transition is currently focused on southern Africa due to a lack of long-term, stratified sites across much of the African continent. Here, we report a 78,000-year-long archeological record from Panga ya Saidi, a cave in the humid coastal forest of Kenya. Fo…
The role of ostrich in shaping the landscape use patterns of humans and hyenas on the southern coast of South Africa during the late Pleistocene
How have prey species structured the way modern humans (Homo sapiens) and other social carnivores utilize the landscape? The availability, location, diversity, and abundance of food resources play a critical role in influencing hunter-gatherer and carnivore mobility (Kelly, 1983). Thus, the behavioral patterns of other living organisms are powerful forces in shaping human behavior. In this chapter, we will explore the role that ostrich play in sh…
Historical Tropical Forest Reliance amongst the Wanniyalaeto (Vedda) of Sri Lanka: An Isotopic Perspective
that tropical forests could not support long-term human foraging in the absence of agriculture. Part of their thesis was based on the fact that supposedly isolated 'forest' foragers, such as the Wanniyalaeto (or Vedda) peoples of Sri Lanka, could be demonstrated to be enmeshed within historical trade networks and rely on crops as part of their overall subsistence. Yet, in the same volume and in the years that followed scholars have presented ethn…
Tooth Enamel Biogeochemistry and Early Hominin Diets
Biogeochemical studies of hominin dietary ecology began decades ago, and, despite refinements, the basic tools being used and questions being asked have changed little since then. Carbon isotope analyses have had the most impact, with numerous studies showing that up to c.4 Ma, early hominins consumed primarily C3 vegetation, as do extant apes, but thereafter consumption of C4 foods became conspicuous if variable. Paranthropus boisei completely a…
Paired Radiocarbon Dating on Human Samples and Camelid Fibers and Textiles from Northern Chile: The Case of Pica 8 (Tarapacá)
Pica 8 is a Late Intermediate Period (AD 900–1450) cemetery located in the Atacama Desert. Burials at the site present unexpectedly high variability in δ 13 C (–8‰ to –16‰) and δ 15 N (10‰ to 24‰) values in their skeletal tissues, implying highly diverse diets. There are two possible explanations for this variability: the first is diachronic change in diet while the second involves synchronic sociocultural distinctions. To distinguish between the…
Middle Palaeolithic Diets: A Critical Examination of the Evidence
This chapter examines the evidence for diet amongst Middle Palaeolithic foragers in Europe and south-west Asia from c. 300,000 to 40,000 years ago, concentrating on faunal and isotopic approaches. Published faunal evidence shows that Middle Palaeolithic hominins in both regions hunted a relatively narrow range of medium- to large-sized ungulates, with occasional exploitation of megaherbivores more evident in open sites than in caves and rockshelt…
New Radiocarbon Dates and Bayesian Models for Nelson Bay Cave and Byneskranskop 1: Implications for the South African Later Stone Age Sequence
The southern African Later Stone Age sequence is widely considered to be well dated based on radiocarbon dates from dozens of archaeological sites, and apparently shows more or less synchronous cultural shifts across an extensive area. Yet, closer examination reveals the inadequacy of many of the decades-old and uncalibrated individual site chronologies that underpin this regional chronology, making robust comparisons of the chronology of technol…
Hominin Paleodiets: The Contribution of Stable Isotopes
Contribution of Stable Light Isotopes to Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
Hominin Paleodiets: The Contribution of Stable Isotopes
Contribution of Stable Light Isotopes to Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
Animal palaeocommunity variability and habitat preference of the robust australopiths in South Africa
The palaeoenvironments associated with Australopithecus ( Paranthropus ) robustus have generally been reconstructed as habitat mosaics; typically open, arid grasslands in the vicinity of woodlands or forests with a nearby source of permanent water. Disentangling which aspect(s) of these mosaics might have been preferred by the hominins presents a significant challenge. The aim of this study is to enhance our resolution of animal palaeocommunity s…
Hominin Paleodiets: The Contribution of Stable Isotopes
Contribution of Stable Light Isotopes to Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
Icarus, Isotopes, and Australopith Diets
Early hominin diets can be studied in many ways, such as dental allometry/morphology, dental microwear, and archaeology (e.g., Robinson, 1954; Isaac, 1971; Grine, 1981). Although these and other techniques are commonly used to reconstruct “diet,” we rarely question the degree to which they are actually capable of doing so. For instance, in the strictest sense, dental morphology cannot tell us about the totality of an organism’s diet, but it can t…
Contributions of biogeochemistry to understanding hominin dietary ecology
Dietary ecology is one key to understanding the biology, lifeways, and evolutionary pathways of many animals. Determining the diets of long-extinct hominins, however, is a considerable challenge. Although archaeological evidence forms a pillar of our understanding of diet and subsistence in the more recent past, for early hominins, the most direct evidence is to be found in the fossils themselves. Here we review the suite of emerging biochemical …
The hunters and the hunted revisited
Hominins, sedges, and termites: New carbon isotope data from the Sterkfontein valley and Kruger National Park
Contributions of biogeochemistry to understanding hominin dietary ecology
Dietary ecology is one key to understanding the biology, lifeways, and evolutionary pathways of many animals. Determining the diets of long-extinct hominins, however, is a considerable challenge. Although archaeological evidence forms a pillar of our understanding of diet and subsistence in the more recent past, for early hominins, the most direct evidence is to be found in the fossils themselves. Here we review the suite of emerging biochemical …
New Radiocarbon Dates and Bayesian Models for Nelson Bay Cave and Byneskranskop 1: Implications for the South African Later Stone Age Sequence
The southern African Later Stone Age sequence is widely considered to be well dated based on radiocarbon dates from dozens of archaeological sites, and apparently shows more or less synchronous cultural shifts across an extensive area. Yet, closer examination reveals the inadequacy of many of the decades-old and uncalibrated individual site chronologies that underpin this regional chronology, making robust comparisons of the chronology of technol…
Further insight into Neolithic agricultural management at Kouphovouno, southern Greece: Expanding the Isotopic Approach
The ups & downs of Iron Age animal management on the Oxfordshire Ridgeway, south-central England: A multi-isotope approach
Paired Radiocarbon Dating on Human Samples and Camelid Fibers and Textiles from Northern Chile: The Case of Pica 8 (Tarapacá)
Pica 8 is a Late Intermediate Period (AD 900–1450) cemetery located in the Atacama Desert. Burials at the site present unexpectedly high variability in δ 13 C (–8‰ to –16‰) and δ 15 N (10‰ to 24‰) values in their skeletal tissues, implying highly diverse diets. There are two possible explanations for this variability: the first is diachronic change in diet while the second involves synchronic sociocultural distinctions. To distinguish between the…
A stable isotope perspective on archaeological agricultural variability and Neolithic experimentation in India
Indigenous Gold Mining in Southern Africa: A Review
The hunters and the hunted revisited
Three case studies used to reassess the reliability of fossil bone and enamel isotope signals for paleodietary studies
Holocene climate variability
Although the dramatic climate disruptions of the last glacial period have received considerable attention, relatively little has been directed toward climate variability in the Holocene (11,500 cal yr B.P. to the present). Examination of ?50 globally distributed paleoclimate records reveals as many as six periods of significant rapid climate change during the time periods 9000"8000, 6000"5000, 4200"3800, 3500"2500, 1200"1000, and 600"150 cal yr B…
Hominins, sedges, and termites: New carbon isotope data from the Sterkfontein valley and Kruger National Park
Icarus, Isotopes, and Australopith Diets
Early hominin diets can be studied in many ways, such as dental allometry/morphology, dental microwear, and archaeology (e.g., Robinson, 1954; Isaac, 1971; Grine, 1981). Although these and other techniques are commonly used to reconstruct “diet,” we rarely question the degree to which they are actually capable of doing so. For instance, in the strictest sense, dental morphology cannot tell us about the totality of an organism’s diet, but it can t…
Contributions of biogeochemistry to understanding hominin dietary ecology
Dietary ecology is one key to understanding the biology, lifeways, and evolutionary pathways of many animals. Determining the diets of long-extinct hominins, however, is a considerable challenge. Although archaeological evidence forms a pillar of our understanding of diet and subsistence in the more recent past, for early hominins, the most direct evidence is to be found in the fossils themselves. Here we review the suite of emerging biochemical …
Hominin Paleodiets: The Contribution of Stable Isotopes
Contribution of Stable Light Isotopes to Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
Animal palaeocommunity variability and habitat preference of the robust australopiths in South Africa
The palaeoenvironments associated with Australopithecus ( Paranthropus ) robustus have generally been reconstructed as habitat mosaics; typically open, arid grasslands in the vicinity of woodlands or forests with a nearby source of permanent water. Disentangling which aspect(s) of these mosaics might have been preferred by the hominins presents a significant challenge. The aim of this study is to enhance our resolution of animal palaeocommunity s…
Hominin Paleodiets: The Contribution of Stable Isotopes
Contribution of Stable Light Isotopes to Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
Hominin Paleodiets: The Contribution of Stable Isotopes
Contribution of Stable Light Isotopes to Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
Middle Palaeolithic Diets: A Critical Examination of the Evidence
This chapter examines the evidence for diet amongst Middle Palaeolithic foragers in Europe and south-west Asia from c. 300,000 to 40,000 years ago, concentrating on faunal and isotopic approaches. Published faunal evidence shows that Middle Palaeolithic hominins in both regions hunted a relatively narrow range of medium- to large-sized ungulates, with occasional exploitation of megaherbivores more evident in open sites than in caves and rockshelt…
New Radiocarbon Dates and Bayesian Models for Nelson Bay Cave and Byneskranskop 1: Implications for the South African Later Stone Age Sequence
The southern African Later Stone Age sequence is widely considered to be well dated based on radiocarbon dates from dozens of archaeological sites, and apparently shows more or less synchronous cultural shifts across an extensive area. Yet, closer examination reveals the inadequacy of many of the decades-old and uncalibrated individual site chronologies that underpin this regional chronology, making robust comparisons of the chronology of technol…
Tooth Enamel Biogeochemistry and Early Hominin Diets
Biogeochemical studies of hominin dietary ecology began decades ago, and, despite refinements, the basic tools being used and questions being asked have changed little since then. Carbon isotope analyses have had the most impact, with numerous studies showing that up to c.4 Ma, early hominins consumed primarily C3 vegetation, as do extant apes, but thereafter consumption of C4 foods became conspicuous if variable. Paranthropus boisei completely a…
Paired Radiocarbon Dating on Human Samples and Camelid Fibers and Textiles from Northern Chile: The Case of Pica 8 (Tarapacá)
Pica 8 is a Late Intermediate Period (AD 900–1450) cemetery located in the Atacama Desert. Burials at the site present unexpectedly high variability in δ 13 C (–8‰ to –16‰) and δ 15 N (10‰ to 24‰) values in their skeletal tissues, implying highly diverse diets. There are two possible explanations for this variability: the first is diachronic change in diet while the second involves synchronic sociocultural distinctions. To distinguish between the…
Year-old record of Middle and Later Stone Age innovation in an East African tropical forest
The Middle to Later Stone Age transition in Africa has been debated as a significant shift in human technological, cultural, and cognitive evolution. However, the majority of research on this transition is currently focused on southern Africa due to a lack of long-term, stratified sites across much of the African continent. Here, we report a 78,000-year-long archeological record from Panga ya Saidi, a cave in the humid coastal forest of Kenya. Fo…
The role of ostrich in shaping the landscape use patterns of humans and hyenas on the southern coast of South Africa during the late Pleistocene
How have prey species structured the way modern humans (Homo sapiens) and other social carnivores utilize the landscape? The availability, location, diversity, and abundance of food resources play a critical role in influencing hunter-gatherer and carnivore mobility (Kelly, 1983). Thus, the behavioral patterns of other living organisms are powerful forces in shaping human behavior. In this chapter, we will explore the role that ostrich play in sh…
Historical Tropical Forest Reliance amongst the Wanniyalaeto (Vedda) of Sri Lanka: An Isotopic Perspective
that tropical forests could not support long-term human foraging in the absence of agriculture. Part of their thesis was based on the fact that supposedly isolated 'forest' foragers, such as the Wanniyalaeto (or Vedda) peoples of Sri Lanka, could be demonstrated to be enmeshed within historical trade networks and rely on crops as part of their overall subsistence. Yet, in the same volume and in the years that followed scholars have presented ethn…
The ups & downs of Iron Age animal management on the Oxfordshire Ridgeway, south-central England: A multi-isotope approach
Stable carbon isotope and molar microwear variability of South African australopiths in relation to paleohabitats and taxonomy
Further insight into Neolithic agricultural management at Kouphovouno, southern Greece: Expanding the Isotopic Approach
Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape Province: An Early–Middle Pleistocene Paleoenvironmental Sequence for the Interior of South Africa
Localities in the interior of South Africa, such as Taung and Vaal River sites, were intensively researched after hominins were discovered (Péringuey, 1911; Dart, 1925a; Goodwin, 1928), but then neglected for the fossil-rich, dolomitic breccia sites in Gauteng Province (e.g., Cooke, 1963, 1967; Vrba, 1976; Brain, 1981, Brain and Sillen, 1988; Bamford, 1999; Pickering and Kramers, 2010; Herries and Shaw, 2011; Reynolds et al., 2011; Lee-Thorp and …
Geography (24 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (21 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (20 works) · Biology (20 works) · Archaeology (14 works) · Ecology (13 works) · Ecology (10 works) · Cave (7 works) · Evolution and Paleontology Studies (6 works) · Geology (6 works)