Michelle Alexander
Professor of Bioarchaeology

Profile

Biography

Michelle specialises in the application of bioarchaeological techniques to aid in understanding the dynamics of multi-faith societies in the historical periods from the dietary perspective. Her research focusses on exploring the diet and resource base of communities at the interface of major socio-cultural and economic transitions, with a particular interest in medieval Islamic and/or multicultural societies. She is also interested in the dynamics of human-animal interactions made visible through biomolecular evidence.

Michelle took up a Lectureship in Bioarchaeology in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York in January 2012 and has since pursued isotopic analysis (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, δ³⁴S, δ¹⁸O) of historic period human and animal populations in the UK, Europe and elsewhere with a focus on the Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, Sicily, North Africa) but also recently expanding into research on Zanzibar. She also has expertise in DNA analysis and has co-authored publications on ancient and modern genetics of chickens, geese and pigs to understand mutation rates and domestication. 

Prior to arriving at York, Michelle first studied Archaeology in Durham University in 2002 where she completed a BSc degree in Archaeology, focusing on bioarchaeology and medieval archaeology. She went on to study for an MSc degree in Biomolecular Archaeology, run jointly between the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield. She completed her Masters dissertation at Manchester in 2006, specializing in ancient DNA. Michelle then returned to Durham University to complete her PhD with an AHRC funded Durham Doctoral Fellowship where she analyzed the stable isotopes in human and animal remains to explore diet between faiths and cultural groups, geographical locations and through time in Medieval Spain.

In 2010 Michelle took up the post of Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology in Aberdeen University, returning to focus on DNA and faunal remains while acting as a Visiting Fellow at Durham University and Cornell University, USA. 

Key research interests

• Isotopic and biomolecular (DNA, ZooMS, lipids) analysis
• Multi-faith and multicultural societies and identities in the middle ages
• History and archaeology of medieval Mediterranean (Spain, Portugal, Italy, North Africa)
• Food systems and sociocultural change during the Middle Ages
• Zooarchaeology, animal husbandry and agriculture
• Human osteology
• Urban provisioning in the medieval period 

You can follow her personal Twitter feed here: @MMAlexande 

Departmental roles

Deputy Head of Department (2020-2024)

Director of Learning and Teaching (2021-)

Chair of Board of Studies (2019-2021)

Director of Studies, MSc in Bioarchaeology (2013-17, 2019-2021)

Co-director of BioArCh (2013-2017, 2020)

Chair of Teaching Committee (2015-2018)

Departmental Library Rep (2015-2018)

Deputy Undergraduate Admissions Tutor (2012-2015)

University roles

University Teaching Committee (2021-)

Arts & Humanities Faculty Learning & Teaching Group (2016-17, 2020-)

Postgraduate Research Policies and Programmes Committee (2022-)

Digital Education Steering Group (2021)

University Library Committee (2015-2017)

University GTA Coordinators (2015-2017)

Research

Overview

I am a bioarchaeologist and historical archaeologist who specialises in the application of bioarchaeological techniques to aid in understanding the dynamics of multi-faith societies in the historical periods from the dietary perspective. My research focusses on exploring the diet and resource base of communities through the application of stable isotope analysis (δ¹³C collagen and carbonates, δ¹⁵N, δ³⁴S, δ¹⁶O) to archaeological human and animal populations at the interface of major socio-cultural and economic transitions, with a particular interest in medieval multicultural societies. I am also interested in the dynamics of human-animal interactions made visible through biomolecular evidence and have co-authored genetic studies of chickens, geese and pigs to understand mutation rates and domestication.

I am interested in questions pertaining to historic period human and animal populations in the UK, Europe and elsewhere with a focus on the Mediterranean (Spain, Portugal, Italy including Sicily, North Africa, Isreal) and medieval Islamic societies in particular, and I have recently expanded into research on Zanzibar.

Key research interests

• Isotopic and biomolecular analysis
• Multi-faith and multicultural societies and identities in the middle ages
• History and archaeology of medieval Mediterranean (Spain, Portugal, Italy, North Africa)
• Food systems and sociocultural change during the Middle Ages
• Zooarchaeology, animal husbandry and agriculture
• Human osteology
• Urban provisioning in the medieval period 

Projects

• Other Eyes
• Landscapes of (Re)conquest 
• SeaChanges

Past projects

• Urban Ecology and Transitions of the Zanzibar Archipelago
• Sicily in Transition
• ArchSci2020 

Research group(s)

Current Postdoctoral Researchers

• Maite I . García-Collado (University of the Basque Country)

Previous Postdoctoral Researchers

• Mik Lisowski (Urban Ecology - Zanzibar)
• Marcos García García (Landscapes of (Re)Conquest)
• Efrossini Vika (EcoNoMy)

Supervision

Current PhD students

• Sarah Delaney dental calculus micro debris and Medieval society (Co-supervised with Dr. Anita Radini)
• James Nottingham (co-supervisor) Human-dog relationships in medieval and post-medieval England (WRoCAH/AHRC funded, co-supervised with Dr. David Orton)
• Liz Quinlan (SeaChanges) Exploitation of Salmon around the North Sea during the medieval period (EU funded, co-supervised with Dr. David Orton)
• Guro Rolandsen (University of Stavanger, Norway) Medieval and Post-Medieval diets in Noway: biomolecular approaches (Primary supervisor Dr. Hege Hollund)
• Mackenzie Masters Interpopulation isotopic analysis between a medieval mass grave and an attritional assemblage to assess social reactions to catastrophe (co-supervised with Malin Holst)
• Jordí Ruiz Ventura: Non-adult health and diet in catastrophic and non-catastrophic medieval assemblages (co-supervised with Malin Holst)
• Despoina Sampatakou (co-supervision with Colleen Morgan)
• Veronica Lee (co-supervision with David Orton)
• Elisha Meadows (co-supervised with Malin Holst)
• Nura Hassan (co-supervised with Stephanie Wynne-Jones)

Completed PhD students

• Sophy Charlton Biomolecular approaches to Mesolithic and Neolithic populations in Britain (NERC funded, co-supervised with Prof. Oliver Craig)
• Anita Radini Microdebris in Medieval dental calculus 
• Alice Toso Isotopic approaches to understand diet in multi-faith societies of medieval Portugal (WRoCAH/AHRC funded, co-supervised with Dr. Iona Mccleery, Leeds University)
• Alison Harris (ArchSci2020) Novel isotopic approaches to Arctic human and dog populations (EU funded, co-supervised with Dr. Gunilla Eriksson, Stockholm University)
• Blessing Chidimuro Characterising Post-Medieval diet in England using isotopic approaches (WRoCAH/AHRC funded)
• Alice Ughi (Sicily in Transition) Isotopic approach to understanding diet in Medieval Siciliy through time (EU Funded)
• Katrien Dierickx (SeaChanges) Exploitation of Flatfish around the North Sea during the medieval period (EU funded, co-supervised with Dr. David Orton)

Visiting students and researchers

• Supervisory role for visiting PhD students Jan Bakker (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and Giorgia Tulumello (University of Salento, Italy)
• Erasmus+ students, Laura Viñas Caron conducted an isotopic analysis of Bronze Age communities in Aragon and Catalonia, Northen Spain (2017-18)

Teaching

Undergraduate

Year 1

Introduction to Archaeological Science

Year 2

Practical Skills: Biomolecular Archaeology

Year 3

Assessed Seminar: Paleodiet

Dissertation - I have supervised undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations on a range of topics relating to the bioarchaeological study of historic period populations both in and out of the lab. Some of these have been published. Past titles include:

• Multidisciplinary investigations of the diets of two post-medieval populations from London using stable isotopes and microdebris analysis 
• A tale of two villages: Isotopic insight into diet, economy, cultural diversity and agrarian communities in medieval (11th-15th century CE) Apulia, Southern Italy
• Food for thought: dietary trends and the implications for social change at Anglo-Saxon Norton
• North and South: The Isotopic analysis of four body tissues assessed alongside historical sources to reconstruct a comparative palaeodietary analysis of two post-medieval sites.
• Survivorship in post-medieval Halifax: Analysis of pathology-related fractionation using dietary isotope data from serial sections of dentine 
• Feeding the Poor, the Poorly, and the Pilgrims: An Isotopic Investigation into the Medieval Hospital and Almshouse of St. John’s, Lichfield, and the Associated Faunal Baseline of Friary Outer
• Isotopic and ZooMS Analysis of Islamic and Christian Animal Remains from Granada: Exploring the Potential for Differing Husbandry Practices at the Time of the Reconquista 

Past module contributions: 

Themes in Historical Archaeology: Medieval Iberia

World Archaeology Mummification

Team Project: Biomolecular Archaeology

Prehistory to the Present

Special Topic ancient DNA

Postgraduate

MSc in Bioarchaeology

Ancient Biomolecules

Past module contributions:

Medieval Settlement and Communities

Bones: Matters of Life and Death

External activities

Memberships

Memberships

• Fellow, Society of Antiquaries of London
• Member, The Society for Medieval Archaeology
• Member, Association for Environmental Archaeology 
• Member, British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology 
• Member, Society for Archaeological Sciences

Editorial duties

Associate Editor

• Royal Society Open Science
• Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
• Environmental Archaeology 

Guest Editor

•  Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences special issue Palaeodiet in the Iberian Peninsula 2019
• Editor for Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry