Dr Mik Lisowski

Profile

Mik is a zooarchaeologist and a stable isotope specialist, with a particular interest in applying zooarchaeological and isotopic methods to investigate religion and ethnicity in the past. Prior to taking up this role in October 2022, Mik worked at BioArCh as a Postdoctoral Research Associate on a Leverhulme-funded Urban Ecology and Transitions of the Zanzibar Archipelago project where he was responsible for conventional and biomolecular zooarchaeology. Mik completed his PhD at the University of Sheffield (2019). His AHRC-funded project investigated historic Jewish butchery and culinary practices, meat provisioning, and relationship with Christians using zooarchaeological, historical, and religious sources. 

Mik currently manages and curates the extensive zooarchaeological animal bone reference collections held at BioArCh and PalaeoHub. Currently, he focuses on expanding the collection, modernising the facilities, and publishing an online 3D bone atlas based on the world-famous Baker and Brothwell animal bone pathology collection. Additionally, Mik is responsible for teaching the practical zooarchaeology and he serves as a zooarchaeological consultant for staff and student research projects across the department.

Research Interests

• Archaeology of food and cuisine
• Multi-faith and multicultural societies in the past
• Urban food provisioning systems in the past
• Taphonomy and butchery studies in zooarchaeology
• Isotopic and biomolecular analysis in zooarchaeology
• History and archaeology of Jewish culture, Judaism, Kashrut and Shechita. Jewish identity in the past
• Food and culture of the Swahili coast in the past
• Food systems and sociocultural transitions in the Central European Neolithic

Teaching

Undergraduate

Practical Skills: Human and Animal Bones (co-module leader)
Introduction to Archaeological Science

Postgraduate

Zooarchaeology 1: Identifying Animal Bones (module leader)
Zooarchaeology II: Exploring the Assemblage (module leader)
Animal bones for Archaeologists
Zooarchaeology in Context
Professional Practice