Julia Lee-Thorp: Difference between revisions

Julia Anne Lee-Thorp, FBA (born 20 April 1951) is a South African archaeologist and academic. She is Head of the Stable Light Isotope Laboratory and Professor of Archaeological Science and Bioarchaeology at the University of Oxford.^[1] Lee-Thorp is most well known for her work on dietary ecology and human origins, using stable isotope chemistry to study fossil bones and teeth.^[2]

Lee-Thorp was born on 20 April 1951 in Cape Town, South Africa.^[3] Studying at the University of Cape Town, she graduated with Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc) with a major in chemistry, and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees.^[3][4] Her doctoral thesis, titled "Stable carbon isotopes in deep time: the diets of fossil fauna and hominids," was completed in 1989 and demonstrated a method by which to significantly increase the applicable time-span of carbon isotopic analysis by using the mineral form of calcified animal tissue (apatite) as the sample material instead of traditionally used collagen.^[5]

Lee-Thorp remained at her alma mater, working as a senior research officer at the University of Cape Town's Archaeometry Research Unit (1991 to 1997). She was a senior lecturer in its Faculty of Science from 1998 to 2000 and an associate professor from 2001 to 2004. She was appointed Professor of Archaeology in 2005.^[3]

In 2005, she moved to the United Kingdom to take up the post of research director of Archaeological, Geographical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Bradford.^[3] She joined the University of Oxford in 2010 as Professor of Archaeological Science and a Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford.^[4][6] She has served as Vice-Head of the School of Archaeology from 2014 to 2016,^[6] and was its Head from 2016.^[3] She retired from full-time academia in 2019, and was appointed Emeritus Professor of Archaeological Science by Oxford.^{[7] [8][9]}

Lee-Thorp has been involved in a number of projects in Africa, South America, and Europe.^[10] In addition to diet, her more recent research has focused on the role of changing environment, climate, and farming techniques on ancient human societies.^[10] Currently, she is involved in the Paleodeserts Project,^[11] The Agricultural Origins of Urban Civilization (AGRICURB),^[12] and Building a Better Eggtimer.^[13]

In 2013, Lee-Thorp was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.^[6]

She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa.^[14]

• Lee-Thorp, Julia A.; Sealy, Judith C.; van der Merwe, Nikolaas J. (November 1989). "Stable carbon isotope ratio differences between bone collagen and bone apatite, and their relationship to diet". Journal of Archaeological Science. 16 (6): 585–599. Bibcode:1989JArSc..16..585L. doi:10.1016/0305-4403(89)90024-1.
• Lee-Thorp, Julia A.; van der Merwe, Nikolaas J. (May 1991). "Aspects of the chemistry of modern and fossil biological apatites". Journal of Archaeological Science. 18 (3): 343–354. Bibcode:1991JArSc..18..343L. doi:10.1016/0305-4403(91)90070-6.
• Lee-Thorpe, J. A. (December 2008). "On isotopes and old bones". Archaeometry. 50 (6): 925–950. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00441.x.
• Sponhiemer, Matthew; Lee-Thorp, Julia A.; Reed, Kaye E.; Ungar, Peter, eds. (2013). Early Hominin Paleoecology. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado. ISBN 978-1607322245.
• Mayewski, Paul A.; Rohling, Eelco E.; Curt Stager, J.; Karlén, Wibjörn; Maasch, Kirk A.; Meeker, L. David; Meyerson, Eric A.; Gasse, Francoise; van Kreveld, Shirley; Holmgren, Karin; Lee-Thorp, Julia; Rosqvist, Gunhild; Rack, Frank; Staubwasser, Michael; Schneider, Ralph R.; Steig, Eric J. (20 January 2017). "Holocene Climate Variability". Quaternary Research. 62 (3): 243–255. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2004.07.001. S2CID 17499244.
• Lee-Thorp J.A., N.J. van der Merwe 1987. Carbon isotope analysis of fossil bone apatite. S. Afr. J. Sci. 83: 712-713
• Lee-Thorp J.A., N.J. van der Merwe 1991. Aspects of the chemistry of modern and fossil biological apatites. J. Archaeol. Sci. 18: 343-354.
• Lee-Thorp J.A., N.J. van der Merwe, C.K. Brain 1994. Diet of Australopithecus robustus at Swartkrans deduced from stable carbon isotope ratios. J. Hum. Evol. 27: 361-372.
• Sponheimer M. J.A. Lee-Thorp 1999. Reconstructing the diet of the early hominid Australopithecus africanus using ¹³C/¹²C analysis. Science 283: 368-370.
• Roberts P., N. Perera, O. Wedage, S.Deraniyagala, J. Perera, S. Eregama, M.D. Petraglia, J.A. Lee-Thorp (2018) Fruits of the Forest: human stable isotope ecology and rainforest adaptations in Late Pleistocene and Holocene (c. 36 to 3 ka) Sri Lanka. Journal of Human Evolution.
• Snoeck, CS, J Pouncett, P Claeys, S. Goderis, N Mattielli, M. Parker Pearson, C Willis, A. Zazzo, JA Lee-Thorp, RJ Schulting. 2018 Strontium isotope analysis on cremated human remains from Stonehenge support links with west Wales. Scientific Reports 8:10790. DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-28969-8
• Czermak A, L. Schermellah, JA Lee-Thorp 2018 Short report: Image-assisted time-resolved dentine sampling to track weaning histories. DOI: 10.1002/oa.2697
• Ecker M, JS Brink, L Rossousw, M Chazan, LK Horwitz, JA Lee-Thorp 2018 The palaeoecological context of the Oldowan–Acheulean in southern Africa, Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2: 1080-1086.
• Lee-Thorp, J.A., M. Ecker. 2015. Holocene environmental change at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: Insights from stable light isotopes in ostrich egg shell. African Archaeological Review. DOI 10.1007/s10437-015-9202-y
• Lee-Thorp J.A., A. Likius, T.S. Mackaye, P. Vignaud, M. Sponheimer, M. Brunet 2012. Isotopic evidence for an early shift to C₄ resources by Pliocene hominids in Chad. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 109 (50): 20369-20372.