Staff Profile:Lisa-Marie Shillito

Name:

Ms Lisa Shillito

Job Title:

Research Technician

Responsibilities:

Areas of Interest:

• Geoarchaeology
• Thin section micromorphology
• Phytolith analysis
• Microspectropic analysis (FT-IR and SEM-EDX)
• Bimolecular analysis of organic residues
• Midden formation processes

Research groups / Centres:

Scientific Archaeology Research Group

Publications:

Shillito, L.-M, Almond, M. J, Nicholson, J, Pantos, M, and Matthews, W (2009) Rapid characterisation of archaeological midden components using FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM-EDX and micro XRD Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 73 (1): 133-9.

Shillito, L.-M, Almond, M. J, Wicks, K, Marshall, L and Matthews, W (2009) The use of FT-IR as a screening technique for organic residue analysis of archaeological samples Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 72 (1): 120 - 125

Shillito, L.-M, Matthews, W. and Almond, M (2008) Investigating midden formation processes and cultural activities at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey Antiquity vol 82 issue 317 project gallery 1-2 http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/shillito/index.html

Shillito, L-M. (2006) Microanalysis and organic residues of middens Çatalhöyük Archive Report 2006, 295-298. http://www.catalhoyuk.com/downloads/Archive_Report_2006.pdf

Matthews, W., Shillito, L.-M. and Almond, M. J. (2004) Micromorphology: investigation of Neolithic social and ecological strategies at seasonal, annual and life-cycle timescales Çatalhöyük Archive Report. http://www.catalhoyuk.com/archive_reports/2004/ar04_22.html

Lisa-Marie Shillito's PhD research is focused on the integration of thin section micromorphology with phytolith and chemical analyses to characterise midden formation processes at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey. She is also involved in other near eastern projects as micromorphologist in collaboration with Dr Wendy Matthews (archaeology) and Dr Matthew Almond (chemistry) including Boncuklu, and the Syrio-Hungarian project at the crusader castle of Margat.

Research interests are the applications of analytical chemistry and micromorphology to the study of finely stratified deposits, to investigate human activity at high resolution timescales, and human-environment interactions.

She read geography at St Hugh's College, Oxford, where she became interested in geoarchaeology after working as a research assistant for the University of the South Pacific on prehistoric shell middens in Fiji. She came to Reading in 2004 on a NERC studentship to study the MSc Geoarchaeology, before starting her PhD. She is also an associate lecturer in world archaeology for the Open University and research assistant for the Central Zagros Archaeological Project.