Staff Profile:Dr Wendy Matthews
- Name:
- Dr Wendy Matthews
- Job Title:
- Lecturer
- Responsibilities:
- Part 1 Tutor
- Areas of Interest:
- Near Eastern Archaeology
- Early sedentism and urbanism
- Soil micromorphology and Geoarchaeology
- Ethnoarchaeology and Experimental Archaeology
- Environmental Archaeology
Postgraduate supervision
Wendy currently supervises five research students on subjects from: Neolithic middens and ecology at Çatalhöyük, Turkey (Shillito); Neolithic architecture and material engagement in Turkey and Iran (Anderson); Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement histories and microstratigraphy in Greece (Kyrillidou); contextual analysis of Bronze Age networks in Cyprus and Bahrain, including PXRF analysis of stone artefacts (Crossman); and life-histories of Early Roman buildings at Silchester, integrating geoarchaeological and experimental approaches (Banerjea).
Many of these research projects are interdisciplinary and jointly supervised by staff with additional expertise in the School of Human and Environmental Sciences and the University including: Dr Stuart Black in Geoscience (Crossman); Dr Matthew Almond in Chemistry and micro-analysis (Shillito; Anderson); Prof Bob Chapman in social complexity (Crossman), and Prof Mike Fulford in Roman archaeology (Banerjea).
Wendy is happy to discuss proposals for postgraduate research in any area of: Neolithic and Bronze Age Near Eastern Archaeology and Geoarchaeology, in particular: early agricultural and urban settlement, ecology and landscapes; material engagement; and micromorphological, experimental and interdisciplinary approaches. For further information contact: Dr Wendy Matthews
- Research groups / Centres:
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Key Facts:
Dr. Wendy Matthews joined the Department staff in October 2000. She has considerable experience in Near Eastern Archaeology and soil micromorphology. Her research focuses on uses and concepts of space and human-environment relationships in early agricultural and urban landscapes and settlements in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Bahrain. Her research interests include site formation processes and taphonomy, life-histories of buildings and communities, ecology, and interdisciplinary analysis of architectural materials and archaeological sediments. She is Co-Director of the Central Zagros Archaeological Project, which is investigating the Neolithic in Western Iran at two sites on the major East-west route way through the Zagros mountain, which later became part of the Silk Road and Great Khorasan Highway, in collaboration with Prof Roger Matthews, UCL, and Dr Yaghoub Mohammadifar, Bu Ali Sina University Hamedan. She has published articles in journals such as Quaternary International and World Archaeology, and in books on Geoarchaeology, Environmental Archaeology and Archaeometry as well as in publications on sites, including Çatalhöyük and Tell Brak. She is a member of the Scientific Committee for the International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East; the Steering Committee for the Çatalhöyük Research Project; and the Steering Committee for the British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology. She was Chair of the British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology 2005-7 and a founder of the new Themes from the Ancient Near East BANEA Publication Series.
- Publications:
-
YNumber of items: 16.
2013
- Walker, G., Bowen, J., Jackson, J. B., Matthews, W., Roychowdhury, S., Labaune, J., Mourou, G., Menu, M. and Hodder, I. (2013) Sub-surface terahertz imaging through uneven surfaces: visualizing Neolithic wall paintings in Çatalhöyük. Optics Express. ISSN 1094-4087 (In Press)
- Matthews, R., Mohamadifar , Y. and Matthews, W., eds. (2013) The earliest Neolithic of Iran: the Central Zagros archaeological project 2008 excavations at Sheikh-e Abad and Jani. British Institute of Persian Studies and Oxbow Books, Oxford. (In Press)
2012
- Matthews, W., Almond, M., Anderson, E., Wiles, J. and Williams, H.R.S. (2012) Biographies of architectural materials and buildings: integrating new high-resolution micro-analysis and geochemistry. In: Hodder, I. (ed.) Substantive Technologies at Catalhoyuk: Reports from the 2000-2008 Seasons. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press and British Institute at Ankara. (In Press)
- Matthews, W. (2012) Defining households: micro-contextual analysis of early Neolithic households in the Zagros, Iran. In: Parker, B. J. and Foster, C. P. (eds.) Household archaeology: new perspectives from the Near East and beyond. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, pp. 183-216. ISBN 9781575262525
- Matthews, W. (2012) Household life-histories and boundaries. In: Tringham, R. and Stevanovic, M. (eds.) Last House on the Hill: BACH Area Reports from Çatalhöyük, 1997-2003. Monumenta Archaeologica (27). Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press and British Institute at Ankara, Los Angeles, pp. 205-224. ISBN 9781931745666
2011
- Shillito, L.-M., Bull, I. D., Matthews, W., Almond, M., William, J. M. and Evershed, R. P. (2011) Biomolecular and micromorphological analysis of suspected faecal deposits at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38 (8). pp. 1869-1877. ISSN 0305-4403 doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2011.03.031
- Shillito, L.-M., Matthews, W., Almond, M. J. and Bull, I. D. (2011) The microstratigraphy of middens: capturing daily routine in rubbish at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Antiquity, 85 (329). pp. 1024-1038. ISSN 0003-598X
2010
- Matthews, W. (2010) Geoarchaeology and taphonomy of plant remains in early urban environments in the Ancient Near East. Quaternary International, 214 (1-2). pp. 98-113. ISSN 1040-6182 doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2009.10.019
2009
- 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). pp. 133-139. ISSN 1386-1425 doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2009.02.004
- Shillito, L. M., Almond, M. J., Wicks, K., Marshall, L. J. R. 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). pp. 120-125. ISSN 1386-1425 doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2008.08.016
2006
- Matthews, W., Wiles, J. and Almond, M. (2006) Micromorphology and microanalysis of architectural surface materials and and residues: investigation of source materials and the life-cycle of buildings. Çatalhöyük Archive Report 2006. pp. 285-294.
2005
- Marshall, L. J. R., Williams, J. R., Almond, M. J., Atkinson, S. D. M., Cook, S. R., Matthews, W. and Mortimore, J. L. (2005) Analysis of ochres from Clearwell Caves: the role of particle size in determining colour. Spectrochimica Acta Part a-Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 61 (1-2). pp. 233-241. ISSN 1386-1425 doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2004.03.041
- Matthews, W. (2005) Life-cycle and life-course of buildings. In: Hodder, I. (ed.) Catalhoyuk Perspectives: Themes from the 1995-9 Seasons. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, Cambridge.
2004
- Mortimore, J. L., Marshall, L. J. R., Almond, M. J., Hollins, P. and Matthews, W. (2004) Analysis of red and yellow ochre samples from Clearwell Caves and Catalhoyuk by vibrational spectroscopy and other techniques. Spectrochimica Acta Part a-Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 60 (5). pp. 1179-1188. ISSN 1386-1425 doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2003.08.002
- Matthews, W. (2004) Micromorphological and microstratigraphic traces of uses and concepts of space. In: Hodder, I. (ed.) Inhabiting Catalhoyuk: Reports from the 1995-1999 Seasons. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, Cambridge.
2003
- Matthews, W. (2003) Microstratigraphic sequences: indications of uses and concepts of space. In: Matthews, R.J. (ed.) Excavations at Tell Brak. Vol. 4. Exploring an Upper Mesopotamian Regional Centre, 1994-96. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and British School of Archaeology in Iraq, Cambridge, pp. 377-388.
- Qualifications:
- MA, Edinburgh; PhD, Cambridge
