Gwendoline Maurer

I hold a PhD from the UCL Institute of Archaeology, UK. I previously obtained a BA in Archaeology & Anthropology as well as a MSc in Environmental Archaeology from the UCL Institute of Archaeology, UK.

My research interests lie in the reconstruction of past subsistence and land-use strategies and thereby understand how past societies negotiated changes and challenges in their social, economic, and natural environment. I am fascinated by the adaptability of past, present, and future societies. For this, I extensively worked with and applied techniques such as Zooarchaeology, stable isotope analysis and ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry). 

My PhD research focused on the Kura-Araxes phenomena, which is an Early Bronze Age complex, spanning from the Caucasus, Eastern Anatolia, Northwestern Iran to the Levant. The presence of this phenomena in the Levant is thought to be the result of human migration and cross-cultural interaction. My project aimed to identify, characterise, and compare Kura-Araxes and Local Levantine animal-based subsistence strategies and thereby shed light on the nature of past cultural coexistence, mobility, and persistence in the Levant. 

By far the most enriching aspect of my research so far has been to be able to collaborate widely with researchers in the Levant (Tel Bet Yerah, Tel Yaqush, Tel Qedesh) and in the Caucasus (Maxta I (Nachcivan), Janavartepe (Azerbaijan) and Yeghegis (Armenia) and spend extensive time in the region carrying out fieldwork.

I have been awarded the 2023 Levant Summer Prize, Early Career Best Paper by the Council of British Research in the Levant (CBRL).

I am also the co-founder of the Caucasus Through Time Network (CTTN), an early career interdisciplinary network focused on organising monthly virtual seminars, panel discussions and managing an online literature repository.