Rowena Banerjea

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+44 (0) 118 378 7877
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Postdoctoral Research Assistant
- Geoarchaeologist.
Areas of interest
- Geoarchaeology
- Landscape archaeology
- Heritage management
- The formation of the archaeological record
- Development of towns and urban environments.
Research centres and groups
Research projects
- All Along the Watchtowers! Balancing Heritage Protection, Development, and Scientific Research on Buried Archaeology at European Castles, funded by a British Academy/Leverhulme small research grant, (2018-2019, Principal Investigator).
Background
Rowena uses a geoarchaeological approach to research European frontier landscapes in the Middle Ages and to develop heritage management strategies at medieval castles. She is currently a post-doctoral researcher on the research project Landscapes of (Re)Conquest, directed by Dr Aleks Pluskowski, and she directs the research project All Along the Watchtowers! Balancing Heritage Protection, Development, and Scientific Research on Buried Archaeology at European Castles.Prior to her current research, Rowena worked on the Ecology of Crusading and the Silchester projects.
Rowena also has a background in heritage management and commercial archaeology. She worked in the Centre for Sustainable Heritage at University College London, where she coordinated the set-up of the National Heritage Science Forum. She also worked as a micromorphology specialist for a commercial enterprise within the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading, and as a result of which she has contributed to the post-excavation scientific analysis of a wide variety of archaeological sites across Europe.
Academic qualifications
BA, MSc, PhD – University of Reading.Publications
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Banerjea, R.
ORCID: 0000-0002-1786-357X (2021) Translating geoarchaeology into geo-itineraries. In: Barnett, C. and Walker, T. , (eds.) Environment, Archaeology and Landscape: Papers in honour of Professor Martin Bell. Archaeopress , Oxford. pp. 135-144. ISBN: 9781803270845 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.32028/9781803270845
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García-García, M.
ORCID: 0000-0002-2080-5098 , García-Contreras, G.
ORCID: 0000-0002-0655-7067 , Alexander, M.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8000-3639 , Banerjea, R.
ORCID: 0000-0002-1786-357X , Pluskowski, A.
ORCID: 0000-0002-4494-7664 (2021) The zooarchaeological identification of a ‘Morisco’ community after the Christian conquest of Granada (Spain, early 16th century): sociocultural continuities and economic innovations. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences , 13 (3). pp. 57. ISSN: 1866-9565 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01288-2
- Banerjea, R. , Morandi, L. , Williams, K. , Brunning, R. (2021) Hidden husbandry: disentangling a disturbed profile at Beckery Chapel, a medieval ecclesiastical site near Glastonbury (UK). Environmental Archaeology: The Journal of Human Palaeoecology , 26 (4). pp. 367-387. ISSN: 1461-4103 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2020.1768333
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Banerjea, R.
ORCID: 0000-0002-1786-357X (2020) The micromorphology of period 1 structures. In: Fulford, M. , Clarke, A. , Durham, E. , Pankhurst, N. , (eds.) Silchester Insula IX: the Claudio-Neronian occupation of the Iron Age oppidum. The early Roman occupation at Silchester Insula IX.. Britannia Monograph , 4. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (33). , London. pp. 545-563. ISBN: 9780907764472
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BORDERIE, Q.
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Banerjea, R.
ORCID: 0000-0002-1786-357X , BONNET, S. , DEVOS, Y. , NICOSIA, C. , PETIT, C. , SALOMON, F. , SCHNEIDER, N. , WOUTERS, B. , WUSCHER, P. (2020) Géoarchéologies des contextes urbains : mieux comprendre les modalités de l’artificialisation des géosystèmes. Archimède Archéologie et histoire ancienne , 7 pp. 141-157. ISSN: 2418-3547 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.47245/archimede.0007.act.04
- García-Contreras, G. , Pluskowski, A. , Alexander, M. , Banerjea, R. , García, M. (2020) Landscapes of (re)conquest: dynamics of multicultural frontiers in medieval South-west Europe. Antiquity , 94 (375). ISSN: 0003-598X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.76
- Banerjea, R. , Barnett, C. , Morandi, L. , Portillo, M. (2020) Integrated microscopy approaches in archaeobotany: proceedings of the 2016 and 2017 workshops, University of Reading, UK. Environmental Archaeology: The Journal of Human Palaeoecology , 25 (2). pp. 131-134. ISSN: 1461-4103 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2019.1593654
- Banerjea, R. , Badura, M. , Brown, A. , Morandi, L. , Marcinkowski, M. , Valk, H. , Ismail-Meyer, K. , Pluskowski, A. (2020) Feeding the crusades: archaeobotany, animal husbandry and livestock alimentation on the Baltic frontier. Environmental Archaeology: the Journal of Human Palaeoecology , 25 (2). pp. 135-150. ISSN: 1461-4103 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2019.1589924
- Borderie, Q. , Ball, T. , Banerjea, R. , Bizri, M. , Lejault, C. , Save, S. , Vaughan-Williams, A. (2020) Early Middle Ages houses of Gien (France) from the inside: Geoarchaeology and Archaeobotany of 9th–11th c. floors. Environmental Archaeology: the Journal of Human Palaeoecology , 25 (2). pp. 151-169. ISSN: 1461-4103 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2018.1534716
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Pluskowski, A.
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Banerjea, R.
ORCID: 0000-0002-1786-357X , García-Contreras, G. (2019) Forgotten castle landscapes: connecting monuments and landscapes through heritage and research. Landscapes , 20 (2). pp. 89-97. ISSN: 2040-8153 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14662035.2020.1857909
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Banerjea, R.
ORCID: 0000-0002-1786-357X , García-Contreras Ruiz, G. , Kalniņš, G. , Karczewski, M. , Pluskowski, A. , Valk, H. , Brown, A. (2019) Geoarchaeology and castlescapes: heritage management case studies in Spain and the eastern Baltic. Landscapes , 20 (2). ISSN: 2040-8153 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14662035.2020.1861716
- Pluskowski, A. , Brown, A. , Banerjea, R. , Makowiecki, D. , Seetah, K. , Rannamäe, E. , Jarzebowski, M. , Kreem, J. , Klavins, K. (2019) From the convent to the commandery: the pivotal role of the environment in defining the medieval Baltic Ordensland. Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte des Deutschen Ordens , 81 pp. 55-87.
- Stivrins, N. , Liiv, M. , Brown, A. , Banerjea, R. , Heinsalu, A. , Veski, S. (2019) Investigating the impact of anthropogenic land use on a hemiboreal lake ecosystem using carbon/nitrogen ratios and coupled-optical emission spectroscopy. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology , 518 pp. 1-9. ISSN: 0031-0182 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.01.007
- Pluskowski, A. , Seetah, K. , Maltby, M. , Banerjea, R. , Black, S. , Kalnins, G. (2018) Late-medieval horse remains at Cēsis castle, Latvia, and the Teutonic Order’s equestrian resources in Livonia. Medieval Archaeology , 62 (2). pp. 351-379. ISSN: 0076-6097 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2018.1535385
- Banerjea, R. (2018) The micromorphology of refuse disposal and use of the earliest features in Insula IX. In: Fulford, M. , Clarke, A. , Durham, E. , Pankhurst, N. , (eds.) Late Iron Age Calleva: The Pre-Conquest Occupation at Silchester Insula IX. Britannia Monograph , 32. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies , London. pp. 358-370. ISBN: 9780907764458
- Hill, T. , Hill, G. , Brunning, R. , Banerjea, R. , Fyfe, R. , Hogg, A. , Jones, J. , Perez, M. , Smith, D. (2018) Glastonbury Lake Village revisited: a multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental investigation of an Iron Age wetland settlement. Journal of Wetland Archaeology , 18 (2). pp. 115-137. ISSN: 2051-6231 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14732971.2018.1560064
- Pluskowski, A. , Brown, A. , Szczepański, S. , Banerjea, R. , Makowiecki, D. (2018) What does a frontier look like? The biocultural dynamics of the Lower Vistula borderland in the Middle Ages.
- Banerjea, R. (2018) Sidon 'college site' excavations, Lebanon: micromorphology analysis. Archaeology & History in The Lebanon , 2018-2019 (48-49). pp. 42-65.
- Banerjea, R. (2018) Micromorphology analysis of a buried soil. In: Walker, T. , (eds.) The Gwithian landscape: molluscs and archaeology on Cornish sand dunes. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd , Oxford. pp. 131-140. ISBN: 9781789418033
- Banerjea, R. , Badura, M. , Kalejs, U. , Cerina, A. , Gos, K. , Hamilton-Dyer, S. , Maltby, M. , Seetah, K. , Pluskowski, A. (2017) A multi-proxy, diachronic and spatial perspective on the urban activities within an indigenous community in medieval Riga, Latvia. Quaternary International , 460 pp. 3-21. ISSN: 1040-6182 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.02.006
- Bell, M. , Brunning, R. , Batchelor, R. , Hill, T. , Wilkinson, K. , Banerjea, R. , Young, D. , Morandi, l. , Brown, A. , Carson, S. , Maslin, S. , Jones, L. , Foster, J. , eds. (2016) The Mesolithic of the wetland/dryland edge in the Somerset Levels. In: Bell, M. , (eds.) Historic England
- Aspöck, E. and Banerjea, R. (2016) Formation processes of a reopened early Bronze Age inhumation grave in Austria: the soil thin section analyses. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports , 10 pp. 791-809. ISSN: 2352-409X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.07.003
- Banerjea, R. , Fulford, M. , Bell, M. , Clarke, A. , Matthews, W. (2015) Using experimental archaeology and micromorphology to reconstruct timber-framed buildings from Roman Silchester: a new approach. Antiquity , 89 (347). pp. 1174-1188. ISSN: 0003-598X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2015.108
- Mithen, S. , Wicks, K. , Pirie, A. , Riede, F. , Lane, C. , Banerjea, R. , Cullen, V. , Gittins, M. , Pankhurst, N. (2015) A Lateglacial archaeological site in the far north-west of Europe at Rubha Port an t-Seilich, Isle of Islay, western Scotland: Ahrensburgian-style artefacts, absolute dating and geoarchaeology. Journal of Quaternary Science , 30 (5). pp. 396-416. ISSN: 0267-8179 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2781
- Brown, A. , Banerjea, R. , Dawn-Wynne, A. , Stivrins, N. , Jarzebowski, M. , Shillito, L. , Pluskowski, A. (2015) The ecological impact of conquest and colonization on a medieval frontier landscape: combined palynological and geochemical analysis of lake sediments from Radzyń Chełminski, northern Poland. Geoarchaeology , 30 (6). pp. 511-527. ISSN: 0883-6353 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gea.21525
- Stivrins, N. , Brown, A. , Reitalu, T. , Veski, S. , Heinsalu, A. , Banerjea, R. , Elmi, K. (2015) Landscape change in central Latvia since the Iron Age: multi-proxy analysis of the vegetation impact of conflict, colonization and economic expansion during the last 2000 years. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany , 24 (3). pp. 377-391. ISSN: 0939-6314 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00334-014-0502-y
- Banerjea, R. , Bell, M. , Matthews, W. , Brown, A. (2015) Applications of micromorphology to understanding activity areas and site formation processes in experimental hut floors. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences , 7 (1). pp. 89-112. ISSN: 1866-9565 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12520-013-0160-5
- Banerjea, R. , Karczewski, M. , Karczewska, M. , Pluskowski, A. (2013) The role of geoarchaeology in understanding the formation and function of of Święta Góra (Staświny), Masuria, Poland: interim results from Feature 40. In: Hoffmann, M. , Karczewski, M. , Wadyl, S. , (eds.) I Warmińsko-Mazurska Sesja Sprawozdawcza za lata 2008-2012 poświęcona pamięci prof. J. Okulicza-Kozaryna : książka abstraktów.. Ośrodek Badań Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej , Białystok. ISBN: 9788392577256
- Pluskowski, A. , Brown, A. , Banerjea, R. , Shillito, L. , Makowiecki, D. , Seetah, K. , Jarzebowski, M. , Klavins, K. , Kreem, J. (2013) The ecology of crusading: the environmental impact of conquest, colonisation and religious conversion in the medieval eastern Baltic. In: Hoffman, M. , Karczewski, M. , Wadyl, S. , (eds.) I Warmińsko-Mazurska Sesja Sprawozdawcza za lata 2008-2012 poświęcona pamięci prof. J. Okulicza-Kozaryna : książka abstraktów. Ośrodek Badań Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej , Białystok. ISBN: 9788392577256
- Banerjea, R. (2011) Microscopic perspectives on the use of Period 3 MTRB 1/ERTB 1. In: Fulford, M. , Clarke, A. , Eckardt, H. , (eds.) Silchester: City in Transition. The mid-Roman occupation of Insula IX c. A.D. 125-250/300. A report on excavations undertaken since 1997. Britannia Monograph Series Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (25). , London. pp. 63-95. ISBN: 9780907764373
- Cook, S. , Banerjea, R. , Marshall, L. , Fulford, M. , Clarke, A. , van Zwieten, C. (2010) Concentrations of copper, zinc and lead as indicators of hearth usage at the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester, Hampshire, UK). Journal of Archaeological Science , 37 (4). pp. 871-879. ISSN: 0305-4403 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2009.11.017
- Banerjea, R. (2008) Experimental geochemistry: a multi-elemental characterisation of known activity areas. Antiquity ISSN: 0003-598X