School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology

Laura van der Sluis

Laura Van Der Sluis

Qualifications

MSc Earth Sciences - Archaeometry, VU University Amsterdam 2013, Institute for Geo- and Bioarchaeology (IGBA)
BA Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Amsterdam 2010

Postgraduate

Email: lvandersluis01@qub.ac.uk

Address

School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology (GAP)
Queen’s University Belfast
Belfast, BT7 1NN
Northern Ireland, UK

Current Research:

Environmental Change

Stories of subsistence: People and coast over the last 6000 years in the Limfjord, Denmark

Over the decades stable isotope analysis has been widely applied on both human and faunal bone material to determine past dietary behaviour. Although contemporaneous environmental data is often absent in these studies, this is required for correct interpretation of the isotopic results. The human and faunal bone material used in this study originates from archaeological shell middens in the Limfjord area in Denmark, covering a time span of nearly 6000 years from the end of the Mesolithic (3900 B.C.) to the Viking Age/Middle Ages. Additionally, the bone remains will be accompanied by contemporaneous environmental data, such as salinity, nutrient concentrations, temperature and sea level, obtained from analysing sediment records (executed by Jonathan Lewis, PhD Loughborough University).

The main aim of the research is to determine if the availability of marine resources is driving cultural changes seen in the coastal archaeological record. The Limfjord provides an ideal location to study this, as this area has been fluctuating between marine and brackish conditions over the centuries. Additionally, multiple isotope proxies (carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and strontium) can provide insight into both the palaeodiet and possible migration patterns.

This research is financially supported by the Leverhulme award.

Project Supervisors

1st Supervisor: Professor Paula Reimer
2nd Supervisor: Dr. Eileen Murphy
External Supervisor: Dr. David Ryves (Loughborough University)

Additional Information:

Reports

Hege Hollund og Laura van der Sluis 2013: Av jord er vi komne, til jord skal vi bli? Bevarte skjelett som arkiv for levd liv, frá haug ok heiðni 1/2013, 9-13.

Laura van der Sluis, Hege Hollund, Henk Kars 2013: Unravelling the taphonomic history of the Mare aux Songes bone deposit on Mauritius. Dietary habits of animals in the tropics: tortoises in distress? IGBA report 2013-01.

Laura van der Sluis, Lisette Kootker, Sjoerd Kluiving, 2012: Degradatie Archeologisch Bot Vlaardingen, IGBA report 2012-11.

Laura van der Sluis, Hege Hollund, Henk Kars 2012: A view into the lives of the early Christians of Stavanger, Norway: a palaeodietary reconstruction using multiple stable isotopes (C, N, H and S) on bone collagen, IGBA report 2012-08.