51cg

Biography

Orsolya is the laboratory technician of paleoenvironment and archaeology at the School of Geosciences. She supports laboratory, teaching and fieldwork activities specifically in archaeological and geographical research. 

Orsolya's interest in archaeological science developed after moving to Scotland to begin her education at the 51cg at the Department of Archaeology. Specialising in early medieval diet and mobility she acquired her MA (first-class honours) in Archaeology in 2015. To pursue her interest in the biological sciences as well as archaeology, Orsolya completed an MSc in Bioarchaeology at the University of York, graduating in 2016. Her research aimed to assess the effects of physiological stress-related isotopic shifts in non-survivors and survivors. In October 2016, Orsolya began her AHRC (Arts and Humanities Council) and HES (Historic Environment Scotland) funded PhD research at the 51cg. Her project was undertaking a Scotland-wide diachronic isotopic study to characterise patterns of dietary change from the late Iron Age to the High Medieval times.

Upon completing her doctoral thesis, Orsolya continued her work at the Department of Archaeology as Teaching and Research Fellow in 2020, following which she joined the technical support team of the School of Geosciences in June 2022. 

Research Overview

Orsolya's research focuses on the use of multi-isotope analytical techniques (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, δ³⁴S, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, and δ¹⁸O)  to study dietary change and mobility in archaeological populations. In addition to the analysis of isotopic patterns at a population level, she is also interested high-resolution diachronic isotopic profiles of individuals, as well as the relationship between physiological stress and stable isotope fractionation.

Current Research

• Temporal and geographical dietary variability in Scotland from the Late Iron Age to High Medieval period
• Dietary changes in Scotland related to major historical transitions
• Variation in dietary patterns at secular vs Christian, urban vs rural sites in medieval Scotland

Collaborations

Through her doctoral project Orsolya has an ongoing partnership with the Scottish Universities Research Centre (SUERC), which enabled her to receive training in stable isotope mass spectrometry. This provided her unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience of the mass spectrometry techniques that underlie dietary isotope studies in archaeology.

Teaching Responsibilities

Course Co-ordinator:

• AY2006 Test Tubes & Trowels (Undergraduate 15-credit course)
• AY3021 Advanced Archaeological Science (Undergraduate 15-credit course)
• AY5001 Northern Worlds (MSc 30-credit course)

Additional Teaching:

• AY4014 Bioarchaeology
• AY5002 Theory and Method in Research (MSc 30-credit course)