Amy Bogaard

External Professor




Amy Bogaard is an archaeologist/archaeobotanist working on the ecology, evolution and social implications of early farming systems in Europe and western Asia, with comparative interests in other parts of the world. Key methods in my research include: excavation/recovery of primary farming evidence (especially the remains of crops and their associated arable weed flora), survey of present-day ‘traditional’ field systems (quadrat weed survey, crop sampling and GIS survey) to build heuristic models, functional plant ecological analysis of present-day weed flora to identify responses to arable land management practices, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of modern and archaeobotanical crop materials to gauge e.g. crop water status and potential manuring, respectively, use of plant C and N isotope data in models of ancient food webs and human diet and integration of farming/dietary inferences with material culture, including household architecture, indicators of social identity and assessment of wealth inequality.


Primary Institution: School of Archaeology, University of Oxford

Role/Title: Professor of Neolithic and Bronze Age Archaeology

Topics of Interest: Anthropology/Archaeology

When and how you first got involved with SFI: I became involved with SFI through a workshop on long-term inequality hosted by Sam Bowles.