Curriculum Vitae
Patrick Roberts received a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology, an MSc in Archaeological Science, and DPhil in Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford. As Independent W2 Research Group Leader of the isoTROPIC Research Group and Lead Scientist of the Department of Archaeology, Patrick is committed to pioneering and applying multidisciplinary approaches to studying past human interactions with climatic and environmental change as well as the deep roots of the Anthropocene and our species’ influencing of Earth systems. As PI of the ERC-funded PANTROPOCENE project and the isoTROPIC Research Group, Patrick is particularly interested in exploring the degree to which past human land use and landcover change in the tropics led to major shifts in the operation of different Earth systems on local, regional, and global scales, as well as what this means for contemporary conservation and sustainability challenges. He is author of the academic monograph ‘Tropical; Forests in Prehistory, History Modernity’ published by Oxford University Press and the popular book ‘Jungle: How Tropical Forests Shaped the World and Us’ published by Penguin/Viking Random House.
As part of his research, Patrick applies a variety of different methodologies to the study of human and planetary history, including stable isotope analysis, palaeoecology, dendrochronology, remote sensing, and land use and land cover modelling. He set up and oversees the isotope laboratory, dendrochronology unit, and remote sensing facility at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology. Patrick is also committed to close collaboration with Indigenous and local stakeholder communities and has coordinated repatriation processes and the adaptation of research into policy. He has taken part in UNESCO symposia that bring together archaeologists and anthropologists together to discuss potential solutions for the conservation of ecological and cultural heritage in global tropical forest environments. Patrick is also co-founder of the Pantropica Research Network. In 2021, Patrick was awarded the Heinz Maier Leibniz Prize, the top award for early career investigators in Germany and the first time that it has been awarded to an archaeologist. He is also a National Geographic Explorer.
As part of his research, Patrick applies a variety of different methodologies to the study of human and planetary history, including stable isotope analysis, palaeoecology, dendrochronology, remote sensing, and land use and land cover modelling. He set up and oversees the isotope laboratory, dendrochronology unit, and remote sensing facility at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology. Patrick is also committed to close collaboration with Indigenous and local stakeholder communities and has coordinated repatriation processes and the adaptation of research into policy. He has taken part in UNESCO symposia that bring together archaeologists and anthropologists together to discuss potential solutions for the conservation of ecological and cultural heritage in global tropical forest environments. Patrick is also co-founder of the Pantropica Research Network. In 2021, Patrick was awarded the Heinz Maier Leibniz Prize, the top award for early career investigators in Germany and the first time that it has been awarded to an archaeologist. He is also a National Geographic Explorer.
Full Academic Publication List
Book (2)
1.
Book
Jungle: how tropical forests shaped the world - and us. Basic Books, New York (2021), 432 pp.
2.
Book
Tropical forests in prehistory, history, and modernity. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2019), XVI, 350 pp.
Book Chapter (5)
3.
Book Chapter
Climate Proxies. In: The encyclopedia of ancient history: Asia and Africa, eahaa00609 (Eds. Potts, D. T.; Harkness, E.; Neelis, J.; McIntosh, R.) (2021)
4.
Book Chapter
Foreword [to Bioarchaeology and Dietary Reconstruction across Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages in Tuscany, Central Italy / Giulia Riccomi]. In: Bioarchaeology and Dietary Reconstruction across Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages in Tuscany, Central Italy, pp. x - xi. Archaeopress, Summerville (2021)
5.
Book Chapter
Hunting and gathering in prehistoric rainforests: insights from stable isotope analysis. In: Foraging in the past: archaeological studies of Hunter-Gatherer Diversity, pp. 119 - 158 (Ed. Lemke, A. K.). University Press of Colarado, Louisville (2019)
6.
Book Chapter
Scientific Practice. In: The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences, pp. 1526 - 1530 (Ed. López Varela, . L.). Wiley, Hoboken (2018)
7.
Book Chapter
Bone Technology from Late Pleistocene Caves and Rockshelters of Sri Lanka. In: Osseous Projectile Weaponry, pp. 173 - 188 (Ed. Langley, M. C.). Springer (2016)
Journal Article (116)
1.
Journal Article
120 (4), e2210611120 (2023)
Isotopic and DNA analyses reveal multiscale PPNB mobility and migration across Southeastern Anatolia and the Southern Levant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2.
Journal Article
251, 123757 (2023)
Comparison of Mg/Ca concentration series from Patella depressa limpet shells using CF-LIBS and LA-ICP-MS. Talanta 3.
Journal Article
Bearing fruit: Miocene Apes and Rosaceous Fruit evolution. Biological theory, s13752-022-00413-1 (2023)
4.
Journal Article
12 (1), 22517 (2022)
Ancient Great Wall building materials reveal environmental changes associated with oases in northwestern China. Scientific Reports 5.
Journal Article
298, 107855, pp. 1 - 12 (2022)
New multi-proxy record shows potential impacts of precipitation on the rise and ebb of Bronze Age and imperial Persian societies in southeastern Iran. Quaternary Science Reviews 6.
Journal Article
12 (1), 18504 (2022)
Cutmarked bone of drought-tolerant extinct megafauna deposited with traces of fire, human foraging, and introduced animals in SW Madagascar. Scientific Reports 7.
Journal Article
1, 650 (2022)
From forests to the coast: multidisciplinary investigation of human adaptations at the Mini-athiliya Shell Midden, Sri Lanka. Ancient Lanka 8.
Journal Article
14 (11), 214 (2022)
Multi-isotopic study of the earliest mediaeval inhabitants of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 9.
Journal Article
17 (10), e0273450 (2022)
Homo sapiens lithic technology and microlithization in the South Asian rainforest at Kitulgala Beli-lena (c. 45 – 8,000 years ago). PLoS One 10.
Journal Article
17 (10), e0275758 (2022)
Medieval and early modern diets in the Polack region of Belarus: A stable isotope perspective. PLoS One 11.
Journal Article
1, 637 (2022)
Early holocene human burials from Fa Hien-lena and Kuragala, Sri Lanka. Ancient Lanka 12.
Journal Article
14 (16), 10234 (2022)
Developing transdisciplinary approaches to sustainability challenges: the need to model socio-environmental systems in the Longue Durée. Sustainability 13.
Journal Article
17 (8), 0271545 (2022)
Late Holocene dietary and cultural variability on the Xingu River, Amazon Basin: a stable isotopic approach. PLoS One 14.
Journal Article
Reconstructing hominin diets with stable isotope analysis of amino acids: new perspectives and future directions. Bioscience, biac028 (2022)
15.
Journal Article
27 (10), 3331 (2022)
Chemical modification of biomarkers through accelerated degradation: implications for ancient plant identification in archaeo-organic residues. Molecules 16.
Journal Article
17 (5), e0265775 (2022)
The spread of herds and horses into the Altai: how livestock and dairying drove social complexity in Mongolia. PLoS One 17.
Journal Article
141, 105591 (2022)
A stable isotope perspective on archaeological agricultural variability and Neolithic experimentation in India. Journal of Archaeological Science 18.
Journal Article
377 (1849), 20200496 (2022)
Ice Age megafauna rock art in the Colombian Amazon? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 19.
Journal Article
377 (1849), 20200494 (2022)
Speleological and environmental history of Lida Ajer cave, western Sumatra. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 20.
Journal Article
377 (1849), 20200495 (2022)
Fossils, fish and tropical forests: prehistoric human adaptations on the island frontiers of Oceania. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 21.
Journal Article
377 (1849), 2020.0500 (2022)
Tropical forests in the deep human past. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 22.
Journal Article
12 (1), 6481 (2022)
Human forager response to abrupt climate change at 8.2 ka on the Atlantic coast of Europe. Scientific Reports 23.
Journal Article
10, 680926 (2022)
Land use change in a pericolonial society: intensification and diversification in Ifugao, Philippines between 1570 and 1800 CE. Frontiers in Earth Science 24.
Journal Article
67, 101232 (2022)
Bayesian estimates of marine radiocarbon reservoir effect in northern Iberia during the Early and Middle Holocene. Quaternary Geochronology 25.
Journal Article
41, 103325 (2022)
Stable isotope analysis and differences in diet and social status in northern Medieval Christian Spain (9th–13th centuries CE). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports