Curriculum Vitae

Patrick Roberts received a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology and an MSc in Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford. He completed his DPhil in Archaeological Science, entitled ‘Fruits of the Forest: Human stable isotope ecology and rainforest adaptations in Late Pleistocene and Holocene Sri Lanka’ at the same institution.’ This focused on using stable isotope analysis of human and faunal fossil remains to elucidate Late Pleistocene human rainforest adaptations in Sri Lanka, and the relationship of this data to wider debates regarding the viability of rainforest habitats for long-term foraging by our species. Patrick’s thesis forms part of a wider interest in human adaptations to rainforest environments. 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.

As W2 Research Group Leader of the Department of Archaeology’s stable isotope research group, Patrick is committed to applying stable isotope methods within multidisciplinary research programmes that are focused on human palaeoclimates, palaeoenvironments, palaeodiets and palaeomobility. Patrick has a number of international peer-reviewed publications that use stable isotope analysis in a variety of archaeological research contexts: from reconstructing palaeoenvironmental conditions in East and South Africa, South Asia, and Saudi Arabia associated with human habitation of these regions during the Pleistocene to dietary complexities in 18th and 19th century historical populations. Patrick’s other interests include early human cognition, hominin dispersals, megafaunal extinctions, and the relationship between climate change and cultural change in our species. In 2021 he was awarded the Heinz Maier Leibniz Prize, the top award for early career investigators in Germany.

Full Academic Publication List

Book (2)

2021
Book
Roberts, P.: Jungle: how tropical forests shaped the world - and us. Basic Books, New York (2021), 432 pp.
2019
Book
Roberts, P.: Tropical forests in prehistory, history, and modernity. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2019), XVI, 350 pp.

Book Chapter (5)

2021
Book Chapter
Patalano, R.; Roberts, P.: Climate Proxies. In: The encyclopedia of ancient history: Asia and Africa, eahaa00609 (Eds. Potts, D. T.; Harkness, E.; Neelis, J.; McIntosh, R.) (2021)
Book Chapter
Roberts, P.: 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)
2019
Book Chapter
Roberts, P.; Krigbaum, J.; Lee-Thorp, J.: 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)
2018
Book Chapter
Roberts, P.; Hendy, J.; Boivin, N. L.: Scientific Practice. In: The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences, pp. 1526 - 1530 (Ed. López Varela, . L.). Wiley, Hoboken (2018)
2016
Book Chapter
Perera, N.; Roberts, P.; Petraglia, M. D.: 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 (121)

1.
Journal Article
Willis, A.; Roberts, P.; Kyaw, M. M.; Win, T. T.; Pradier, B.; King, C.; Ilgner, J.; Lucas, M.; Cook, A.; Piper, P. et al.; Pryce, T.O.: Living in the dry zone: stable isotope insights into palaeodiet in ancient Myanmar. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 48, 103900 (2023)
2.
Journal Article
Cerasoni, J. N.; Hallett, E.; Orijemie, E. A.; Ashastina, K.; Lucas, M.; Farr, L.; Höhn, A.; Kiahtipes, C. A.; Blinkhorn, J.; Roberts, P. et al.; Manica, A.; Scerri, E. M. L.: Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria. iScience 26 (3), 106153 (2023)
3.
Journal Article
Cocozza, C.; Teegen, W.-R.; Vigliarolo, I.; Favia, P.; Giuliani, R.; Muntoni, I. M.; Oione, D.; Clemens, L.; Groß, M.; Roberts, P. et al.; Lubritto, C.; Fernandes, R.: A Bayesian multi-proxy contribution to the socioeconomic, political, and cultural history of late medieval Capitanata (southern Italy). Scientific Reports 13 (1), 4078 (2023)
4.
Journal Article
Roberts, P.; Kaplan, J.; Findley, D. M.; Hamilton, R. J.; Caetano Andrade, V. L.; Amano, N.; Kay, A.; Renn, J.; Winkelmann, R.: Mapping our reliance on the tropics can reveal the roots of the Anthropocene. Nature Ecology & Evolution, s41559-023-01998-x (2023)
5.
Journal Article
Le Moyne, C.; Roberts, P.; Hua, Q.; Bleasdale, M.; Desideri, J.; Boivin, N.; Crowther, A.: Ecological flexibility and adaptation to past climate change in the Middle Nile Valley: a multiproxy investigation of dietary shifts between the Neolithic and Kerma periods at Kadruka 1 and Kadruka 21. PLoS One 18 (2), e0280347 (2023)
6.
Journal Article
Wang, X.; Skourtanioti, E.; Benz, M.; Gresky, J.; Ilgner, J.; Lucas, M.; Morsch, M.; Peters, J.; Pöllath, N.; Ringbauer, H. et al.; le Roux, P.; Schultz, M.; Krause, J.; Roberts, P.; Stockhammer, P. W.: 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 120 (4), e2210611120 (2023)
7.
Journal Article
Martínez-Minchero, M.; Cobo, A.; Méndez-Vicente, A.; Pisonero, J.; Bordel, N.; Gutiérrez-Zugasti, I.; Roberts, P.; Arrizabalaga, Á.; Valdiande, J.; Mirapeix, J. et al.; López-Higuera, J. M.; García-Escárzaga, A.: Comparison of Mg/Ca concentration series from Patella depressa limpet shells using CF-LIBS and LA-ICP-MS. Talanta 251, 123757 (2023)
8.
Journal Article
Spengler III, R. N.; Kienast, F.; Roberts, P.; Boivin, N. L.; Begun, D. R.; Ashastina, K.; Petraglia, M.: Bearing fruit: Miocene Apes and Rosaceous Fruit evolution. Biological theory, s13752-022-00413-1 (2023)
9.
Journal Article
Patalano, R.; Hu, J.; Leng, Q.; Liu, W.; Wang, H.; Roberts, P.; Storozum, M.; Yang, L.; Yang, H.: Ancient Great Wall building materials reveal environmental changes associated with oases in northwestern China. Scientific Reports 12 (1), 22517 (2022)
10.
Journal Article
Vaezi, A.; Routh, J.; Djamali, M.; Gurjazkaite, K.; Tavakoli, V.; Beni, A. N.; Roberts, P.: 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 298, 107855, pp. 1 - 12 (2022)
11.
Journal Article
Hixon, S.; Domic, A. I.; Douglass, K. G.; Roberts, P.; Eccles, L.; Buckley, M.; Ivory, S.; Noe, S.; Kennett, D. J.: Cutmarked bone of drought-tolerant extinct megafauna deposited with traces of fire, human foraging, and introduced animals in SW Madagascar. Scientific Reports 12 (1), 18504 (2022)
12.
Journal Article
Roberts, P.; Stock, J.; Kulatilake, S.; Boivin, N.; Petraglia, M. D.; Deraniyagala, S.; Perera, N.: From forests to the coast: multidisciplinary investigation of human adaptations at the Mini-athiliya Shell Midden, Sri Lanka. Ancient Lanka 1, 650 (2022)
13.
Journal Article
Pérez-Ramallo, P.; Grandal-d´Anglade, A.; Organista, E.; Santos, E.; Chivall, D.; Rodríguez-Varela, R.; Götherström, A.; Etxeberria, F.; Ilgner, J.; Fernandes, R. et al.; Arsuaga, J. L.; Le Roux, P.; Higham, T.; Beaumont, J.; Koon, H.; Roberts, P.: Multi-isotopic study of the earliest mediaeval inhabitants of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 14 (11), 214 (2022)
14.
Journal Article
Picin, A.; Wedage, O.; Blinkhorn, J.; Amano, N.; Deraniyagala, S.; Boivin, N.; Roberts, P.; Petraglia, M.: Homo sapiens lithic technology and microlithization in the South Asian rainforest at Kitulgala Beli-lena (c. 45 – 8,000 years ago). PLoS One 17 (10), e0273450 (2022)
15.
Journal Article
Haponava, V.; Kots, A.; Lucas, M.; Both, M.; Roberts, P.: Medieval and early modern diets in the Polack region of Belarus: A stable isotope perspective. PLoS One 17 (10), e0275758 (2022)
16.
Journal Article
Stock, J.; Pomeroy, E.; Wedage, O.; Eregama, S.; Deraniyagala, S.; Perera, N.; Roberts, P.; Boivin, N.; Petraglia, M.: Early holocene human burials from Fa Hien-lena and Kuragala, Sri Lanka. Ancient Lanka 1, 637 (2022)
17.
Journal Article
Silva, F.; Coward, F.; Davies, K.; Elliott, S.; Jenkins, E.; Newton, A. C.; Riris, P.; Vander Linden, M.; Bates, J.; Cantarello, E. et al.; Contreras, D. A.; Crabtree, S. A.; Crema, E. R.; Edwards, M.; Filatova, T.; Fitzhugh, B.; Fluck, H.; Freeman, J.; Klein Goldewijk, K.; Krzyzanska, M.; Lawrence, D.; Mackay, H.; Madella, M.; Maezumi, S. Y.; Marchant, R.; Monsarrat, S.; Morrison, K. D.; Rabett, R.; Roberts, P.; Saqalli, M.; Stafford, R.; Svenning, J.-C.; Whithouse, N. J.; Williams, A.: Developing transdisciplinary approaches to sustainability challenges: the need to model socio-environmental systems in the Longue Durée. Sustainability 14 (16), 10234 (2022)
18.
Journal Article
Müller, L. M.; Kipnis, R.; Ferreira, M. P.; Marzo, S.; Fiedler, B.; Lucas, M.; Ilgner, J.; Silva, H. P.; Roberts, P.: Late Holocene dietary and cultural variability on the Xingu River, Amazon Basin: a stable isotopic approach. PLoS One 17 (8), 0271545 (2022)
19.
Journal Article
Larsen, T.; Fernandes, R.; Wang, Y.; Roberts, P.: Reconstructing hominin diets with stable isotope analysis of amino acids: new perspectives and future directions. Bioscience 72 (7), biac028, pp. 618 - 637 (2022)
20.
Journal Article
Huber, B.; Giddings Vassão, D.; Roberts, P.; Wang, Y.; Larsen, T.: Chemical modification of biomarkers through accelerated degradation: implications for ancient plant identification in archaeo-organic residues. Molecules 27 (10), 3331 (2022)
21.
Journal Article
Ventresca Miller, A. R.; Wilkin, S.; Hendy, J.; Turbat, T.; Batsukh, D.; Bayarkhuu, N.; Giscard, P.-H.; Bemmann, J.; Bayarsaikhan, J.; Miller, B. K. et al.; Clark, J.; Roberts, P.; Boivin, N.: The spread of herds and horses into the Altai: how livestock and dairying drove social complexity in Mongolia. PLoS One 17 (5), e0265775 (2022)
22.
Journal Article
Nayak, A.; Basa, K. K.; Boivin, N. L.; Fuller, D. Q.; Mohanty, R. K.; Kingwell-Banham, E.; Murphy, C.; Roberts, P.; Lee-Thorp, J.; Bogaard, A.: A stable isotope perspective on archaeological agricultural variability and Neolithic experimentation in India. Journal of Archaeological Science 141, 105591 (2022)
23.
Journal Article
Iriarte, J.; Ziegler, M.; Outram, A. K.; Robinson, M.; Roberts, P.; Aceituno, F. J.; Morcote-Ríos, G.; Keesey, T. M.: Ice Age megafauna rock art in the Colombian Amazon? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 377 (1849), 20200496 (2022)
24.
Journal Article
Louys, J.; Duval, M.; Price, G. J.; Westaway, K.; Zaim, Y.; Rizal, Y.; null, n.; Puspaningrum, M.; Trihascaryo, A.; Breitenbach, S. F. M. et al.; Kwiecien, O.; Cai, Y.; Higgins, P.; Albers, P. C. H.; de Vos, J.; Roberts, P.: Speleological and environmental history of Lida Ajer cave, western Sumatra. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 377 (1849), 20200494 (2022)
25.
Journal Article
Roberts, P.; Douka, K.; Tromp, M.; Bedford, S.; Hawkins, S.; Bouffandeau, L.; Ilgner, J.; Lucas, M.; Marzo, S.; Hamilton, R. J. et al.; Ambrose, W.; Bulbeck, D.; Luu, S.; Shing, R.; Gosden, C.; Summerhayes, G.; Spriggs, M.: 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 377 (1849), 20200495 (2022)
26.
Journal Article
Scerri, E. M. L.; Roberts, P.; Maezumi, S. Y.; Malhi, Y.: Tropical forests in the deep human past. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 377 (1849), 2020.0500 (2022)
27.
Journal Article
García-Escárzaga, A.; Gutiérrez-Zugasti, I.; Marín-Arroyo, A. B.; Fernandes, R.; Núñez de la Fuente, S.; Cuenca-Solana, D.; Iriarte, E.; Simões, C.; Martín-Chivelet, J.; González-Morales, M. R. et al.; Roberts, P.: Human forager response to abrupt climate change at 8.2 ka on the Atlantic coast of Europe. Scientific Reports 12 (1), 6481 (2022)
28.
Journal Article
Findley, D. M.; Acabado, S.; Amano, N.; Kay, A. U.; Hamilton, R. J.; Barretto-Tesoro, G.; Bankoff, G.; Kaplan, J. O.; Roberts, P.: Land use change in a pericolonial society: intensification and diversification in Ifugao, Philippines between 1570 and 1800 CE. Frontiers in Earth Science 10, 680926 (2022)
29.
Journal Article
García-Escárzaga, A.; Gutiérrez-Zugasti, I.; Cuenca-Solana, D.; González-Morales, M. R.; Hamann, C.; Roberts, P.; Fernandes, R.: Bayesian estimates of marine radiocarbon reservoir effect in northern Iberia during the Early and Middle Holocene. Quaternary Geochronology 67, 101232 (2022)
30.
Journal Article
Perez Ramallo, P.; Lorenzo-Lizalde, J. I.; Staniewska, A.; Lopez, B.; Alexander, M.; Marzo, S.; Lucas, M.; Ilgner, J.; Chivall, D.; Grandal-d́Anglade, A. et al.; Roberts, P.: Stable isotope analysis and differences in diet and social status in northern Medieval Christian Spain (9th–13th centuries CE). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 41, 103325 (2022)
31.
Journal Article
Freire, V. Z.; Roberts, P.; Meléndez, A. S.; Tromp, M.; Quesada, M. N.: Managing environmental diversity in the eastern foothills of the Andes: pre-Columbian agrarian landscapes in the El Alto-Ancasti mountain range. World archaeology, 1997639, pp. 1 - 28 (2022)
32.
Journal Article
Nayak, A.; Boivin, N. L.; Roberts, P.: Multidisciplinary perspectives on the origins of past foodways and farming practice in South Asia. Archaeology of food and foodways 1 (1), 13983, pp. 1 - 31 (2022)
33.
Journal Article
Gayantha, K.; Roberts, P.; Routh, J.; Wedage, O.; Ott, F.; Frenzel, P.; Chandrajith, R.; Gleixner, G.: Mid-late Holocene sub-millennial scale inverse trends of South Asian summer and winter monsoons in Sri Lanka. Frontiers in Earth Science 9, 1244 (2021)
34.
Journal Article
Patalano, R.; Hamilton, R. J.; Finestone, E.; Amano, N.; Heddell Stevens, P.; Itambu, M.; Petraglia, M. D.; Roberts, P.: Microhabitat variability in Human Evolution. Frontiers in Earth Science 9, 1208 (2021)
35.
Journal Article
Robbeets, M.; Bouckaert, R.; Conte, M.; Savelyev, A.; Li, T.; An, D.-I.; Shinoda, K.-i.; Cui, Y.; Kawashima, T.; Kim, G. et al.; Uchiyama, J.; Dolinska, J.; Oskolskaya, S.; Yamano, K.-Y.; Seguchi, N.; Tomita, H.; Takamiya, H.; Kanzawa-Kiriyama, H.; Oota, H.; Ishida, H.; Kimura, R.; Sato, T.; Kim, J.-H.; Bjorn, R.; Deng, B.; Rhee, S.; Ahn, K.-D.; Gruntov, I.; Mazo, O.; Bentley, J.; Fernandes, R.; Roberts, P.; Bausch, I.; Gilaizeau, L.; Yoneda, M.; Kugai, M.; Bianco, R. A.; Zhang, F.; Himmel, M.; Hudson, M.; Ning, C.: Triangulation supports agricultural spread of the Transeurasian languages. Nature 599, s41586-021-04108-8, pp. 616 - 621 (2021)
36.
Journal Article
Blinkhorn, J.; Achyuthan, H.; Durcan, J.; Roberts, P.; Ilgner, J.: Constraining the chronology and ecology of Late Acheulean and Middle Palaeolithic occupations at the margins of the monsoon. Scientific Reports 11 (1), 19665 (2021)
37.
Journal Article
Roberts, P.; Hamilton, R.; Piperno, D. R.: Tropical forests as key sites of the “Anthropocene”: Past and present perspectives. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 118 (40), e2109243118, pp. 1 - 7 (2021)
38.
Journal Article
Solís-Torres, Ó. R.; Acosta-Ochoa, G.; Arroyo-Cabrales, J.; Flores-Granados, F.; Roberts, P.: Pleistocene-Holocene human palaeoecology in southern Mexico: stable isotopic evidence from the Santa Marta Cave, Chiapas. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 39, 103131 (2021)
39.
Journal Article
Han, B.; Chong, J.; Sun, Z.; Jiang, X.; Xiao, Q.; Zech, J.; Roberts, P.; Rao, H.; Yang, Y.: The rise of the cosmetic industry in ancient China: insights from a 2,700‐year‐old face cream. Archaeometry 63 (5), 12659, pp. 1042 - 1058 (2021)
40.
Journal Article
Robinson, M.; Morcote-Rios, G.; Aceituno, F. J.; Roberts, P.; Berrío, J. C.; Iriarte, J.: ‘Moving South’: Late Pleistocene plant exploitation and the importance of palm in the Colombian Amazon. Quaternary 4 (3), 26, pp. 1 - 21 (2021)
41.
Journal Article
Patalano, R.; Roberts, P.; Boivin, N.; Petraglia, M. D.; Mercader, J.: Plant wax biomarkers in human evolutionary studies. Evolutionary Anthropology, 21921 (2021)
42.
Journal Article
Caetano Andrade, V.; Schöngart, J.; Ayala, W. E.; Melinski, R. D.; Silva, F.; Dobrindt, R.; Roberts, P.: Advances in increment coring system for large tropical trees with high wood densities. Dendrochronologia, 125860 (2021)
43.
Journal Article
Swift, J. A.; Kirch, P. V.; Ilgner, J.; Brown, S.; Lucas, M.; Marzo, S.; Roberts, P.: Stable isotopic evidence for nutrient rejuvenation and long-term resilience on Tikopia Island (Southeast Solomon Islands). Sustainability 13 (15), 8567 (2021)
44.
Journal Article
Ingman, T.; Eisenmann, S.; Skourtanioti, E.; Akar, M.; Ilgner, J.; Gnecchi Ruscone, G. A.; le Roux, P.; Shafiq, R.; Neumann, G. U.; Keller, M. et al.; Freund, C.; Marzo, S.; Lucas, M.; Krause, J.; Roberts, P.; Yener, K. A.; Stockhammer, P. W.: Human mobility at Tell Atchana (Alalakh), Hatay, Turkey during the 2nd millennium BC: integration of isotopic and genomic evidence. PLoS One 16 (6), 0241883, p. e0241883 (2021)
45.
Journal Article
Hamilton, R.; Wolfhagen, J.; Amano, N.; Boivin, N.; Findley, D. M.; Iriarte, J.; Kaplan, J. O.; Stevenson, J.; Roberts, P.: Non-uniform tropical forest responses to the ‘Columbian Exchange’ in the Neotropics and Asia-Pacific. Nature Ecology & Evolution, s41559-021-01474-4 (2021)
46.
Journal Article
Ciesielska, J. A.; Stark, R. J.; Obłuski, A.; Boivin, N.; Roberts, P.: Multi-isotope analysis of dietary variation among the early Christian communities of northern Sudan. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 37, 103016, pp. 1 - 10 (2021)
47.
Journal Article
Spengler, R. N.; Ventresca Miller, A. R.; Schmaus, T.; Matuzevičiūtė, G. M.; Miller, B. K.; Wilkin, S.; Taylor, W. T. T.; Li, Y.; Roberts, P.; Boivin, N.: An imagined past?: Nomadic narratives in Central Asian archaeology. Current Anthropology 62 (3), 714245, pp. 251 - 286 (2021)
48.
Journal Article
Louys, J.; Braje, T. J.; Chang, C.-H.; Cosgrove, R.; Fitzpatrick, S. M.; Fujita, M.; Hawkins, S.; Ingicco, T.; Kawamura, A.; MacPhee, R. D. E. et al.; McDowell, M. C.; Meijer, H. J. M.; Piper, P. J.; Roberts, P.; Simmons, A. H.; van den Bergh, G.; van der Geer, A.; Kealy, S.; O’Connor, S.: No evidence for widespread island extinctions after Pleistocene hominin arrival. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 118 (20), e2023005118, pp. 1 - 8 (2021)
49.
Journal Article
Martinón-Torres, M.; d’Errico, F.; Santos, E.; Álvaro Gallo, A.; Amano, N.; Archer, W.; Armitage, S. J.; Arsuaga, J. L.; de Castro, B.; María, J. et al.; Blinkhorn, J.; Crowther, A.; Douka, K.; Dubernet, S.; Faulkner, P.; Fernández-Colón, P.; Kourampas, N.; González García, J.; Larreina, D.; Le Bourdonnec, F.-X.; MacLeod, G.; Martín-Francés, L.; Massilani, D.; Mercader, J.; Miller, J. M.; Ndiema, E.; Notario, B.; Pitarch Martí, A.; Prendergast, M. E.; Queffelec, A.; Rigaud, S.; Roberts, P.; Shoaee, M. J.; Shipton, C.; Simpson, I.; Boivin, N.; Petraglia, M. D.: Earliest known human burial in Africa. Nature 593 (7857), pp. 95 - 100 (2021)
50.
Journal Article
Amano, N.; Wang, Y.; Boivin, N.; Roberts, P.: 'Emptying Forests?': Conservation implications of past human-primate interactions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 36 (4), 2020.12.0004, pp. 345 - 359 (2021)
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