Tamsin O'Connell is an archaeological scientist based at the University of Cambridge. Her work has pioneered the use of isotope analysis in archaeology, specifically diet and climate in human and animal tissues.[1]

Tamsin O'Connell
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
ThesisThe isotopic relationship between diet and body proteins : implications for the study of diet in archaeology
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge

Education edit

O'Connell studied Chemistry at the University of Oxford. She began to work with Robert Hedges at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art in Oxford initially during her undergraduate dissertation followed by a DPhil funded by SERC/NERC.[1] Her thesis was titled 'The isotopic relationship between diet and body proteins : implications for the study of diet in archaeology', completed in 1996.[2]

Career edit

O'Connell held a Wellcome Trust Post-doctoral Fellowship, and then two post-doctoral positions at the RLAHA. She joined the University of Cambridge in 2004, with a Wellcome Trust University Award, to set up an isotope and palaeodiet laboratory, now called the Dorothy Garrod Laboratory.[3]

In 2019 she was appointed as a Reader in Isotopic Ecology.[1] O'Connell is a Fellow in Bioarchaeology and Director of Studies in Archaeology at Trinity Hall.[4]

She has supervised Phd students in isotopic archaeology, including Amy Prendergast, Suzanne Pilaar-Birch, and Emma Lightfoot.[1]

Research edit

O'Connell has collaborated widely with archaeologists across time periods, including Roman Italy.[5] O'Connell has also worked with ecological[6][7] and epidemiological case studies.[8]

Selected publications edit

  • O'Connell TC, Hedges RE (April 1999). "Investigations into the effect of diet on modern human hair isotopic values". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 108 (4): 409–25. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199904)108:4<409::AID-AJPA3>3.0.CO;2-E. PMID 10229386.
  • O'Connell TC, Hedges RE, Healey MA, Simpson AH (November 2001). "Isotopic comparison of hair, nail and bone: modern analyses". Journal of Archaeological Science. 28 (11): 1247–55. doi:10.1006/jasc.2001.0698.
  • O'Connell TC, Kneale CJ, Tasevska N, Kuhnle GG (November 2012). "The diet-body offset in human nitrogen isotopic values: a controlled dietary study". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 149 (3): 426–34. doi:10.1002/ajpa.22140. PMC 3483624. PMID 23042579.
  • Lightfoot E, O'Connell TC (2016). "On the Use of Biomineral Oxygen Isotope Data to Identify Human Migrants in the Archaeological Record: Intra-Sample Variation, Statistical Methods and Geographical Considerations". PLOS ONE. 11 (4): e0153850. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1153850L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153850. PMC 4849641. PMID 27124001.
  • O'Connell TC (June 2017). "'Trophic' and 'source' amino acids in trophic estimation: a likely metabolic explanation". Oecologia. 184 (2): 317–326. Bibcode:2017Oecol.184..317O. doi:10.1007/s00442-017-3881-9. PMC 5487837. PMID 28584941.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "Dr Tamsin O'Connell". University of Cambridge. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  2. ^ O'Connell TC (1996). The isotopic relationship between diet and body proteins: implications for the study of diet in archaeology (Ph.D. thesis). University of Oxford.
  3. ^ "Dorothy Garrod Laboratory for Isotopic Analysis". Department of Archaeology. University of Cambridge. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Dr Tamsin O'Connell". Trinity Hall. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  5. ^ O'Connell TC, Ballantyne RM, Hamilton-Dyer S, Margaritis E, Oxford S, Pantano W, et al. (June 2019). "Living and dying at the Portus Romae". Antiquity. 93 (369): 719–734. doi:10.15184/aqy.2019.64.
  6. ^ Horswill C, Matthiopoulos J, Ratcliffe N, Green JA, Trathan PN, McGill RA, Phillips RA, Connell TO (21 April 2016). "Drivers of intrapopulation variation in resource use in a generalist predator, the macaroni penguin". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 548: 233–247. Bibcode:2016MEPS..548..233H. doi:10.3354/meps11626.
  7. ^ Phillips CA, O'Connell TC (December 2016). "Fecal carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis as an indicator of diet in Kanyawara chimpanzees, Kibale National Park, Uganda". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 161 (4): 685–697. doi:10.1002/ajpa.23073. PMID 27553783.
  8. ^ Patel PS, Cooper AJ, O'Connell TC, Kuhnle GG, Kneale CK, Mulligan AM, et al. (August 2014). "Serum carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes as potential biomarkers of dietary intake and their relation with incident type 2 diabetes: the EPIC-Norfolk study". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 100 (2): 708–18. doi:10.3945/ajcn.113.068577. PMC 4095667. PMID 24990425.