View MoreThe ERC funded IslandLab project is an exciting new project that is documenting long-term legacies and feedbacks between ecological changes, societal responses and ecosystem resilience on the Maltese Islands. IslandLab builds on a pilot - the Malta Quaternary Palaeoecologies Project (MQP). MQP was begun in 2019, funded by the Foyle Research institute, U.K. In 2020, further funding was received from the University of Malta, where Dr Scerri holds an affilated associate professorship, and FIMBank Malta.
IslandLab's key partners include the University of Malta, Heritage Malta, and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. While the IslandLab project is new, it will build in the findings of the MQP and its established personnel and collaborators. Recruitment for IslandLab personnel will begin in 2023.
The project's key discoveries include the oldest long-distance seafaring in the Mediterranean by hunter-gatherers. These results have pushed back Maltese prehistory by a millennium, and shown that the island was colonised by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. We are currently investigating their ecosystem impacts, genetics, and diets.
Students include:
Thornton Doupnik - MRes in Anthracology
Postdoctoral researchers:
Dr Andres Curras - pollen and coring works
Dr Mario Mata-González - zooarchaeology
Former Students include:
Ms. Rochelle Xerri, MRes in mammalian microfauna and zooarchaeology
Ms. Nicolette Mifsud, MRes in marine zooarchaeology
Affiliated researchers:
Dr James Blinkhorn - director of excavation
Dr Mathew Stewart - palaeontology, zooarchaeology
Dr Huw Groucutt - archaeology
Prof. Ian Candy - sedimentology, geomorphology
Dr Ritienne Gauci - geomorphology
Prof. Nick Vella - archaeology
Dr Ethel Allué - anthracology
Dr Aitor Burguet-Coca - phytoliths
Dr Robert Spengler - archaeobotany
Dr Matthias Meyer - archaeogenetics
Dr Patrick Roberts - isotopes
Ms. Emma Richard-Tremeau - pottery
Prof Renaud Joannes-Boyeau - U-series Dating