MISS LUCY KOSTER

Biography

Lucy obtained her BA in Archaeology and Anthropology from the University of Oxford in 2020. As an undergraduate, Lucy developed an interest in osteoarchaeology, through volunteering at Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (https://www.sharp.org.uk), where she became a supervisor in 2019. She completed her undergraduate dissertation on disarticulated human remains at the site. In her second and third years, she directed her degree on scientific archaeology through a two-week placement at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit in 2018, and by undertaking modules in science-based methods and human evolution.

To improve her understanding of scientific methods, Lucy completed an MSc in Archaeological Science at Oxford in 2021. Lucy’s research project used stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes to model childhood diet and life history at the Mesolithic site of Zvejnieki, Latvia, through sequential sampling of tooth roots. This project also investigated how dietary trends could be linked to social stratification and lifetime mobility. Lucy continued her interest in scientific dating through desk-based research into the impact of carbon exchange during cremation on the accuracy of radiocarbon dates.

In October 2021, Lucy began her internally funded PhD, as a collaboration between the Department of Archaeology, Marischal Museum, and the Francis Crick Institute Ancient Genomics Lab. Her project will investigate populations in prehistoric Scotland through using stable isotopic analysis and ancient DNA. Stable isotope analysis of oxygen, strontium, and sulphur will be used to investigate mobility and migration, and aDNA will be used to investigate biologically relatedness between individuals as well as population history. The project will also integrate radiocarbon dating, and dietary analysis using carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur stable isotopic analysis. Lucy will focus on three main contexts: Pictish Scotland, Neolithic Orkney, and Beaker People in NE Scotland.