Dr Ana Polo-Diaz
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow
Full contact details
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities
9 Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 4DT
- Profile
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I graduated in History with a focus in Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), where I also completed a M.A. in Environment and cultural adaptations during Prehistory, followed by a PhD in Geoarchaeology that explored the occupation modes of rock-shelter sites by early farming groups in Northern Iberia.
Between 2011 and 2012 I was granted a postdoctoral position at Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling (UK) by the Basque Government. Thereafter I returned to the University of the Basque Country as a Postdoctoral Fellow and geoarchaeologist.
In early 2017 I joined the Institut Catal de Paleoecologia Humana i Evoluci籀 Social (IPHES) in Tarragona as a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Geoarchaeology Coordinator in the Project PALEODEM (ERC-2015- CoG GA 683018, PI: Javier Fern獺ndez L籀pez de Pablo).
In 2019 I was awarded a Marie Skodowska-Curie fellowship (MSCA-IF) at the University of Sheffield, where I currently work with Professor Paul Halstead.
- Research interests
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I investigate the anthropic and natural dynamics involved in the accumulation, alteration and preservation of sediments in archaeological deposits. I use geoarchaeology as a methodological approach and micromorphology and thin section analysis as a core tool to provide direct evidence of behaviour, settlement patterns and palaeoenvironments of prehistoric groups.
The end goal of my work is the reconstruction of human activities and the understanding of how past climates impacted cultural adaptation and transitions. The main geographical focus of my work is the Iberian Peninsula, although I also maintain research interests and collaborations in the Near East.
I have conducted fieldwork and investigated the formation processes of a wide range of Late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological contexts including Middle Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeolithic sites as well as Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age deposits.
My research activity in Sheffield revolves around the project : The scale and significance of early animal husbandry in SW Europe: development of an interdisciplinary high-resolution approach to the investigation of livestock diets and herding practices.
This work examines herding practices, management of natural resources and the relative importance of crops and livestock in early farming through the integration of archaeological, ethnographic and experimental data for recognition of fodder and the assessment of the preservation degree of different plant types.
- Selected Publications
- Burguet-Coca, A., Polo-D穩az A., Mart穩nez-Moreno, J; Benito-Calvo, A., Allu矇, E., Mora, R., Cabanes, D., 2020. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 12, 148.
- Mora, R., Mart穩nez-Moreno, J., Roy Sunyer, M., Benito Calvo, A., Polo-D穩az, A., Samper Carro, S., 2018. . Quaternary International 474, 30-43.
- Gea, J.,Sampedro, M.C., Vallejo, A., PoloD穩az, A., Goicolea, M.A., Fern獺ndezEraso, J., Barrio, R.J., 2017. . Journal of Separation Science 40, 4549-4562.
- Mora, R., Mart穩nez Moreno, J., Vega Bol穩var, S., Roy, M., Benito Calvo, A., Polo-D穩az, A., 2017. Cova Gran: a home to humans for 50.000 years. Current World Archaeology 84, 22-25.
- Polo-D穩az, A., Benito-Calvo, A., Martinez-Moreno, J.A., Mora, R., 2016. . Quaternary International 417, pp. 16 - 38.
- Polo-D穩az, A., Alonso Egu穩luz, M., Ruiz, M., P矇rez, S., M繳jika, J., Albert, R.M., Fern獺ndez Eraso, J., 2016. . Quaternary International 414, 202-225.
- Fern獺ndez-Eraso, J., M繳jika-Alustiza, J., Zapata-Pe簽a, L., Iriarte-Chiapuso, M-J., Polo-D穩az, A., Casta簽os, P., Tarri簽o-Vinagre, A., Sesma-Sesma, J., Garc穩a-Gaz籀laz, J., 2015. . Quaternary International 364, 162-171.
- Garc穩a Moreno, A., Cubas Morera, M., Mar穩n Arroyo, A.B., R穩os Garaizar, J., Ortiz, J.E., de Torres, T., L籀pez D籀riga, I., Polo-D穩az, A., San Emeterio G籀mez, A., G獺rate Maidagan, D., 2015. El Neolitico de la Cueva del Ni簽o (Ayna, Albacete) y la neolitizaci籀n de la Sierra del Segura. Complutum, 26, 91- 11.
- Quir籀s Castillo, J.A., Nicosia, C., Polo-D穩az, A., Ruiz del Arbol M., 2014. . Quaternary International 346, 56-68.
- Polo-D穩az, A., Mart穩nez-Moreno, J.A., Benito-Calvo, A., Mora, R., 2014. . Journal of Archaeological Science 41, 784-800.
- Kourampas, N., Simpson, I.A., Polo-D穩az, A., Perera, N., Deraniyagala, S.U., 2012. Geoarchaeological reconnaissance of Pleistocene sites in Southern Sri Lanka: Fahien-lena rockshelter and tool-bearing sediments of the Iranamadu Formation. Ancient Ceylon 23, 1-26.
- Polo-D穩az, A., Fern獺ndez Eraso, J., 2010. . Quaternary International 214, 82-97.
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