Our Mission - We apply stable isotope analysis of biological materials such as bones, teeth, shells, and plants to investigate topics such as long-term climate change, reconstruct ancient environments, identify mobility and migration, detect diet, and assess human-environment interactions. We welcome students who are interested in carrying out research that combines the isotopic analysis of biological materials with questions regarding paleoecology, paleoclimate, paleobiology, and archaeology. UGA undergraduate students can get involved via the Georgia Museum of Natural History Internship Program or Laerm Award, CURO, or an independent study in Anthropology or Geography. Our Projects ONGOING PROJECTS Bronze Age environmental dynamics and agrarian responses in the Southern Levant S.E. Pilaar Birch, with Patricia Fall, Steven Falconer, Elizabeth Ridder (co-PIs), Mary Metzger and Stephen Porson Stable isotope analysis of archaeological animal bones and teeth and modern environmental samples from Cyprus, Jordan, and Lebanon. Supported in part by National Science Foundation Award #1850259. Radical Death and Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East S.E. Pilaar Birch, with Brenna Hassett and David Wengrow (co-PIs) Stable isotope analysis of human remains from Early Bronze Age Basur Höyük. Supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council UK (AHRC) Project Reference AH/R00353X/1. Isotopic Analysis of Fauna at Għar Dalam, Malta S.E. Pilaar Birch, with Victoria Herridge, and Adrian Lister Stable isotope analysis of tooth enamel carbonate from Late Pleistocene dwarf deer, hippo, and elephant for paleoecological reconstruction. Supported by the Leverhulme Trust and Natural History Museum, London. Modern Datasets for Archaeologically-Linked Paleoclimate Reconstruction S.E. Pilaar Birch Examines utility, potential and limitations of using stable isotope values from archaeological herbivore teeth as paleoclimate proxies to assess long term climate change and human adaptation. Currently processing data derived from a red deer (Cervus elaphus) population that lived in Richmond Park, London, in the mid-20th century. PAST PROJECTS Neolithization of Europe: New Zooarchaeological and Stable Isotope Evidence from Uğurlu Höyük, Gökçeada, Turkey S.E. Pilaar Birch, with Levent Atici and Burçin Erdoğu Stable isotope analysis of tooth enamel carbonate and bone collagen to evaluate island-mainland trade relationships and mobility. Supported by the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration. Neolithic Herd Mobility at the Site of Ulucak, Turkey S.E. Pilaar Birch, with Canan Çakırlar, Mike Buckley, and Amelie Scheu Stable isotope analysis of carbonate from sheep and goat teeth to evaluate prehistoric mobility patterns. CURRENT STUDENT PROJECTS Paleoclimate reconstruction through faunal and isotopic analyses at the Alm Shelter, Wyoming Matthew Veres PAST STUDENT PROJECTS Assessing stable isotope data from archaeological white-tailed deer remains as a paleoenvironmental proxy at the site of La Joyanca, Northwestern Petén, Yucatán Peninsula María José Rivera Araya This project was supported by the Fulbright Student Program and resulted in two publications. Preparation and Cataloguing specimens from Yenikapi, Turkey Onyale Donloe This project was carried out through the Georgia Museum of Natural History internship and included metadata collection and analysis of faunal remains from the Neolithic site of Yenikapi, Turkey. Stable Isotope Analysis of Mercenaria spp. from Sapelo Island, GA Kelly Brown This project was supported by the Laerm Fund and included analysis of shell carbonate from clams in order to assess season of collection of the shells from the Sapelo Shell Ring Complex. LAB PROJECTS AVAILABLE FOR STUDENT PARTICIPATION Stable Isotope Ecology of Passenger Pigeon Migration: Implications for De-Extinction The Stable Isotope Ecology of Modern North American Elk: Diet, Mobility, and Environment Building the Neotoma Faunal Isotope Database In the News New Paper Published in PNAS Lab member receives prestigious fellowship New paper published in PLOS ONE Stable Isotopes in Zooarchaeology Working Group Meeting Recent Fieldwork at Għar Dalam Cave, Malta Letter published in BioScience Samples Arrive from Turkey Stable Isotopes in Zooarchaeology Working Group Meeting New students join the QUIP Lab for Fall 2015 Publications 2026 Marsh, W. A. (and 45 others, including Sarieh Amiri). Dogs were widely distributed across western Eurasia during the Palaeolithic. Nature, 651(8107): 995–1003. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10170-x 2025 Hassett, B., Wragg Sykes, R., Birch, S.P., and Herridge, V. TrowelBlazers as a Noun and a Verb: Online Activism through Sharing Histories of Women in Archaeology. In H. Cobb & K. Hawkins (Eds.), Documenting Activism, Creating Change: Archaeology and the Legacy of #MeToo (pp. 148–160). Archaeopress. Seabrook, M., Wolfhagen, J., and S.E. Pilaar Birch. Large-scale carbon and nitrogen isotopic investigations into caprine diet and management at Tepe Yahya, southeastern Iran. PLOS ONE 20 (9): e0332662. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332662 Pilaar Birch, S.E., Metzger, M., Ridder, E., Falconer, S.E., and P.L. Fall. Domestic herbivore mobility and herd management at Bronze Age Politiko-Troullia, Cyprus. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 17(5): 114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-025-02226-2 Fall, P.L., Falconer, S.E., Ridder, E., Pilaar Birch, S.E., Metzger, M.C., and S. Porson. Bronze Age Agropastoral Management in Central Cyprus and along the Jordan Rift. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 64:105119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105119 Wengrow, D., Hassett, B., Sağlamtimur, H., Marsh, W., Brace, S., Pilaar Birch, S.E., Baysal, E., Batıhan, M. and I. Aydoğan. Inequality at the dawn of the Bronze Age: the case of Başur Höyük, a “royal” cemetery at the margins of the Mesopotamian world. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. DOI:10.1017/S0959774324000398 Seabrook, M., Mikeskae, C., and S.E. Pilaar Birch. Improving identification of caprine mandibles: Integrating morphological and ZooMS analyses. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 62: 105017 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105017 Daly, K.G. ( and 66 others, including Sarieh Amiri). Ancient genomics and the origin, dispersal, and development of domestic sheep. Science, 387 (6733): 492–497. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn2094 Yazıcıoğlu, G. B., Meiggs, D. C., Davis, M., and S. E. Pilaar Birch. Emerging strontium isoscapes of Anatolia (Türkiye): New datasets and perspectives in bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr baseline studies. Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fearc.2025.1520345 Chruszcz, S. and S.E. Pilaar Birch. A twentieth century history of the Georgia Museum of Natural History. Journal of the History of Collections. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/fhae055 2024 Shipley, O.N. (and 35 others, including S.E. Pilaar Birch). Design, development, and implementation of IsoBank: a centralized repository for isotopic data. PLOS ONE. OA. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295662 2023 Fall, P., Ridder, E., Pilaar Birch, S.E. and S.E. Falconer. Bayesian modeling of a peripheral Middle Bronze Age settlement at Zahrat adh-Dhra‘ 1, Jordan. Radiocarbon. OA. DOI: 10.1017/RDC.2023.99 Brandes, C.E. and S.E. Pilaar Birch. An osteometric analysis of elk (Cervus elaphus manitobensis) from Great Smoky Mountains National Park. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. OA. DOI: 10.1002/oa.3249 Falconer, S., Ridder, E., Pilaar Birch, S.E., and P.L. Fall. Prehistoric Bronze Age Radiocarbon Chronology at Politiko-Troullia, Cyprus. Radiocarbon. DOI: 10.1017/RDC.2022.99 2022 Pilaar Birch, S.E., Metzger, M., Ridder, E., Porson, S. Falconer, S.E., and P.L. Fall. 2022. Herd management and subsistence practices as inferred from isotopic analysis of animals and plants at Bronze Age Politiko-Troullia, Cyprus. PLOS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275757 Pilaar Birch, S.E. and Szpak, P. 2022. “Current Developments and Future Directions in Archaeological Science” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119 (43) e2212490119. DOI: 10.1073/PNAS.2212490119 Pilaar Birch, S.E. and M. H. Veres. 2022. “Large scale data synthesis: A way forward for stable isotope analysis in zooarchaeology” in Sharpe, A. and Krigbaum, J. Applications of Isotope Research in Zooarchaeology. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. Balk, M. (and 32 others, including S.E. Pilaar Birch). 2022. “A solution to the challenges of interdisciplinary aggregation and use of specimen-level trait data” iScience DOI: : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105101 Fall, P., Richard, S., Pilaar Birch, S., Ridder, E., D’Andrea, M., Long, J., . . . Falconer, S. (2022). New AMS Chronology for the Early Bronze III/IV Transition at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan. Radiocarbon, 1-16. doi:10.1017/RDC.2022.22 2021 Pilaar Birch, S.E., Boz, B., and B. Erdoğu. “Isotope paleodietary analysis of humans from Chalcolithic Uğurlu, Gökçeada Island, Turkey” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 39: 103136 DOI:10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103136 Vaiglova, P., Reid, R.E.B., Lightfoot, E., Pilaar Birch, S.E., Hui, W., Li, S., and X. Liu. “Localized management of non‑indigenous animal domesticates in Northwestern China during the Bronze Age” Scientific Reports 11:15764 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-95233-x Hoggarth, J. (and 13 others, including S.E. Pilaar Birch). “Impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Women and Early Career Archaeologists”. Heritage 4(3) 1681-1702 DOI:10.3390/heritage4030093 Porson, S., Falconer, S., Pilaar Birch, S.E., Ridder, E., and P. Fall. “Crop management and agricultural responses at Early Bronze IV Tell Abu en-Ni‘aj, Jordan” Journal of Archaeological Science. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2021.105435 Leppard, T. (and 10 others, including S.E. Pilaar Birch). “The premise and potential of model-based approaches to island archaeology: A response to Terrell” Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology. DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2021.1904463 2020 McPherson, M., Freeman, B.J. and S.E. Pilaar Birch. "Uncovering the early history of the Georgia Museum of Natural History, 1785–1900" Journal of the History of Collections. DOI: 10.1093/jhc/fhaa025 Free Access Persistent Link Holdridge, G.A., Sarmiento F.O., Pilaar Birch, S.E., et al. “Feeding Futures Framed: Rediscovering Biocultural Diversity in Foods and Farming of the Americas” in Sarmiento, F.O. and Frolich, L. (eds.) Elgar Companion to Geography, Transdisciplinarity and Sustainability" London: Eduard Elgar. 2019 Pilaar Birch, S.E., Atici, L., and Erdoğu, B. “Spread of domestic animals across Neolithic Western Anatolia and into Southeast Europe: New stable isotope evidence from Uğurlu Höyük, Gökçeada, Turkey” PLOS ONE 14(10): e0222319. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222319 Rivera Araya, M.J., Arnauld, C., Emery, K., and S.E. Pilaar Birch. “Stable isotope analysis of white-tailed deer teeth as a paleoenvironmental proxy at the Maya site of La Joyanca, northwestern Peten” Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies DOI: 10.1080/10256016.2019.1636047 2018 Pilaar Birch, S.E. “Seasonal mobility and multispecies interactions in the Mesolithic northeastern Adriatic.” in S.E. Pilaar Birch (ed.), Multispecies Archaeology. Archaeological Orientations Series. London: Routledge. Pilaar Birch, S.E., Scheu, A., Buckley M. and C. Çakırlar. “Combined osteomorphological, isotopic, aDNA and ZooMS analyses of sheep and goat remains from Neolithic Ulucak, Turkey” Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. DOI: 10.1007/s12520-018-0624-8 Marwick, B. and S.E. Pilaar Birch. "A Standard for the Scholarly Citation of Archaeological Data". Advances in Archaeological Practice. DOI: 10.1017/aap.2018.3 Rivera Araya, M.J. and S.E. Pilaar Birch. “Stable isotope signatures in white tailed deer as a seasonal paleoenvironmental proxy: A case study from Georgia, United States” Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.05.025 2017 Pilaar Birch, S.E. and M. Vander Linden. “A long hard road... Reviewing the evidence for environmental change and population history in the eastern Adriatic and western Balkans during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene.” Quaternary International. DOI:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.12.035 Pilaar Birch, S.E. and P.T. Miracle. “Human response to climate change in the Northern Adriatic during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene” G. Monks (ed.), Climate Change and Human Responses: A Zooarchaeological Perspective. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series. New York: Springer. pp. 87-100. Pilaar Birch, S.E. “From the Aegean to the Adriatic: Exploring the Earliest Neolithic Island Fauna” Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology. DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2017.1310774 Atici, L., Pilaar Birch, S.E., and B. Erdoğu. “Spread of Domestic Animals across Neolithic Western Anatolia and into Southeast Europe: New Zooarchaeological Evidence from Uğurlu Höyük, Gökçeada, Turkey.” PLOS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186519 Pauli, J.N., Newsome, S.D., (and 25 others, including Pilaar Birch, S.E.). “Why we need a centralized repository for isotopic data” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(12): 2997-3001 2016 Pilaar Birch, S.E., Miracle, P.T., Stevens R.E. & T.C. O’Connell. “Reconstructing late Pleistocene/early Holocene migratory behavior of ungulates using stable isotopes and its effects on forager mobility” PLoS ONE 11(6): e0155714. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155714 Leppard, T.P. and S.E. Pilaar Birch. “The insular ecology and palaeoenvironmental impacts of the domestic goat (Capra hircus) in Mediterranean Neolithization” in Géoarchéologie des îles de la Méditerranée, edited by M. Ghilardi, F. Leandri, J. Bloemendal, L. Lespez, and S. Fachard. Paris: CNRS Editions Alpha. pp. 47-56. 2015 Pilaar Birch, S.E. “Diversity and Demographics: Zooarchaeologists in Practice” Ethnobiology Letters DOI: 10.14237/ebl.6.2.2015.469. Pilaar Birch, S.E. and R.W. Graham. A Stable Isotope Data Repository as part of Neotoma, a Paleoecological Database. BioScience DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biv133. Herridge, V., Pilaar Birch, S.E., and M. Law. “Open Quaternary: A New, Open Access Journal for Quaternary Research” Open Quaternary 1: 1-2. DOI: 10.5335/oq.ad. Pilaar Birch, S.E. & P.T. Miracle. “Subsistence continuity, change, and environmental adaptation at the site of Nugljanska, Istria, Croatia” Environmental Archaeology 20(1):30-40. DOI:10.1179/1749631414Y.0000000051. Contact Information Dr. Suzanne E. Pilaar BirchDirector, Quaternary Isotope Paleoecology Laboratory 3AS/318 Geography-Geology Building210 Field Street, Athens, GA, 30602Email: sepbirch@uga.edu Anthropology (706) 542-4171Baldwin Hall 265A Geography(706) 542-6828Geography-Geology 103 Lab site: https://quaternary.franklinresearch.uga.edu/
