Julia Lee-Thorp

Julia Anne Lee-Thorp, , FRSSAf, (born 20 April 1951) is a South African-born archaeologist and academic. She is Professor Emerita of Archaeological Science and Bioarchaeology at the University of Oxford. She served as head of the Stable Light Isotope Laboratory during her tenure, and as Head of the School of Archaeology 2016–2019. Lee-Thorp is most well known for her work on dietary ecology and human origins, using stable isotope chemistry to study fossil bones and teeth.

Early life and education Lee-Thorp was born on 20 April 1951 in Cape Town, South Africa. Studying at the University of Cape Town, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA), a Bachelor of Science (BSc) with a major in Chemistry, a BSc (Hons) in Archaeology and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees. Her doctoral thesis, titled "Stable carbon isotopes in deep time: the diets of fossil fauna and hominids," was completed in 1989 and demonstrated a method by which to significantly increase the applicable time-span of carbon isotopic analysis by using the most highly mineralised calcified animal tissue (a biological apatite), tooth enamel, as the sample material instead of traditionally used bone collagen. She also has an M.Phil. (Oxon).

Academic career Lee-Thorp remained at her alma mater, working as a senior research officer at the University of Cape Town's Archaeometry Research Unit (1991 to 1997). She was a senior lecturer in its Faculty of Science from 1998 to 2000 and an associate professor from 2001 to 2004. She was appointed Professor of Archaeology in 2005. She has served as Vice-Head of the School of Archaeology from 2014 to 2016,

Research Lee-Thorp has been involved in a number of projects in Africa, South America, and Europe. In addition to diet, her more recent research has focused on the role of changing environments and climate on ancient human societies. The Agricultural Origins of Urban Civilization (AGRICURB), , Building a Better Eggtimer. , and A diet for all seasons: the role of intra-annual variability in the evolution hominin diets in East Africa .

Honours Professor Lee-Thorp was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa in 2004 Royal Society of South Africa. , and as a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.

Selected works

Lee-Thorp J.A., N.J. van der Merwe 1987. Carbon isotope analysis of fossil bone apatite. S. Afr. J. Sci. 83: 712-713 Lee-Thorp J.A., N.J. van der Merwe 1991. Aspects of the chemistry of modern and fossil biological apatites. J. Archaeol. Sci. 18: 343–354. Lee-Thorp J.A., N.J. van der Merwe, C.K. Brain 1994. Diet of Australopithecus robustus at Swartkrans deduced from stable carbon isotope ratios. J. Hum. Evol. 27: 361–372. Sponheimer M. J.A. Lee-Thorp 1999. Reconstructing the diet of the early hominid Australopithecus africanus using 13C/12C analysis. Science 283: 368–370. Roberts P., N. Perera, O. Wedage, S.Deraniyagala, J. Perera, S. Eregama, M.D. Petraglia, J.A. Lee-Thorp (2018) Fruits of the Forest: human stable isotope ecology and rainforest adaptations in Late Pleistocene and Holocene (c. 36 to 3 ka) Sri Lanka. Journal of Human Evolution. Snoeck, CS, J Pouncett, P Claeys, S. Goderis, N Mattielli, M. Parker Pearson, C Willis, A. Zazzo, JA Lee-Thorp, RJ Schulting. 2018 Strontium isotope analysis on cremated human remains from Stonehenge support links with west Wales. Scientific Reports 8:10790. DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-28969-8 Czermak A, L. Schermellah, JA Lee-Thorp 2018 Short report: Image-assisted time-resolved dentine sampling to track weaning histories. DOI: 10.1002/oa.2697 Ecker M, JS Brink, L Rossousw, M Chazan, LK Horwitz, JA Lee-Thorp 2018 The palaeoecological context of the Oldowan–Acheulean in southern Africa, Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2: 1080–1086. Lee-Thorp, J.A., M. Ecker. 2015. Holocene environmental change at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: Insights from stable light isotopes in ostrich egg shell. African Archaeological Review. DOI 10.1007/s10437-015-9202-y Lee-Thorp J.A., A. Likius, T.S. Mackaye, P. Vignaud, M. Sponheimer, M. Brunet 2012. Isotopic evidence for an early shift to C4 resources by Pliocene hominids in Chad. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 109 (50): 20369-20372.