Dr Monika Knul - University of Winchester

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Biography

I am a Lecturer in Archaeological and Geographical Geomatics in the Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Geography.

My Bachelor and Research Masters were completed at Leiden University, focussing on the interaction between hominins and their environment. I have worked on the small mammals and large mammals from Schoeningen and the lithics from Happisburgh Site 1 and Site 3. My PhD at Bournemouth University (supervised by John Stewart, Amanda Korstjens and Philippa Gillingham) took the interest in the hominins and associated fauna further, and was titled: Faunal and human biogeography of the Terminal Pleistocene.

At the University of Winchester I teach on BA, BSc, MA and MRes programmes in Archaeology and Geography. I lecture on GIS, Geomatics, archaeological field techniques, Palaeolithic archaeology and Archaeological Science. I am also a postdoc on the PREPARE project (see Research Interests).

Areas of expertise

Pleistocene small and large mammals
Palaeolithic archaeology
GIS
Remote sensing
Geophysical survey techniques
Ecological Niche Modelling

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Research interests

Current projects:

PREPARE: Predicting Palaeolithic Archaeology in England (PrePArE).

This is an Historic England-funded initiative which seeks to enhance resources available to English planning authorities in their consideration of the Palaeolithic. The product will be an England-wide online GIS tool comprising the British Geological Survey’s superficial geology polygons (Pleistocene units only) with appended Palaeolithic archaeological potentials, while the resource will be made available in 2020 via a British Geological Survey portal. I am a postdoctoral researcher on this project, working alongside Dr Keith Wilkinson and Dr Jenni Sherriff.

PAGES: Pleistocene Archaeology, Geochronology and Environment of the Southern Caucasus

This project aims to build an geochronological and palaeoenvironmental framework for this important region. Specifically, the PAGES project is focused on the Hrazdan and Debed gorges in Armenia, which are formed of volcanic deposits and intercalated sediment sequences, many of which have yielded archaeological remains.

Working alongside Dr Keith Wilkinson and Dr Jenni Sherriff, I am a field/lab assistant working on the geomorphology and sedimentology of the Hrazdan river gorge including the Palaeolithic site of Nor Geghi. I am also taking environmental sample columns in several Palaeolithic sites in the search for small mammals. Finally I am part of the total station survey team undertake part of photogrammetric modelling of several sites and sections as well.

Environmental reconstructions: microfauna at Trou Al'Wesse, Kalavan II

I am part of the scientific teams of Trou Al'Wesse in Belgium and Kalavan II in Armenia, both Late Pleistocene sites and both projects aim to reconstruct the environment using small mammals as a proxy.