Today we’d like to congratulate Sara Marinoni, another one of our UHI Archaeology Institute graduates, who has just started her PhD journey at the University of York.
Originally from Italy, Sara began her studies at the UHI Archaeology Institute with a BA (Hons) in Archaeology before undertaking an MRes. In 2023, she learned of a University of York PhD project investigating agricultural resilience in the face climate deterioration and decided to go for it.
The project, Plant ecology and crop management at prehistoric circum-alpine archaeological sites, is funded by ACCE DTP (Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment Doctoral Training Partnership) through the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
Sara applied and was successful in securing a funded PhD studentship.
She explained: “The project is looking at carbon and nitrogen isotopes of plant remains from Neolithic pile-dwelling sites in the Alps. These sites offer exceptional preservation of plant remains due to the waterlogged conditions as well as a landscape where multiple palaeoclimate proxies are available, so they’re ideal for examining farming strategies and how they were impacted by climate deterioration.
“Right now, I am in the development stage of the project, where I am looking at different methods that will allow us to understand the impact of diagenesis on stable isotopes and develop baseline for isotope data interpretation to unlock the potential of pile-dwelling sites to inform current agricultural challenges.”
Sara’s time with the UHI Archaeology Institute started in 2018, when she began her BA.
Originally based at the UHI Inverness campus, that summer she headed north for the excavation field school at The Cairns. It was during her time at the South Ronaldsay dig that she fell in love with Orkney and decided to relocate to continue her degree at the UHI Orkney campus.
Once here she took advantage of the many volunteering opportunities in the Archaeology Institute. She started with finds washing and artefact analysis before asking Associate Professor Scott Timpany if she could get involved with work in the environmental archaeology lab.
Sara explained: “Scott was incredibly welcoming and supportive, and, with his guidance, I started looking at plant remains, especially learning how to identify charcoal, which I was able to learn more in depth through a Carnegie Vacation scholarship.
“Archaeobotany, became the core of my undergraduate dissertation, for which I analysed charcoal from Iron Age furnaces at The Cairns, trying to understand how people in a largely treeless landscape managed to source wood for metalworking.”
Sara’s undergraduate studies earned her the award for UHI Best Performance in Undergraduate Archaeology in 2022.
Continuing her research into the relationship between people and plants, Sara and Associate Professor Timpany put together a proposal for an MRes looking at the charcoal from Iron age furnaces at Culduthel – in particular what it can tell us about how people impacted and managed their woodland.
The results were presented both locally, and internationally.
Sara added: “During this time I also had the chance to collaborate with Scott on other archaeobotany projects to widen my skillset in the study of charred and waterlogged plant remains and take part in all of the UHI Archaeology Institute digs – the Ness of Brodgar, Skaill farm, The Cairns and Swartigill – and get hands-on experience of the process before the samples get to the lab.
“During my time at UHI, I was fortunate to meet mentors and peers who became some of the most important people in my life. Through their encouragement, guidance and shared experiences, I became more confident not just in my research but as a person.
“I also appreciated the many opportunities that life at UHI Orkney offered me, from following workshops and outreach events to volunteering in the lab, but especially the chances to participate in some world-class excavation projects.”
Congratulating Sara on her success, Associate Professor Timpany said: “It has been a privilege to watch Sara become impassioned in environmental archaeology through her time with us at UHI and to see this now develop further through her PhD research at the University of York, where she will be stepping into new territory investigating the history of flax.
“Sara has already achieved a lot in her early career with the capture of a Carnegie Trust Summer Scholarship, where she started her journey in anthracology investigating woodfuel choices and cultural significance of woodland from analysing charcoal fragments from Bronze Age cremation pyres.
“Through her undergraduate and MRes theses, Sara was able to develop her anthracological skills further and has produced some significant work on Iron Age metalworking fuel procurement strategies in Scotland, which she presented at an International Anthracological conference in Porto. Sara’s dedication and eye for detail shown in her work to date will no doubt hold her in good stead for her PhD and I look forward to reading about what she finds out.”
If like Sara, you are interested in studying environmental archaeology at the UHI Archaeology Institute keep your eye out for our new Environmental Archaeology MSc programme that begins in September 2025 as well our BA (Hons) and BSc (Hons) Archaeology degrees.
