© Jana Ilgner
Curriculum Vitae
Patrick Roberts received a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology, an MSc in Archaeological Science, and DPhil in Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford. As Independent W2 Research Group Leader of the isoTROPIC Research Group and Lead Scientist of the Department of Archaeology, Patrick is committed to pioneering and applying multidisciplinary approaches to studying past human interactions with climatic and environmental change as well as the deep roots of the Anthropocene and our species’ influencing of Earth systems. As PI of the ERC-funded PANTROPOCENE project and the isoTROPIC Research Group, Patrick is particularly interested in exploring the degree to which past human land use and landcover change in the tropics led to major shifts in the operation of different Earth systems on local, regional, and global scales, as well as what this means for contemporary conservation and sustainability challenges. He is author of the academic monograph ‘Tropical; Forests in Prehistory, History Modernity’ published by Oxford University Press and the popular book ‘Jungle: How Tropical Forests Shaped the World and Us’ published by Penguin/Viking Random House.
As part of his research, Patrick applies a variety of different methodologies to the study of human and planetary history, including stable isotope analysis, palaeoecology, dendrochronology, remote sensing, and land use and land cover modelling. He set up and oversees the isotope laboratory, dendrochronology unit, and remote sensing facility at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology. Patrick is also committed to close collaboration with Indigenous and local stakeholder communities and has coordinated repatriation processes and the adaptation of research into policy. He has taken part in UNESCO symposia that bring together archaeologists and anthropologists together to discuss potential solutions for the conservation of ecological and cultural heritage in global tropical forest environments. Patrick is also co-founder of the Pantropica Research Network. In 2021, Patrick was awarded the Heinz Maier Leibniz Prize, the top award for early career investigators in Germany and the first time that it has been awarded to an archaeologist. He is also a National Geographic Explorer.
As part of his research, Patrick applies a variety of different methodologies to the study of human and planetary history, including stable isotope analysis, palaeoecology, dendrochronology, remote sensing, and land use and land cover modelling. He set up and oversees the isotope laboratory, dendrochronology unit, and remote sensing facility at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology. Patrick is also committed to close collaboration with Indigenous and local stakeholder communities and has coordinated repatriation processes and the adaptation of research into policy. He has taken part in UNESCO symposia that bring together archaeologists and anthropologists together to discuss potential solutions for the conservation of ecological and cultural heritage in global tropical forest environments. Patrick is also co-founder of the Pantropica Research Network. In 2021, Patrick was awarded the Heinz Maier Leibniz Prize, the top award for early career investigators in Germany and the first time that it has been awarded to an archaeologist. He is also a National Geographic Explorer.
Full Academic Publication List
Book (2)
1.
Book
Jungle: how tropical forests shaped the world - and us. Basic Books, New York (2021), 432 pp.
2.
Book
Tropical forests in prehistory, history, and modernity. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2019), XVI, 350 pp.
Book Chapter (5)
3.
Book Chapter
Climate Proxies. In: The encyclopedia of ancient history: Asia and Africa, eahaa00609 (Eds. Potts, D. T.; Harkness, E.; Neelis, J.; McIntosh, R.) (2021)
4.
Book Chapter
Foreword [to Bioarchaeology and Dietary Reconstruction across Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages in Tuscany, Central Italy / Giulia Riccomi]. In: Bioarchaeology and Dietary Reconstruction across Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages in Tuscany, Central Italy, pp. x - xi. Archaeopress, Summerville (2021)
5.
Book Chapter
Hunting and gathering in prehistoric rainforests: insights from stable isotope analysis. In: Foraging in the past: archaeological studies of Hunter-Gatherer Diversity, pp. 119 - 158 (Ed. Lemke, A. K.). University Press of Colarado, Louisville (2019)
6.
Book Chapter
Scientific Practice. In: The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences, pp. 1526 - 1530 (Ed. López Varela, . L.). Wiley, Hoboken (2018)
7.
Book Chapter
Bone Technology from Late Pleistocene Caves and Rockshelters of Sri Lanka. In: Osseous Projectile Weaponry, pp. 173 - 188 (Ed. Langley, M. C.). Springer (2016)
Journal Article (159)
1.
Journal Article
11 (1), 839 (2024)
Colonial policy, ecological transformations, and agricultural “improvement”: comparing agricultural yields and expansion in the Spanish and U.S. Philippines, 1870–1925 CE. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 2.
Journal Article
Ancient genomes reveal insights into ritual life at Chichén Itzá. Nature, s41586-024-07509-7 (2024)
3.
Journal Article
Stable isotope variation in East and Southeast Asian marine ecosystems and its relevance for archaeological analysis. Environmental archaeology: the journal of human palaeoecology, 2352666 (2024)
4.
Journal Article
19 (5), e0302334 (2024)
Diets, stress, and disease in the Etruscan society: isotope analysis and infantile skeletal palaeopathology from Pontecagnano (Campania, southern Italy, 730–580 BCE). PLOS ONE 5.
Journal Article
7 (1), 568 (2024)
Multi-isotope reconstruction of Late Pleistocene large-herbivore biogeography and mobility patterns in Central Europe. Communications Biology 6.
Journal Article
14 (1), 11074 (2024)
Unravelling social status in the first medieval military order of the Iberian Peninsula using isotope analysis. Scientific Reports 7.
Journal Article
Interactions between climate change and urbanization will shape the future of biodiversity. Nature Climate Change, s41558-024-01996-2 (2024)
8.
Journal Article
14 (1), 9528 (2024)
Increasing obsidian diversity during the Chalcolithic Period at Yeghegis-1 Rockshelter (Armenia) reveals shifts in land use and social networks. Scientific Reports 9.
Journal Article
Isotopic evidence for socio-economic dynamics within the capital of the Kingdom of Alwa, Sudan. African Archaeological Review, s10437-024-09579-4 (2024)
10.
Journal Article
12, 1352099 (2024)
Initial upper paleolithic in the Zagros Mountains. Frontiers in Earth Science 11.
Journal Article
16 (5), 76 (2024)
Seasonal exploitation of intertidal resources at El Mazo (N Iberia) reveals optimized human subsistence strategies during the Mesolithic in Atlantic Europe. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 12.
Journal Article
330, 108559 (2024)
Multiproxy evidence for environmental stability in the lesser caucasus during the late pleistocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 13.
Journal Article
16 (5), 64 (2024)
Human-cattle interactions in PPNB and Early / Middle Bronze Age Cyprus: integrating zooarchaeological and stable isotope data. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 14.
Journal Article
98 (398), 2023.201 , pp. 1 - 8 (2024)
Yeghegis-1 rockshelter site: new investigations into the late Chalcolithic of Armenia. Antiquity 15.
Journal Article
66 (2), 2024.39 , pp. 306 - 325 (2024)
Insights into growth, ring formation and maximum ages of Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) using 14C dating and tree-ring analysis. Radiocarbon 16.
Journal Article
39 (3), 3597, pp. 349 - 358 (2024)
Preservation of plant-wax biomarkers in deserts: implications for Quaternary environment and human evolutionary studies. Journal of Quaternary Science 17.
Journal Article
54, 104410, pp. 1 - 8 (2024)
Exploring the potential of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of perennial plants from archaeological sites: a case study of olive pits and grape pips from Early Bronze Age Qedesh in the Galilee. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 18.
Journal Article
14 (1), 4382 (2024)
Biomolecular evidence for changing millet reliance in Late Bronze Age central Germany. Scientific Reports 19.
Journal Article
625 (7995), s41586-023-06900-0, pp. 535 - 539 (2024)
The demise of the giant ape Gigantopithecus blacki. Nature 20.
Journal Article
121 (1), e2311280120, pp. 1 - 8 (2024)
Forest mosaics, not savanna corridors, dominated in Southeast Asia during the Last Glacial Maximum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 21.
Journal Article
14, 282 (2024)
Earliest known funerary rites in Wallacea after the last glacial maximum. Scientific Reports 22.
Journal Article
14 (1), 282 (2024)
Earliest known funerary rites in Wallacea after the last glacial maximum. Scientific Reports 23.
Journal Article
1 (1), s44284-023-00014-4, pp. 30 - 41 (2024)
Using urban pasts to speak to urban presents in the Anthropocene. Nature cities 24.
Journal Article
2, 1208985 (2023)
Fire-human-climate interactions in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest ecotone from the Last Glacial Maximum to late Holocene. Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology 25.
Journal Article
21 (2), 10028, pp. 131 - 153 (2023)
Multi-isotopic investigation of population dynamics and mobility among rural medieval Christian communities at Ghazali, Northern Sudan. Journal of African archaeology