Qualifications: MA(Hons) Anthropology Auckland, DPhil Waikato

Personal Website: www.radiocarbondating.com

Research Interests

Dr Petchey's research involves the application of radiocarbon techniques to the improvement of archaeological chronologies by the joint investigation of site taphonomy combined with sample specific radiocarbon (¹⁴C) effects in shell and bone caused by diet and environmental conditions. Her research is based on the premise that isotopic analysis (d¹³C_collagen, d¹³C_carbonate, d¹⁵N and d³⁴S for bone, and d¹⁸O and d¹³C for shell), combined with geographic, archaeological and metabolic information, can help disentangle the mix of ¹⁴C from terrestrial and marine sources. This research has led the way in obtaining reliable calibrated radiocarbon data from Neolithic burials from Portugal and Lapita age sites in Fiji, Samoa, New Britain, Saipan and Vanuatu.

Research Supervised

PhD

• McBride, Rowan (in progress).The chronology of Waikato wetland pā. (Supervisor).
• Lauren Linnenlucke (in progress). Applying chronometric quality standards to evaluate the reliability of data from archaeological sites in Torres Strait. James Cook University. (International Supervisor).
• Mojca Zega (in progress). Deep sand time capsules: past environmental records from sediments surrounding Gledswood Shelter 1, Northwest Queensland, Australia. James Cook University. (International Supervisor).

MSc (Research)

• Milson, Catherine (in progress). Reliable ages from archaeological shells from hard water environments using micro-carbon dating.

Teaching Commitments

Recent Publications

• David, B., Arnold, L. J., Delannoy, J. J., Fresløv, J., Urwin, C., Petchey, F., . . . Hellstrom, J. (2021). Late survival of megafauna refuted for Cloggs Cave, SE Australia: Implications for the Australian Late Pleistocene megafauna extinction debate. Quaternary Science Reviews, 253, 15 pages. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106781

• David, B., Fresløv, J., Mullett, R., Delannoy, J. -J., McDowell, M., Urwin, C., . . . Green, H. (2021). 50 years and worlds apart: Rethinking the Holocene occupation of Cloggs Cave (East Gippsland, SE Australia) five decades after its initial archaeological excavation and in light of GunaiKurnai world views. Australian Archaeology, 20 pages. doi:10.1080/03122417.2020.1859963

• Lipson, M., Spriggs, M., Valentin, F., Bedford, S., Shing, R., Zinger, W., . . . Reich, D. (2020). Three phases of ancient migration shaped the ancestry of human populations in Vanuatu. Current Biology, 11 pages. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.09.035

• Lambrides, A. B. J., McNiven, I. J., Aird, S. J., Lowe, K. A., Moss, P., Rowe, C., . . . Ulm, S. (2020). Changing use of Lizard Island over the past 4000 years and implications for understanding Indigenous offshore island use on the Great Barrier Reef. Queensland Archaeological Research, 23, 43-109. doi:10.25120/QAR.23.2020.3778

View All research publications by Fiona Petchey

Contact Details