Isotopic Proveniencing and Mobility / Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology (PDF)

Prof. T. Douglas Price's archaeological research has been multifaceted for the last 30 years, encompassing archaeological chemistry, fieldwork in Denmark focused on the last hunters and first farmers, the institutionalization of inequality in human society, and the origins of agriculture. His research has been supported largely by the National Science Foundation in the USA and he has been continuously funded by that agency over this period. He has published much of his research in books (25) and scientific papers (250). He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2018. He retired a few years ago as Weinstein Professor of European Archaeology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Director of the Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry which he established in 1988. Most of his recent research has focused on the application of isotopes in the study of past human mobility, using strontium, oxygen, and lead isotopes in human tooth enamel as a signature of place of birth since enamel forms at a very young age and changes very little during life or after death. Their laboratory has been involved in projects all over the world with major involvement in Northern and Western Europe, the North Atlantic, the American Southwest, China, and Mesoamerica. They have measured hundreds of enamel samples from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark and been involved in a wide range of projects.