Dr. Petra Vaiglova

Biography

Petra Vaiglova is a biomolecular archaeologist focused on exploring the impact of human-animal interactions on ancient landscapes. She is currently developing new methods for extracting geochemical data from animal teeth, which she uses to reconstruct the environments where animals lived and how their lives were affected by past human societies. Her research has contributed knowledge to a range of diverse topics, including the development of farming in Neolithic Greece and Bronze Age China, and settling in hyper-arid environments during the Byzantine period in the Southern Levant. Petra's latest paper, 'Transport animals underpinned ritual feasting onset Neolithic southwestern Asia', uncovered new insights into the organizational efforts behind ceremonial feasting at an Early Neolithic site called Asiab in western Iran. She completed her doctorate studies as a Clarendon Scholar at the University of Oxford and has held postdoctoral positions at various universities. Currently, she serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Archaeological Science and is the Convenor for the Masters in Archaeological Evolutionary Science program at ANU. She advocates for statistical reform in academic training, emphasizing the importance of moving from statistical significance to informative estimation science. In 2024, she received an ANU Strategic Learning Teaching Grant to improve statistical training components within her program. Petra is also passionate about sharing her enthusiasm for archaeology and science with the wider public through various outreach efforts.

Research Interests

Experience