Dr Linda Fibiger (DPhil MSc BA)

Senior Lecturer; Human Osteoarchaeology

  • Programme Co- Director MSc in Human Osteoarchaeology
  • Archaeology Graduate Officer
  • Curator of the SHCA Human Skeletal Collection

Contact details

Address

Street

Room 1.20, William Robertson Wing, Old Medical School, Teviot Place

City
Post code

Availability

  • Mon 12.00-13.00 online, Tue 11.00-12.00 in person; or by arrangement

Biography

Background

After completing my BA in Archaeology at University College Dublin in 1997 I spent three years working in field archaeology in Ireland. One of the first sites I worked on was a Medieval cemetery in the centre of Dublin, and my interest in human skeletal remains developed from there. In 2001 I completed an MSc in Human Osteology and Palaeopathology at the University of Bradford and returned to Ireland to work as a consultant osteoarchaeologist. In 2009 I completed my DPhil on inter-personal violence in Neolithic Europe at the University of Oxford. From 2009 to 2011 I was based at Cardiff University, first as a Post-Doctoral Researcher on the AHRC-funded LBK Lifeways project and then as Lecturer in Archaeology. In 2011 I also held a Wenner-Gren Foundation Hunt Post-Doctoral Fellowship. I joined the School in January 2012, when I was appointed as Lecturer in Human Osteoarchaeology and Senior Lecturer in 2018.

I am happy to discuss proposals for postgraduate research in the area of bioarchaeology, but especially conflict archaeology, violence, trauma, ethics and experimental bioarchaeology.

Responsibilities & affiliations

Member of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO)

Member of the Prehistoric Society

External Examiner, University College Cork, MA Human Osteoarchaeology Programme, 2016-2021

Undergraduate teaching

  • Here Comes the War: Conflict Archaeology and the Human Past [ARCA10083] (Course Organiser)

Postgraduate teaching

  • Human Musculo-Skeletal Anatomy [PGHC11367] (Course Organiser)
  • Conflict Archaeology: Materialities of Violence [PGHC11448] (Course Organiser)
  • Conflict Archaeology and the Human Past [PGHC11558] (Course Organiser)
  • Skeletal Pathology [PGHC11231] (Course Co-Organiser)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

Name - Degree - Thesis topic - Supervision type - Link

Coskun, Gulcin - PhD - Facial Evaluation of a Contemporary Adult Greek Population Sample: Comparison of Two Methods - Joint/Primary - Profile

Smith, Emma - PhD  - ​The Influence of Physiological Stress on Interpretations of Stable Isotope Ratios in Incremental Dentine Analysis  -  Secondary 

Valstrand, Nina - PhD - Biographies of the Dead. Teeth Diet and Health – A bioarchaeological analysis of skeletal remains in urban medieval Trondheim AD 1000-1450 - Secondary 

Reeve,  Indi - PhD - Primary

Wenxin Zhang - PhD - Primary 

Vera Haponava - PhD - Joint/Primary

Lydia Narramore - PhD -  From Empires to Kingdoms: trauma as a gateway to understanding the impact of urbanisation, and cultural and environmental change in ancient Sudan - Primary

 

 

Past PhD students supervised

Name - Degree - Thesis topic - Supervision type - Completion Year

Dyer, Meaghan - PhD - First analysis of multiple blunt force weapon-tools using skin-skull-brain models to evaluate inter-personal violence in the European Neolithic - Primary - 2019

Ruchonnet, Caroline - PhD - Bone Histopathology: The effects of pathology on bone microstructure and implications for histological age estimation - Secondary - 2019

Kazzazi, Mandan - PhD - Dental metric standards for sex estimation in archaeological populations from Iran - Secondary - 2017

Karell, Mara - PhD - Identifying the disappeared: Testing a novel method for the sorting of commingled human remains - Secondary - 2019

Boyle, Angela - PhD - Violence and conflict in south-east Scotland from c AD 400 to AD 850: A biocultural study - Primary - 2021

Astrom, Courtney - PhD - Comparative projectile trauma: An examination of the differences in skeletal trauma Inflicted by multiple classifications of projectile weapons - Primary - 2021

Ide, Lauren - PhD - Never Done: A bioarchaeological study of women's work, task, and occupation in Medieval Scotland - Primary - 2023

 

Research summary

Places: 

  • Britain & Ireland
  • Europe
  • Mediterranean

Themes: 

  • Ancient Civilisations
  • Bioarchaeology & Human Origins
  • Gender
  • Medicine, Science & Technology
  • Society
  • War

Periods: 

  • Prehistory
  • Early Historic
  • Medieval
  • Early Modern

Research interests

Human skeletal remains are central to understanding past lifeways and I am interested in all aspects of human osteology, palaeopathology and the contextual interpretation of the skeletal record. More specifically, this includes:

  • Interpersonal violence and conflict
  • Experimental bioarchaeology
  • Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe
  • The bioarchaeology of prehistoric, Medieval and Post-Medieval Irish burials
  • Human skeletal remains from caves
  • Activity-related trauma
  • Professional standards, ethics and legislation in human osteoarchaeology.

 

I have also carried out the osteological analysis of a number of skeletal assemblages from across Ireland, with a particular focus on Early Christian Cemeteries. I have analysed the battle-related mass graves from the post-medieval castle site of Carrickmines, Co. Dublin and was the project osteologist for the Human Remains from Irish Caves Project, involving the (re-)analysis of human remains from 23 Irish caves.

Current research activities

My most recent work is focusing on conflict archaeology, interpersonal violence and cranial trauma. I am particularly interested in how age and gender influence involvement in violent interaction in prehistoric Europe and the mechanisms of head injury observed during this period. To this end I am developing my work further through experimental bioarchaeology.

I am currently a Research Scientist on the Fall of 1200 BC European Research Council project (GA #772753) where I am leading the osteoarchaeological analysis of human skeletal remains from the Balkans, with a particular focus on population relationships, lifestyle and indicators of crisis and conflict.

www.thefall1200.eu 

I was recently involved in TRACES (2016-2019), a European-funded project (European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, GA #693857) that focused on the challenges and opportunities inherent in transmitting contentious cultural heritage in contemporary Europe. As part of the Creative Co-Production 'Dead Images' I worked with artists, anthropologists and art historicans to develop an exhibition and educational programme focusing on the complex legacy of historical human skull collections in Europe.

https://dead-images.info/

http://www.traces.polimi.it/

Knowledge exchange

I place particular importance on dissemination beyond academia, with a sustained record of knowledge exchange and outreach work. This includes diverse groups, ranging from widening access events for school children (e.g. Highflyers/LEAPS, Kickstart) to installations, performances and exhibitions (e.g. Word of Mouth; Bones beneath the face; Dead Images) and workshops with community groups, most recently through my involvement in the EU-funded TRACES/Dead images project. 

Dead Images Exhibition 

http://www.tracesproject.eu/index.html@p=3300.html

The bones beneath the face

http://jharries.wix.com/skulls-and-faces

Word of Mouth: Talking about how we interpret skulls

http://surgeonshallmuseum.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/word-of-mouth-talking-about-how-we-interpret-skulls/

Edited Books

Fagan, G.G., Fibiger, L., Hudson, M. & Trundle, M. (eds.) 2020. The Cambridge World History of Violence: Volume 1, The Prehistoric and Ancient Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Fibiger, L. & Ubelaker, D.H. (eds.) 2016. Forensic Archaeology. Critical Concepts in Archaeology Series. Abingdon, Routledge.

Schulting, R. & Fibiger, L. (eds.) 2012. Sticks, stones and broken bones. Neolithic violence in a European perspective. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Márquez-Grant, N. & Fibiger, L. (eds.) 2011. The Routledge Handbook of Archaeological Human Remains and Legislation. An international guide to laws and practice in the excavation and treatment of archaeological human remains. London, Routledge.

 

Journal Articles

Jackson, I., Woodman, P., Dowd, M., Fibiger, L. & Cassidy, L.M. 2024.  Ancient Genomes From Bronze Age Remains Reveal Deep Diversity and Recent Adaptive Episodes for Human Oral Pathobionts. Molecular Biology and Evolution 41 (3), msae017. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msae017

Fibiger, L., Ahlström, T., Meyer, C. & Smith, M. 2023. Conflict, violence, and warfare among early farmers in north western Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120 (4), e2209481119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.220948111  

Moreno-Ibáñez, M.A., Fibiger, L. & Saladié, P. 2023. Unraveling Neolithic sharp-blunt cranial trauma: Experimental approach through synthetic analogues. Journal of Archaeological Science 151, 105739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105739

Strong, R.L.J. & Fibiger, L. 2023. An experimental investigation of cutmark analysis of sharp force trauma in the Bronze Age. Journal of Archaeological  Science: Reports 48, 103843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.103843 

Michael, D.E., Fibiger, L., Ziota, C., Gkelou, L. & Molloy, B. 2021. Exploring the Efficacy of Comparative Bioarchaeological Approaches in Providing Answers on Marginality and Networking: The Example of Late Bronze Age Achlada in Florina, Northern Greece. Bioarchaeology International 5(1), 21-46. https://doi.org/10.5744/bi.2021.1005

Fibiger, L. 2018. The past as a foreign country: Bioarchaeologial perspectives on Pinker's "Prehistoric Anarchy". Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques 44(1), 6-16.  https://doi.org/10.3167/hrrh.2018.440103

Harries, J., Fibiger, L., Smith, J., Szöke, A. & Adler, T. 2018. Exposure: The ethics of making, sharing and displaying photographs of human remains. Human Remains and Violence 4(1), 3-24.  https://doi.org/ 10.7227/HRV.4.1.2

Woodman, P., Dowd, M., Fibiger, L., Carden, R.F. and O’Shaughnessy, J. 2018. Archaeological excavations at Killuragh Cave, Co. Limerick: A persistent place in the landscape from the Early Mesolithic to the Late Bronze Age. The Journal of Irish Archaeology 26 (2017), 1-32.

Dyer, M. & Fibiger, L. 2017. Understanding blunt force trauma and violence in Neolithic Europe: The first experiments using a skin-skull-brain model and the Thames Beater. Antiquity 91 (360), 1515-1528. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2017.189

Downing, M. & Fibiger, L. 2017. An experimental investigation of sharp force skeletal trauma with replica Bronze Age weapons. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 11, 546-554. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.12.034

Márquez-Grant, N., Webster, H., Truesdell, J. & Fibiger, L. 2016. Physical anthropology and osteoarchaeology in Europe: History, current trends and challenges. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 26 (6), 1078-1088. http://10.1002/oa.2520

Kador, T., Fibiger, L., Cooney, G. & Fullagar, P. 2015. Movement and diet in early Irish prehistory: first evidence from multi-isotope analysis. Journal of Irish Archaeology XXIII (for 2014), 83-96.

Bickle, P., Bentley, R.A., Dockalová, M., Fibiger, L., Griffiths, S., Hamilton, J., Hedges, R., Hofmann, D., Mateiciucová, I. & Whittle, A. 2014. Early Neolithic lifeways in Moravia and Western Slovakia: comparing archaeological, osteological and isotopic data from cemetery and settlement burials of the Linearbandkeramik (LBK). Anthropologie 52 (1), 35-72. 

Bickle, P. & Fibiger, L. 2014. Ageing, childhood, and social identity in the Early Neolithic of Central Europe. European Journal of Archaeology, 208-228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/1461957114Y.0000000052

Fibiger, L., Ahlström, T., Bennike, P. & Schulting, R. 2013. Patterns of violence-related skull trauma in Neolithic Southern Scandinavia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 150(2), 190-202. http://10.1002/ajpa.22192

Schulting, R., Fibiger, L., Macphail, R., McLaughlin, R., Murray, E., Price, C. & Walker, E.A. 2013. Mesolithic and Neolithic human remains from Foxhole Cave, Gower, South Wales. The Antiquaries Journal 93, 1 - 23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000358151300019X

Bentley, R.A., Bickle, P., Fibiger, L., Nowell, G.M., Dale, C.W., Hedges, R.E.M., Hamilton, J., Wahl, J., Francken, M., Grupe, G., Lenneis, E., Teschler-Nicola, M., Arbogast, R.-M., Hofmann, D. & Whittle, A. 2012. Community differentiation and kinship among Europe’s first farmers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109, 9326-9330. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1113710109

Rogers, T., Fibiger, L., Lynch, L.G. & Moore, D. 2007. Two glimpses of nineteenth-century institutional burial practice in Ireland: A report on the excavation of burials from Manorhamilton Workhouse, Co. Leitrim and St Brigid’s Hospital, Ballinsaloe, Co. Galway. Journal of Irish Archaeology XV, 2006, 93-104.

Fibiger, L. & Knüsel, C.J. 2005. Prevalence rates of spondylolysis in British skeletal populations. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 15(3), 164-174. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.766

 

Book Chapters

Fibiger. L. 2021. Steven Pinker’s ‘Prehistoric Anarchy’: A bioarchaeological critique. In P. Dwyer & M. Micale, M. (eds.) The Darker Angels of Our Nature : Refuting the Pinker Theory of History and Violence, 107-124. London, Bloomsbury Academic. 

Adler, T., Fibiger, L., Harries, J., Smith, J., Szöke, A.  & Teschler-Nicola, M. 2021. Dead images. Facing the history, ethics and politics of European skull collections. M. Hamm & K. Schönberger (eds.) Contentious Heritages and Arts: A Critical Companion, 63-68. Klagenfurt: Wieser.

Redfern, R. & Fibiger, L. 2018. Bioarchaeological evidence for prehistoric violence: Use and misuse in the popular media. In J. Buikstra (ed.) Bioarchaeologists speak out. Deep time perspectives on contemporary issues, 59-77. Cham: Springer.

Smith, M., Schulting, R.J. & Fibiger, L.  2020. Settled lives, unsettled times: Neolithic violence. In G.G. Fagan, L. Fibiger, M. Hudson & M. Trundle (eds.) The Cambridge World History of Violence: Volume 1, The Prehistoric and Ancient Worlds, 79-98. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Fibiger, L. 2018. Conflict and violence in the Neolithic of Central-Northern Europe. In M. Fernández-Götz & N. Roymans (eds.) Conflict Archaeology: Materialities of Collective Violence in Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Europe, 13-22. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Fibiger, L. & Seaver, M. 2016. Population, death and burial. In M. Seaver (ed.) Meitheal. The archaeology of lives, labours and beliefs at Raystown, Co. Meath, 61-85. Dublin, TII.

Fibiger, L. 2016. Osteoarchaeological analysis of human skeletal remains from 23 Irish caves. In M. A. Dowd (ed.) Underground archaeology. Studies on human bones and artefacts from Ireland's caves, 3-37. Oxford, Oxbow Books.

Schulting, R. J. & Fibiger, L. 2014. Violence in Neolithic North-West Europe. In A. Whittle & P. Bickle (eds.) Early Farmers. The view from Archaeology and Science, 281-306. Proceedings of the British Academy Vol. 198. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Fibiger, L. 2014. Misplaced childhood? Interpersonal violence and children in Neolithic Europe. In C. Knüsel & M. Smith (eds.)  The Routledge Handbook of the Bioarchaeology of Human Conflict, 127-145. Abingdon, Routledge.

Hamilton, J., Bentley, R.A., Bickle, P., Fibiger, L., Hedges, R., Reynard, L., Wright, C., Cullen, P., Dale, C., Nowell, G. & Whittle, A. 2013. Seeking diversity: Methodology. In P. Bickle & A. Whittle (eds.) The first farmers of Central Europe. Diversity in LBK lifeways, 29-48. Oxford, Oxbow.

Whittle, A., Anders, A., Bentley, R.A., Bickle, P., Cramp, L., Domboróczki, L., Fibiger, L., Hamilton, J., Hedges, R., Kalisz, N., Kovács, Z.E., Marton, T., Oross, K., Pap, I. & Raczky, P. 2013. Hungary. In P. Bickle & A. Whittle (eds.) The first farmers of Central Europe. Diversity in LBK lifeways, 49-100. Oxford, Oxbow.

Whittle, A., Bentley, R.A., Bickle, P., Dočkalová, M., Fibiger, L., Hamilton, J., Hedges, R., Mateiciucová, I. & Pavúk, J. 2013. Moravia and western Slovakia. In P. Bickle & A. Whittle (eds.) The first farmers of Central Europe. Diversity in LBK lifeways, 101-158. Oxford, Oxbow.

Bickle, P., Bentley, R.A., Blesl, C., Fibiger, L., Hamilton, J., Hedges, R. Lenneis, E., Neugebauer-Maresch, C., Stadler, P., Teschler-Nicola, M., Tiefenböck, B. & Whittle, A. 2013. Austria. In P. Bickle & A. Whittle (eds.) The first farmers of Central Europe. Diversity in LBK lifeways, 159-204. Oxford, Oxbow.

Hofmann, D., Pechtl, J., Bentley, R.A., Bickle, P., Fibiger, L., Grupe, G., Hamilton, J., Hedges, R., Schultz, M. & Whittle, A. 2013. Southern Bavaria. In P. Bickle & A. Whittle (eds.) The first farmers of Central Europe. Diversity in LBK lifeways, 205-250. Oxford, Oxbow.

Bickle, P., Arbogast, R.-M., Bentley, R.A., Fibiger, L., Hamilton, J., Hedges, R. & Whittle, A. 2013. Alsace. In P. Bickle & A. Whittle (eds.) The first farmers of Central Europe. Diversity in LBK lifeways, 291-242. Oxford, Oxbow.

Hedges, R., Bentley, R.A., Bickle, P., Cullen, P., Dale, C., Fibiger, L., Hamilton, J., Hofmann, D., Nowell, G. & Whittle, A. 2013. The supra-regional perspective. In P. Bickle & A. Whittle (eds.) The first farmers of Central Europe. Diversity in LBK lifeways, 343-384. Oxford, Oxbow.

Clinton, M., Fibiger, L. & Shiels, D. 2013. The Archaeology of the 1642 siege of Carrickmines Castle. In C. Corlett (ed.) Unearthing the archaeology of Dun-Laoghaire-Rathdown, 147-152. Bray, Wordwell.

Fibiger, L. 2012. Investigating cranial trauma in the German Wartberg Culture. In R. Schulting & L. Fibiger (eds.) Sticks, stones and broken bones. Neolithic violence in a European perspective,175-189. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Schulting, R. & Fibiger, L. 2012. Skeletal evidence for interpersonal violence in Neolithic Europe: an introduction. In R. Schulting & L. Fibiger (eds.) Sticks, stones and broken bones. Neolithic violence in a European perspective, 1-15. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Fibiger, L. 2010. The human skeletal remains from Ratoath, Co. Meath. In C. Corlett & M. Potterton (eds.) Death and burial in Early Medieval Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavations, 117-127. Bray, Wordwell.

Seaver, M. & Fibiger, L. 2010. Against the grain: Early Medieval settlement and burial on the Blackhill. Excavations at Raystown, Co. Meath. In C. Corlett & M. Potterton (eds.) Death and burial in Early Medieval Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavations, 261-279. Bray, Wordwell.

O’Carroll, F. & Fibiger, L. 2009. What lies beneath: the development of Castle Street, Trim. In M. Potterton & M. Seaver (eds.) Uncovering Medieval Trim, 271-292. Dublin, Four Courts Press.

Fibiger, L., Carlin, N. & Kinsella, J. 2008. The Social and Economic Context of the Enclosures. In N. Carlin, F. Walsh & L. Clarke (eds.) The Archaeology of Life and Death in the Boyne Floodplain, 113-128. Dublin, NRA.

Fibiger, L. 2008. Johnstown 1. Johnstown. Human skeletal remains. In N. Carlin, F. Walsh & L. Clarke (eds.) The Archaeology of Life and Death in the Boyne Floodplain, CD Appendix. Dublin, NRA.

Fibiger, L. 2008. Kilmorebrannagh 2. Human skeletal remains. In N. Carlin, F. Walsh & L. Clarke (eds.) The Archaeology of Life and Death in the Boyne Floodplain, CD Appendix. Dublin, NRA.

Clinton, M., Fibiger, L. & Shiels, D. 2007. Archaeology of massacre: the Carrickmines mass grave and the siege of March 1642. In D. Edwards, P. Lenihan & C. Tait (eds.) Age of atrocity: violent death and political conflict in Ireland 1547-1650, 192-203. Dublin, Four Courts Press.

Fibiger, L. 2005. Minor ailments, furious fights and deadly diseases: Investigating life in Johnstown, County Meath AD 400-1700. In J. O’Sullivan & M. Stanley (eds.) Recent archaeological discoveries on national road schemes 2004, 99-110. Archaeology and the National Roads Authority Monograph 2. Dublin, NRA.

Rogers, T., Fibiger, L., Lynch, L.G. & Moore, D. 2007. Two glimpses of nineteenth-century institutional burial practice in Ireland: A report on the excavation of burials from Manorhamilton Workhouse, Co. Leitrim and St Brigid’s Hospital, Ballinsaloe, Co. Galway. Journal of Irish Archaeology XV, 2006, 93-104.

 

Other

Fibiger, L. 2013. Frauen und Kinder - Opfer oder Kämpfer? Archäologie in Deutschland 2013 (1), 38-39.

Dowd, M., Fibiger, L. & Lynch, L.G. 2006. The human remains from Irish caves project. Archaeology Ireland 77(3), 16-19.

Fibiger, L. 2003. Report on the cremated human remains from Ballydowney, Killarney, Co. Kerry. Eachtra Journal 7, 63-67. Online. Available HTTP: <http://eachtra.ie/new_site/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/02E0055-Ballydowny-Killarney-Co.Kerry.pdf>.

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