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Health Sciences staff profiles

Associate Professor Siân Halcrow

PositionAssociate Professor
DepartmentDepartment of Anatomy
QualificationsBA(Hons) PhD(Otago)
Research summaryInfant and child health and disease in the past
Teaching
  • BIOA 101 Introduction to Biological Anthropology
  • BIOA 201 Biocultural Human Skeletal Biology
  • BIOA 301 Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton
  • ANAT 250 Functional Anatomy
Memberships

Professional affiliations (appointed through invitation and/or vote):

  • Committee of the Society of the Study of Childhood in the Past (2016–)
  • University of Otago O-zone Research Group member (since 2009) and Co-Convenor (2014–2015)
  • Royal Society of New Zealand Early Career Researcher's Working Group and Interim Committee (2015)
  • Royal Society of New Zealand Early Career Researcher Committee (2015–), Vice Chair (Social Science)
  • Fulbright NZ Alumni Association (2009–)
  • ASIA:NZ Foundation Young Leaders Network (Dunedin Cluster Member) (2005–)
  • New Zealand Federation of Graduate Women committee member (2007–2014) (National Executive and Otago Branch President) (2009–2014)

University service:

  • University of Otago Performance Based Research Funding Steering Committee (2015–2018)
  • University of Otago Research Committee (2015–2016)
  • Division of Health Sciences Research Committee (2015–)
  • OSMS Māori Strategic Framework Group (2015–)
  • Department of Anatomy Seminar Committee (2011–)
  • Department of Anatomy Research Committee (2012–2014)
  • Department of Anatomy Postgraduate Student Committee (2012–2013)
  • Department of Anatomy Teaching Management Committee (2013–)

Research

A/P Halcrow is a bioarchaeologist with a research focus on infant and child health and disease in the past. She leads and is an Associate Investigator on several multidisciplinary projects investigating the effects that the adoption and intensification of agriculture has on health in the past, with a regional focus on Southeast Asia.

Recently, A/P Halcrow has started a project researching adaptation and environmental change in Northern Chile using large superbly-preserved prehistoric human collections from the region, which include the earliest examples of artificial mummification in the world.

A/P Halcrow's research is funded through sources including the New Zealand Royal Society Marsden Fund, University of Otago Research Grants, and Fulbright New Zealand. She is also a Partner Investigator on Australian Council Research Grants.

Siân is the principal applicant and co-Director of the University of Otago Research Theme: Asia-Pacific Biocultural Health: Past and present.

Siân's research team includes:

Publications

Ward, S. M., Halcrow, S. E., Buckley, H. R., Higham, C. F. W., O’Reilly, D. J. W., Shewan, L., & Domett, K. M. (2018). Developing a new project: The impact of social change on health at the late Iron Age site of Non Ban Jak in Northeast Thailand. In N. H. Tan (Ed.), Advancing Southeast Asian archaeology 2016: Selected papers from the second SEAMEO SPAFA international conference on Southeast Asian archaeology. (pp. 259-275). Bangkok, Thailand: SEAMEO SPAFA Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts.

King, C. L., Millard, A. R., Gröcke, D. R., Standen, V. G., Arriaza, B. T., & Halcrow, S. E. (2018). A comparison of using bulk and incremental isotopic analyses to establish weaning practices in the past. STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/20548923.2018.1443548

King, C. L., Halcrow, S. E., Millard, A. R., Gröcke, D. R., Standen, V. G., Portilla, M., & Arriaza, B. T. (2018). Let's talk about stress, baby! Infant-feeding practices and stress in the ancient Atacama desert, Northern Chile. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23411

King, C. L., Millard, A. R., Gröcke, D. R., Standen, V. G., Arriaza, B. T., & Halcrow, S. E. (2018). Marine resource reliance in the human populations of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile: A view from prehistory. Quaternary Science Reviews, 182, 163-174. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.12.009

Halcrow, S. E. (2018). [Review of the book Paleopathology of children: Identification of pathological conditions in the human skeletal remains of non-adults]. Childhood in the Past. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/17585716.2018.1447809

Chapter in Book - Research

Ward, S. M., Halcrow, S. E., Buckley, H. R., Higham, C. F. W., O’Reilly, D. J. W., Shewan, L., & Domett, K. M. (2018). Developing a new project: The impact of social change on health at the late Iron Age site of Non Ban Jak in Northeast Thailand. In N. H. Tan (Ed.), Advancing Southeast Asian archaeology 2016: Selected papers from the second SEAMEO SPAFA international conference on Southeast Asian archaeology. (pp. 259-275). Bangkok, Thailand: SEAMEO SPAFA Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts.

Halcrow, S. E., King, C. L., Millard, A. R., Snoddy, A. M. E., Scott, R. M., Elliott, G. E., … Buckley, H. R., … Arriaza, B. T. (2017). Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings: Breastfeeding and weaning in the past. In C. Tomori, A. E. L. Palmquist & E. A. Quinn (Eds.), Breatsfeeding: New anthropological approaches. (pp. 155-169). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Halcrow, S. E., Tayles, N., & Elliott, G. E. (2017). The bioarchaeology of fetuses. In S. Han, T. K. Betsinger & A. B. Scott (Eds.), The anthropology of the fetus: Biology, culture, and society. (pp. 83-111). New York: Berghahn Books.

Halcrow, S., & Ward, S. (2017). Bioarchaeology of childhood. In H. Montgomery (Ed.), Oxford bibliographies: Childhood studies. Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/obo/9780199791231-0178

Domett, K., Newton, J., Colbert, A., Chang, N., & Halcrow, S. E. (2016). Frail, foreign or favoured? A contextualized case study from Bronze Age northeast Thailand. In M. Oxenham & H. Buckley (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. (pp. 68-94). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Halcrow, S. E., Tayles, N., & King, C. L. (2016). Infant and child health and disease with agricultural intensification in mainland Southeast Asia. In M. Oxenham & H. Buckley (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. (pp. 158-186). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Tayles, N., & Halcrow, S. E. (2016). Age-at-death estimation in a sample of Prehistoric Southeast Asian adolescents and adults. In M. Oxenham & H. Buckley (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. (pp. 220-238). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Harris, N. J., Buckley, H. R., Halcrow, S. E., Kinaston, R. L., Foster, A., Simanjantuk, T., & Galipaud, J.-C. (2016). Field anthropology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: Initial steps toward a regional overview and the Pain Haka case study. In M. Oxenham & H. Buckley (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. (pp. 289-310). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Tayles, N., Halcrow, S., & Clark, A. (2015). Ban Non Wat: Current research on late prehistoric people in the Upper Mun River Valley, Northeast Thailand. In N. H. Tan (Ed.), Advancing Southeast Asian archaeology 2013: Selected papers from the first SEAMEO SPAFA international conference on Southeast Asian archaeology. (pp. 279-288). Bangkok, Thailand: SEAMEO SPAFA Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts.

Gilmore, H. F., & Halcrow, S. E. (2014). Sense or sensationalism? Approaches to explaining high perinatal mortality in the past. In J. L. Thompson, M. P. Alfonso-Durruty & J. J. Crandall (Eds.), Tracing childhood: Bioarchaeological investigations of early lives in antiquity. (pp. 123-138). Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.

Halcrow, S., & Boonlop, K. (2014). Report on the human remains from the Middle Mekong Archaeological Project [Collaborator report]. In J. C. White (Ed.), Strengthening the future of Southeast Asian archaeology: Investigating prehistoric settlement of the Middle Mekong Basin [Final report]. (pp. 23-42). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Clark, A., Tayles, N., & Halcrow, S. (2012). Sexual dimorphism in adult skeletal remains at Ban Non Wat, Thailand, during the intensification of agriculture in early prehistoric Southeast Asia. In P. D. Mitchell & J. Buckberry (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. (pp. 17-28). Oxford, UK: Archaeopress.

Tayles, N., Halcrow, S., & Pureepatpong, N. (2012). Regional developments: Southeast Asia. In J. E. Buikstra & C. A. Roberts (Eds.), The global history of paleopathology: Pioneers and prospects. (pp. 528-540). Oxford University Press.

Tayles, N., & Halcrow, S. (2011). New Zealand/Aotearoa. In N. Márquez-Grant & L. Fibiger (Eds.), 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. (pp. 647-655). London: Routledge.

Halcrow, S., Tayles, N., Pureepatpong, N., & Boonlop, K. (2011). Thailand. In N. Márquez-Grant & L. Fibiger (Eds.), 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. (pp. 623-631). London: Routledge.

Halcrow, S. E., & Tayles, N. (2011). Human diversity in mainland Southeast Asia: The contribution of bioarchaeology. In N. J. Enfield (Ed.), Dynamics of human diversity: The case of mainland Southeast Asia. (pp. 47-61). Canberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics.

Halcrow, S. E., & Tayles, N. (2011). The bioarchaeological investigation of children and childhood. In S. C. Agarwal & B. A. Glencross (Eds.), Social bioarchaeology. (pp. 333-360). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Tayles, N., Domett, K., & Halcrow, S. (2009). Can dental caries be interpreted as evidence of farming? The Asian experience. In T. Koppe, G. Meyer & K. W. Alt (Eds.), Comparative dental morphology: Selected papers of the 14th International Symposium on Dental Morphology. (pp. 162-166). Basel, Switzerland: Karger. doi: 10.1159/000242411

Tayles, N., Halcrow, S., & Domett, K. (2007). The people of Noen U-Loke. In C. F. W. Higham, A. Kijngam & S. Talbot (Eds.), The origins of the civilization of Angkor (Vol. II): The excavation of Noen U-Loke and Non Muang Kao. (pp. 244-304). Bangkok, Thailand: The Thai Fine Arts Department.

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Chapter in Book - Other

Buckley, H. R., Domett, K., Halcrow, S. E., & Oxenham, M. (2016). A dedication. In M. Oxenham & H. Buckley (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. (pp. xxv-xxviii). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315725444

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Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Millard, A. R., Gröcke, D. R., Standen, V. G., Arriaza, B. T., & Halcrow, S. E. (2018). A comparison of using bulk and incremental isotopic analyses to establish weaning practices in the past. STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/20548923.2018.1443548

King, C. L., Millard, A. R., Gröcke, D. R., Standen, V. G., Arriaza, B. T., & Halcrow, S. E. (2018). Marine resource reliance in the human populations of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile: A view from prehistory. Quaternary Science Reviews, 182, 163-174. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.12.009

King, C. L., Halcrow, S. E., Millard, A. R., Gröcke, D. R., Standen, V. G., Portilla, M., & Arriaza, B. T. (2018). Let's talk about stress, baby! Infant-feeding practices and stress in the ancient Atacama desert, Northern Chile. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23411

Clark, A. L., King, C. L., Buckley, H. R., Collins, C. J., Dhavale, N., Elliott, G. E., Gosling, A., Halcrow, S. E., … Matisoo-Smith, E., … Tromp, M., Ward, S., & West, K. (2017). Biological anthropology in the indo-pacific region: New approaches to age-old questions. Journal of Indo-Pacific Archaeology, 41, 78-94.

Dhavale, N., Halcrow, S. E., Buckley, H. R., Tayles, N., Domett, K. M., & Gray, A. R. (2017). Linear and appositional growth in infants and children from the prehistoric settlement of Ban Non Wat, Northeast Thailand: Evaluating biological responses to agricultural intensification in Southeast Asia. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 11, 435-446. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.12.019

Mays, S., Gowland, R., Halcrow, S., & Murphy, E. (2017). Child bioarchaeology: Perspectives on the past 10 years. Childhood in the Past. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/17585716.2017.1301066

King, C. L., Halcrow, S. E., Tayles, N., & Shkrum, S. (2017). Considering the palaeoepidemiological implications of socioeconomic and environmental change in Southeast Asia. Archaeological Research in Asia, 11, 27-37. doi: 10.1016/j.ara.2017.05.003

Snoddy, A. M. E., Halcrow, S. E., Buckley, H. R., Standen, V. G., & Arriaza, B. T. (2017). Scurvy at the agricultural transition in the Atacama desert (ca 3600–3200 BP): Nutritional stress at the maternal-foetal interface? International Journal of Paleopathology, 18, 108-120. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2017.05.011

Scott, R. M., & Halcrow, S. E. (2017). Investigating weaning using dental microwear analysis: A review. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 11, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.11.026

Farah, R. A., Painuthara, L., Broadbent, J. M., Buckley, H. R., & Halcrow, S. E. (2016). Physiological insult of the burial environment: Differentiating developmental defects from post-mortem stained enamel in deciduous dentition from the Chiefdom Period of Tonga, Polynesia. Matters Select. Retrieved from https://www.sciencematters.io/articles/201605000005

Galipaud, J.-C., Kinaston, R., Halcrow, S., Foster, A., Harris, N., Simanjuntak, T., … Buckley, H. (2016). The Pain Haka burial ground on Flores: Indonesian evidence for a shared Neolithic belief system in Southeast Asia. Antiquity, 90(354), 1505-1521. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2016.185

Snoddy, A. M. E., Buckley, H. R., & Halcrow, S. E. (2016). More than metabolic: Considering the broader paleoepidemiological impact of vitamin D deficiency in bioarchaeology. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 160, 183-196. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22968

Halcrow, S., & Millard, A. (2016). Challenging the agricultural transition models of prehistoric human health change: Insights from infants and children from diverse environments. Quaesitum, (II), 30-32.

Tayles, N., Halcrow, S. E., Sayavongkhamdy, T., & Souksavatdy, V. (2015). A prehistoric flexed human burial from Pha Phen, Middle Mekong Valley, Laos: Its context in Southeast Asia. Anthropological Science, 123(1), 1-12. doi: 10.1537/ase.141013

Clark, A. L., Tayles, N., & Halcrow, S. E. (2014). Aspects of health in prehistoric mainland Southeast Asia: Indicators of stress in response to the intensification of rice agriculture. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 153(3), 484-495. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22449

Halcrow, S. E., Rooney, J., Beavan, N., Gordon, K. C., Tayles, N., & Gray, A. (2014). Assessing Raman spectroscopy as a prescreening tool for the selection of archaeological bone for stable isotopic analysis. PLoS ONE, 9(7), e98462. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0098462

Buckley, H. R., Kinaston, R., Halcrow, S. E., Foster, A., Spriggs, M., & Bedford, S. (2014). Scurvy in a tropical paradise? Evaluating the possibility of infant and adult vitamin C deficiency in the Lapita skeletal sample of Teouma, Vanuatu, Pacific islands. International Journal of Paleopathology, 5, 72-85. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2014.03.001

Halcrow, S. E., Harris, N. J., Beavan, N., & Buckley, H. R. (2014). First bioarchaeological evidence of probable scurvy in Southeast Asia: Multifactorial etiologies of vitamin C deficiency in a tropical environment. International Journal of Paleopathology, 5, 63-71. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2014.01.004

Higham, C., Cameron, J., Chang, N., Castillo, C., Halcrow, S., O'Reilly, D., … Shewan, L. (2014). The excavation of Non Ban Jak, Northeast Thailand: A report on the first three seasons. Journal of Indo-Pacific Archaeology, 34, 1-41.

Halcrow, S. E., Harris, N. J., Tayles, N., Ikehara-Quebral, R., & Pietrusewsky, M. (2013). From the mouths of babes: Dental caries in infants and children and the intensification of agriculture in mainland Southeast Asia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 150(3), 409-420. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22215

Kinaston, R. L., Walter, R. K., Jacomb, C., Brooks, E., Tayles, N., Halcrow, S. E., Stirling, C., Reid, M., Gray, A. R., Spinks, J., Shaw, B., … Buckley, H. R. (2013). The first New Zealanders: Patterns of diet and mobility revealed through isotope analysis. PLoS ONE, 8(5), e64580. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064580

Gilmore, H., Schafer, C., & Halcrow, S. (2013). Tapu and the invention of the "death taboo": An analysis of the transformation of a Polynesian cultural concept. Journal of Social Archaeology, 13(3), 331-349. doi: 10.1177/1469605313503229

McKay, S., Farah, R., Broadbent, J. M., Tayles, N., & Halcrow, S. E. (2013). Is it health or the burial environment: Differentiating between hypomineralised and post-mortem stained enamel in an archaeological context. PLoS ONE, 8(5), e64573. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064573

Perkins, A., & Halcrow, S. E. (2012). Drumming up Asian awareness in Otago primary schools: Leading an educational performance to connect children with their wider community. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy & Practice, 27(1), 74-81.

Beavan, N., Halcrow, S., McFadgen, B., Hamilton, D., Buckley, B., Sokha, T., … Chhem, K. R. (2012). Radiocarbon dates from jar and coffin burials of the Cardamom Mountains reveal a unique mortuary ritual in Cambodia's late-to post-Angkor period (15th-17th centuries AD). Radiocarbon, 54(1), 1-22.

Halcrow, S., Tayles, N., Inglis, R., & Higham, C. (2012). Newborn twins from prehistoric mainland Southeast Asia: Birth, death and personhood. Antiquity, 86(333), 838-852. doi: 10.1017/S0003598X00047955

Halcrow, S., Tayles, N., Pureepatpong, N., & Boonlop, K. (2011). Human remains from archaeological sites in Thailand: Legislative and ethical issues (in Thai). Murang Boran Journal, 37(3), 143-148.

Buckley, H. R., Tayles, N., Halcrow, S. E., Robb, K., & Fyfe, R. (2010). The people of Wairau Bar: A re-examination. Journal of Pacific Archaeology, 1(1), 1-20.

Halcrow, S. E., & Tayles, N. (2010). Talon cusp in a deciduous lateral incisor from prehistoric Southeast Asia. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 20(2), 240-247. doi: 10.1002/oa.1020

Halcrow, S. E., & Tayles, N. (2010). The archaeological infant in biological and social context: A response to Mike Lally and Traci Ardren 2008. Little artefacts: Rethinking the constitution of the archaeological infant Childhood in the Past 1, 62-77. Childhood in the Past, 3, 123-130.

Kinaston, R. L., Buckley, H. R., Halcrow, S. E., Spriggs, M. J. T., Bedford, S., Neal, K., & Gray, A. (2009). Investigating foetal and perinatal mortality in prehistoric skeletal samples: A case study from a 3000-year-old Pacific Island cemetery site. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(12), 2780-2787. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2009.09.004

Halcrow, S. E., & Tayles, N. (2008). Stress near the start of life? Localised enamel hypoplasia of the primary canine in late prehistoric mainland Southeast Asia. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35(8), 2215-2222. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2008.02.002

Halcrow, S. E., Tayles, N., & Livingstone, V. (2008). Infant death in late prehistoric Southeast Asia. Asian Perspectives, 47(2), 371-404. doi: 10.1353/asi.0.0007

Halcrow, S. E., & Tayles, N. (2008). The bioarchaeological investigation of childhood and social age: Problems and prospects. Journal of Archaeological Method & Theory, 15(2), 190-215. doi: 10.1007/s10816-008-9052-x

Halcrow, S. E., Tayles, N., & Buckley, H. R. (2007). Age estimation of children from prehistoric Southeast Asia: Are the dental formation methods used appropriate? Journal of Archaeological Science, 34, 1158-1168.

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Journal - Research Other

Halcrow, S. E. (2018). [Review of the book Paleopathology of children: Identification of pathological conditions in the human skeletal remains of non-adults]. Childhood in the Past. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/17585716.2018.1447809

Halcrow, S. E. (2017). [Review of the book The archaeology of childhood: Interdisciplinary perspectives on an archaeological enigma]. Childhood in the Past, 10(1), 91-92. doi: 10.1080/17585716.2017.1323498

Halcrow, S. E. (2017). New bioarchaeological approaches to care in the past. Antiquity, 91(358), 1101-1103. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2017.99

Halcrow, S. E., & Lertcharnrit, T. (2017). Challenging the agricultural transition models of prehistoric human health change: Insights from infants and children from Southeast Asia. Art & Culture Magazine, 38(7), 24-27. [Commentary].

Halcrow, S. E. (2016). [Review of the book The science of a lost medieval Gaelic graveyard: The Ballyhanna Research Project]. Antiquity, 1714-1715. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2016.204

Halcrow, S. E. (2016). [Review of the book Skeletal Biology of the Ancient Rapanui (Easter Islanders)]. Rapa Nui Journal, 30(2), 99-100. [Book Review].

Kinaston, R. L., Shaw, B., Gray, A. R., Walter, R. K., Jacomb, C., Brooks, E., Halcrow, S. E., & Buckley, H. R. (2015). Critical review of Brown and Thomas "The first New Zealanders? An alternative interpretation of the stable isotope data from Wairau Bar" [Formal comment]. PLoS ONE, 10(10), e0137616. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137616

Halcrow, S. (2011). [Review of the book Bioarchaeology and climate change: A view from South Asian prehistory]. Childhood in the Past, 4, 122-123. [Book Review].

Halcrow, S. (2007). [Review of the book Ywa Htin: Iron Age burials in the Samon Valley, Upper Burma]. BMSAP, 19(3-4), 307-308. [Book Review].

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