Dr Charlotte King

Position	Lecturer
Department	Department of Anatomy
Qualifications	PhD(Dunelm)
Research summary	Using isotopic systems to investigate questions of diet and mobility in prehistoric populations

Research

My research focusses on the emergence of agricultural societies and the way in which this transition has shaped human culture and biology. I use chemical analysis of human tissues to understand diet and human mobility in the past, as well as processes in the burial environment which might have impacted upon bone composition.

My main research currently centers on the agricultural transition in Northern Chile, and the use of incremental isotopic sampling techniques to identify changes to fertility, and subsistence strategy in variable climatic conditions. I use newly developed techniques to look at individual life-histories, and am beginning to reconstruct events experienced by some of the earliest inhabitants of the driest desert in the world.

Publications

Kramer, R. T., Kinaston, R. L., Holder, P. W., Armstrong, K. F., King, C. L., Sipple, W. D. K., … Reid, M., Barr, D., Wijenayake, K. G., Buckley, H. R., Stirling, C. H., & Bataille, C. P. (2022). A bioavailable strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) isoscape for Aotearoa New Zealand: Implications for food forensics and biosecurity. PLoS ONE, 17(3), e0264458. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264458

Buckley, H. R., Petchey, P., Ritchie, N., Kinaston, R. L., King, C., Geber, J., Matisoo-Smith, E., Snoddy, A. M., … Gröcke, D. R. (2022). 'Buried with his boots on': An integrated life course case-study of a liminal burial from the New Zealand goldrushes. Journal of Pacific Archaeology, 12(2), 92-109. Retrieved from https://pacificarchaeology.org/index.php/journal/article/view/335

Petchey, P., Buckley, H. R., Ritchie, N., & King, C. (2022). Death and dark deeds on the goldfields: The tragedies of an unknown miner. Journal of Pacific Archaeology. Advance online publication.

Buckley, H. R., Roberts, P., Kinaston, R., Petchey, P., King, C., Domett, K., Snoddy, A. M., & Matisoo-Smith, E. (2022). Living and dying on the edge of the Empire: A bioarchaeological examination of Otago’s early European settlers. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 52(1), 68-94. doi: 10.1080/03036758.2020.1837189

Snoddy, A. M. E., King, C. L., Petchey, P., Miszkiewicz, J. J., Kinaston, R. L., & Buckley, H. R. (2021). Disability and difference on the New Zealand frontier: Possible skeletal dysplasia in nineteenth-century Milton, Otago. Bioarchaeology International. Advance online publication. doi: 10.5744/bi.2021.0004

Adams, A. B., Halcrow, S. E., King, C. L., Miller, M. J., Vlok, M., Millard, A. R., … Buckley, H., … Oxenham, M. F. (2021). We’re all in this together: Accessing the maternal-infant relationship in prehistoric Vietnam. In E. J. Kendall & R. Kendall (Eds.), The family in past perspective: An interdisciplinary exploration of familial relationships through time. (pp. 191-221). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429355912

Chapter in Book - Research

Snoddy, A. M. E., King, C. L., Halcrow, S. E., Millard, A. R., Buckley, H. R., Standen, V. G., & Arriaza, B. T. (2021). Living on the edge: Climate-induced micronutrient famines in the ancient Atacama Desert? In G. Robbins Schug (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of the bioarchaeology of climate and environmental change. (pp. 60-82). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781351030465

Chapter in Book - Research

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. (2018). 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.), Breastfeeding: New anthropological approaches. (pp. 155-169). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Chapter in Book - Research

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 boarchaeology in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. (pp. 158-186). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Chapter in Book - Research

Journal - Research Article

Petchey, P., Buckley, H. R., Ritchie, N., & King, C. (2022). Death and dark deeds on the goldfields: The tragedies of an unknown miner. Journal of Pacific Archaeology. Advance online publication.

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Buckley, H. R., Petchey, P., Roberts, P., Zech, J., Kinaston, R., Collins, C., Kardailsky, O., Matisoo-Smith, E., & Nowell, G. (2021). An isotopic and genetic study of multi-cultural colonial New Zealand. Journal of Archaeological Science, 128, 105337. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2021.105337

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Kinaston, R. L., Snoddy, A. M. E., Buckley, H. R., Petchey, P., Millard, A. R., & Gröcke, D. R. (2021). Childhood in colonial Otago, New Zealand: Integrating isotopic and dental evidence for growth disturbance and oral health. Childhood in the Past. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/17585716.2021.1989211

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Petchey, P., Kinaston, R., Gröcke, D. R., Millard, A. R., Wanhalla, A., Brooking, T., Matisoo-Smith, E., & Buckley, H. R. (2021). A land of plenty? Colonial diet in rural New Zealand. Historical Archaeology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s41636-020-00276-y

Journal - Research Article

Kramer, R. T., King, C. L., Buckley, H. R., Jaouen, K., Boyd, D. A., Kiko, L., … Kinaston, R. L. (2021). Strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) isotope analysis of the Namu skeletal assemblage: A study of past human migration on Taumako, a Polynesian Outlier in the eastern Solomon Islands. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 4, 479-499. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.24179

Journal - Research Article

Allen, R., Ryan, H., Davis, B. W., King, C., Frantz, L., Irving-Pease, E., … Larson, G. (2020). A mitochondrial genetic divergence proxy predicts the reproductive compatibility of mammalian hybrids. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Series B, 287(1928), 20200690. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0690

Journal - Research Article

Duxfield, T., King, C., Buckley, H., Petchey, P., Nowell, G. M., & Kinaston, R. L. (2020). Establishing a strontium isotope baseline in New Zealand for future archaeological migration studies: A case study. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 32, 102412. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102412

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Buckley, H. R., Petchey, P., Kinaston, R., Millard, A., Zech, J., … Matisoo-Smith, E., … Gröcke, D. R. (2020). A multi-isotope, multi-tissue study of colonial origins and diet in New Zealand. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 172, 605-620. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.24077

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Petchey, P., Buckley, H. R., Girvan, E., & Nowell, G. M. (2020). Lead astray: The potentials and pitfalls of lead isotopes in a New Zealand colonial burial context. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 30, 102213. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102213

Journal - Research Article

Snoddy, A. M. E., Buckley, H. R., King, C. L., Kinaston, R. L., Nowell, G., Gröcke, D. R., Duncan, W. J., & Petchey, P. (2019). "Captain of All These Men of Death": An integrated case study of tuberculosis in nineteenth-century Otago, New Zealand. Bioarchaeology International, 3(4). doi: 10.5744/bi.2019.1014

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Arriaza, B. T., Standen, V. G., Millard, A. R., Gröcke, D. R., Muñoz, I., & Halcrow, S. E. (2018). Estudio isotópico del consumo de recursos marítimos y terrestres en la prehistoria del desierto de Atacama [Isotopic study of marine and terrestrial resources in the prehistory of the Atacama desert]. Chungara Revista de Antropología Chilena, 50(3), 369-396. doi: 10.4067/S0717-73562018005000802

Journal - Research Article

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, 166(1), 139-155. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23411

Journal - Research Article

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

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 [2017], 3(1), 126-134. doi: 10.1080/20548923.2018.1443548

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Snoddy, A. M., Millard, A. R., Gröcke, D. R., Standen, V. G., Arriaza, B. T., & Halcrow, S. E. (2018). A multi‐faceted approach towards interpreting early life experience and infant feeding practices in the ancient Atacama Desert, Northern Chile. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 28(5), 599-612. doi: 10.1002/oa.2671

Journal - Research Article

Petchey, P., Buckley, H., Hil, G., Kelly, A., Kinaston, R., King, C., & Scott, R. (2018). Life & death on the Otago frontier: Preliminary report on the Lawrence Cemeteries. Archaeology in New Zealand, 61(2), 22-40.

Journal - Research Article

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.

Journal - Research Article

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

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Tayles, N., Higham, C., Strand-Viđarsdóttir, U., Bentley, R. A., Macpherson, C. G., & Nowell, G. (2015). Using isotopic evidence to assess the impact of migration and the two-layer hypothesis in prehistoric Northeast Thailand. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 158(1), 141-150. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22772

Journal - Research Article

Blake, M., Naish, D., Larson, G., King, C. L., Nowell, G., Sakamoto, M., & Barnett, R. (2014). Multidisciplinary investigation of a 'British big cat': A lynx killed in southern England c. 1903. Historical Biology, 26(4), 441-448. doi: 10.1080/08912963.2013.785541

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Bentley, R. A., Higham, C., Tayles, N., Viðarsdóttir, U. S., Layton, R., … Nowell, G. (2014). Economic change after the agricultural revolution in Southeast Asia? Antiquity, 88, 112-125.

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Bentley, R. A., Tayles, N., Viðarsdóttir, U. S., Nowell, G., & Macpherson, C. G. (2013). Moving peoples, changing diets: Isotopic differences highlight migration and subsistence changes in the Upper Mun River Valley, Thailand. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40(4), 1681-1688. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2012.11.013

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Tayles, N., & Gordon, K. C. (2011). Re-examining the chemical evaluation of diagenesis in human bone apatite. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(9), 2222-2230. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2011.03.023

Journal - Research Article

King, C. L., Tayles, N., Higham, C., Strand-Viđarsdóttir, U., Bentley, R. A., Macpherson, C. G., & Nowell, G. (2016). Letter to the editor: Response to Oxenham and Matsumura. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 159(2), 352-354. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22875

Journal - Research Other

More publications...

Health Sciences profile

Dr Charlotte King

Research

Publications

Contact details

University links