Dr Silvia Bello PhD

Biography

Employment history

Natural History Museum, London

2005 - present    Post-doctoral Research Assistant, Ancient Human Occupation of Britain Project

2007                     Research Assistant, Tasmanian human skeletal collection Project.

2002 - 2004        Marie Curie Post-Doctoral Research Fellow.

 

 

Qualifications

2001 
PhD in Biological Anthropology, Joint supervision between the University of Marseilles, France and the University of Florence, Italy.

1998 
MSc (Masters Equivalent, Diplôme d’Études Approfondies) in Biological Anthropology, University of Marseilles, France.

1997 
MA (Masters Equivalent, Diplôme d’Études Approfondies) in Prehistory, University of Aix en Provence, France.

1995 
BSc (University Degree, Laurea) in Natural Sciences, University of Turin, Italy.

Professional Roles

Teaching experience

2007-2008 
Lecturer at the School of Human and Life Sciences, Roehampton University, London, UK. Module title: “Human Evolution and Palaeoanthropology”, 48-hour course.

2006 
- Examiner for MSc Advanced Methods in Taxonomy and Biodiversity, The Natural History Museum, London, UK 
- Contribution at the Residential Summer School (Conservation and Extinction – Past, present and future) run jointly by University College of London and The Natural History Museum, London, UK.

2002 
10-hour course on Human Taphonomy and Burial Practices and assessment of students’ oral exams at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.

1998-2000 
Moniteur (Student Tutor) in Biological Anthropology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Marseilles, Marseilles, France.

Grants and Fellowships

2009 
Royal Society International Travel Grant 2009/R3 (TG091824). To attend the 79th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (2010). Amount: £ 1334.11

2002-2004 
EU Grant: Marie Curie Individual Fellowship. 2-year contract at the Natural History Museum (London, UK). Total amount: 114.072 Euros.

1997-2000 
PhD Grant (three years) by the Department of Human Anthropology, University of Florence, Italy. Amount: around £ 20,000.

1996 
Improving Grant in Anthropology (for one-year research in a foreign country) by the University of Turin, Italy. Amount: around £ 6,000.

1994 
Erasmus Scholarship (9 months), by the University of Turin, Italy. Amount: around £ 2,000

Research

AHOB3 website

Ancient Human Occupation of Britain

Post-doctoral Research Assistant

The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain (AHOB) is a three-phase project to investigate ancient humans from Palaeolithic and Mesolithic northern Europe, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The third phase, "Dispersals of Early Humans: Adaptations, frontiers and new territories", is funded at £1.1 million and begins 1 October 2009, running for three years after that date.

 

Interests

My main field of research is the Evolution of Human behaviour. 

Human butchery behaviour

I explore the cultural butchery behaviour of early to anatomically modern humans through micromorphological analyses of bone and teeth surface modifications (e.g. cut-marks, percussion marks). These analyses are complemented by the study of micro-modification of cutting surface on stone tools. The projects employ a newly developed technology (Alicona 3D Infinite Focus imaging microscope) which surpasses any current observational or microscopic method for the analysis of cut-marks. This technology reveals vertical variations in the surface structure, and can therefore be used to interpret differences in the mechanical impact caused by different types of tool, and accordingly to different butchery techniques.

 

Human funerary behaviour (Forensic archaeology)

I investigate the funerary behaviour of prehistoric human populations through the taphonomic analysis of pre- and post-depositional processes affecting human and faunal remains. I am currently involved in collaborative ongoing projects on human cannibalism and the analyses of recently excavated human remains from the Upper Palaeolithic site of Taforalt (Morocco). The Taforalt analyses are conducted in collaboration with Dr Louise Humphrey (Dept. of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, London) and Prof. Nick Barton (Institute of Archaeology, Oxford). 

Bias in the archaeological record (Human taphonomy)

My research aims to understand how the information about the past may be affected by the way in which archaeological assemblages are structured and remains are preserved.

Publications

2013

• Bello S.M., De Groote I., Delbarre G. ( 2013 ) Application of 3-dimensional microscopy and micro-CT scanning to the analysis of Magdalenian portable art on bone and antler. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(5) : . http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.12.016
• Bello S.M., Delbarre G., Parfitt S.A., Currant A.P., Kruszynski R. and Stringer C.B. ( 2013 ) Lost and found. The remarkable curatorial history of one of the earliest discoveries of Palaeolithic portable art. Antiquity 87 (335) : 237-244 . http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/087/ant0870237.htm

2012

• Humphrey L., Bello S.M. and Rousham E. ( 2012 ) Sex differences in infant mortality in Spitalfields, London, 1750-1839. Journal of Biological Sciences 44 : 95-119 . doi:10.1017/S0021932011000484
• Humphrey L., Bello S.M., Turner E., Bouzouggar A., Barton N. ( 2012 ) Iberomaurusian Funerary Behaviour: Evidence from new Excavations at Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, Morocco. Journal of Human Evolution 62(2) : 261-273 . doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.11.003

2011

• Bello S.M. ( 2011 ) New results from the examination of cut-marks using 3-Dimensional imaging, In: The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain . Elsevier : Amsterdam , 227-239 .
• Bello S.M., Parfitt S.A., Stringer C.B. ( 2011 ) Earliest directly-dated human skull-cups. PLoS ONE 6(2) : . doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017026
• Bello S.M., Verveniotou E., Cornish L., Parfitt S.A. ( 2011 ) 3-Dimensional microscope analysis of bone and tooth surface modifications: comparisons of fossil specimens and replicas SCANNING 33(5) : 316-324 . 10.1002/sca.20248

2010

• Bello S.M. ( 2010 ) Butchered but not eaten? New evidence from the analyses of cut-marks on human remains at Gough’s Cave (Somerset, England, 14,700 cal BP). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 141(S50) : 65 . DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21276
• Hillson S., Parfitt S.A., Bello S.M., Roberts M.B. and Stringer C.B. ( 2010 ) Two hominin incisor teeth from the Middle Pleistocene site of Boxgrove, Sussex, England. Journal of Human Evolution 59 : 493-503 . doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.06.004

2009

• Bello S.M., Parfitt, S.A. and Stringer C. ( 2009 ) Quantitative micromorphological analyses of cut marks produced by ancient and modern handaxes. Journal of Archaeological Science 36 : 1869-1880 . doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.04.014
• Stringer C. and Bello S. (editors) ( 2009 ) Second Workshop of AHOB2: Ancient Human Occupation of Britain and its European Context . AHOB : London , . Second Workshop of AHOB2: Ancient Human Occupation of Britain and its European Context

2008

• Bello S.M. and Soligo C. ( 2008 ) A new method for the quantitative analysis of cutmark micromorphology. Journal of Archaeological Science 35 : 1542-1552 . doi:10.1016/j.jas.2007.10.018

2007

• Bello S. and Boëtsch G. ( 2007 ) Naître en maison d’accouchement à Marseille au XIXème siècle: prematurité et poids á la naissance. Biométrie Humaine et Anthropologie 25(3-4) : 231-240 .
• Bello S. and Humphrey L. ( 2007 ) The funeral behaviour and the social value of children in a proto-industrial urban population from London during the 18th and 19th centuries British Archaeological Reports – International Series 1712 : 24-31 .
• Bello S.M., Soligo C., Parfitt, S. 2007. ( 2007 ) Micromorphology of cut-marks in Palaeolithic Britain. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 132(S44) : 71-72 . DOI 10.1002/ajpa.21273
• Stringer C. and Bello S. (editors) ( 2007 ) First Workshop of AHOB2: Ancient Human Occupation of Britain and its European Context . AHOB : London , . First Workshop of AHOB2: Ancient Human Occupation of Britain and its European Context

2006

• Andrews P., Bello S. ( 2006 ) Pattern in human burial practices, In: The Social Archaeology of Funerary Remains . Oxbow Books : Oxford , 14-29 .
• Bello S., Andrews P. ( 2006 ) The intrinsic pattern of preservation of human skeletons and its influence on the interpretation of funerary behaviours, In: The Social Archaeology of Funerary Remains . Oxbow Books : Oxford , 1-13 .
• Bello S., Thomann A., Signoli M., Dutour O., Andrews P. ( 2006 ) Age and sex bias in the reconstruction of past population structures. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 129 : 24-38 . DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20243
• Lé M., Ardagna Y., Bello S., Dutour O. ( 2006 ) Une nouvelle méthode de quantification des réactions périostées en paléoppathologie: l’Indice pondéré d’atteinte périostée (IPAP). Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris 18 (3-4) : 187-196 . Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris

2005

• Bello S. ( 2005 ) The reciprocal effect of taphonomy, funerary practices and anatomical features on the state of preservation of human remains. British Archaeological Reports – International Series 1383 : 1-10 .
• Bello S. ( 2005 ) L’utilité des collections ostéologiques en taphonomie et anthropologie: la collection idéale n’est pas nécessairement la mieux conservée. Bulletin Archéologiques de Provence 4 : 145-151 .
• Thomann A., Bello S., Lalys L., Adalian P., Ardagna Y., Devriendt W., Gibert M., Genot A., Dutour O., Signoli M. ( 2005 ) Etude anthropologique du cimetière médiéval de Saint-Estève-le-Pont (Berre l’Etang, Bouches-du-Rhône). British Archaeological Reports – International Series 1355 : 31-39 .

2003

• Bello S., Thomann A., Rabino-Massa E., Dutour O. ( 2003 ) Quantification de l’Etat de conservation des collections ostéoarchéologiques et ses champs d’application en anthropologie Antropo 5 : 21-37 . Antropo