2026 Studentship Winners
Phoebe Meyrick, University of Queensland AU
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Biography
Phoebe Meyrick is a PhD Candidate in Bioarchaeology at the University of Queensland, examining how social inequality is embodied in bone health in ancient human populations. This research hopes to contribute to the understanding of bone loss in modern populations and its association with socioeconomic status. Her past research projects have also focused on health in the past, including treponemal disease in Papua New Guinea and medical intervention in colonial Otago. Both her Masters and PhD research seek to inform on how social injustices are reflected in the skeleton and how we can work towards rectifying these in today's society. |
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Research Summary
Phoebe’s current research uses multiple analytical methods to investigate bone quality and remodelling in a socially stratified community from medieval Canterbury. Medieval England was governed by a strict lawmaking system that favoured the upper classes and created distinct socioeconomic groups. An epidemiological framework, known as the social determinants of health, suggests that socioeconomic disadvantage impacts health as it dictates access to crucial resources such as food, healthcare, education, and occupations. This approach can be applied to an ancient population using bioarchaeological methods to examine how social inequality affects bone health. Within two social groups, this research employs histomorphometry to investigate bone cell connectivity and density as a measure for remodelling activity, cortical index measurements to assess bone quality, and infrared microspectroscopy to assess biochemical composition.
This research addresses a gap in current knowledge about how bone quality in the past is related to the burden of bone loss in modern populations. Many studies have investigated the association between socioeconomic status and bone health yet fail to incorporate both modern and ancient perspectives to gain a better picture. Applying three new methods to a socially stratified ancient community will provide further insights into the effect of socioeconomic status on bone health. The ASHB studentship helped to make adding cortical index measurements to this project possible.
Phoebe’s current research uses multiple analytical methods to investigate bone quality and remodelling in a socially stratified community from medieval Canterbury. Medieval England was governed by a strict lawmaking system that favoured the upper classes and created distinct socioeconomic groups. An epidemiological framework, known as the social determinants of health, suggests that socioeconomic disadvantage impacts health as it dictates access to crucial resources such as food, healthcare, education, and occupations. This approach can be applied to an ancient population using bioarchaeological methods to examine how social inequality affects bone health. Within two social groups, this research employs histomorphometry to investigate bone cell connectivity and density as a measure for remodelling activity, cortical index measurements to assess bone quality, and infrared microspectroscopy to assess biochemical composition.
This research addresses a gap in current knowledge about how bone quality in the past is related to the burden of bone loss in modern populations. Many studies have investigated the association between socioeconomic status and bone health yet fail to incorporate both modern and ancient perspectives to gain a better picture. Applying three new methods to a socially stratified ancient community will provide further insights into the effect of socioeconomic status on bone health. The ASHB studentship helped to make adding cortical index measurements to this project possible.
Chloe Boucher, Charles Sturt University
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Biography
Chloe Boucher is an Honours Student at Charles Sturt University, New South Wales, Australia. In 2025, Chloe graduated from a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney where she majored in Archaeology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology. To tie the skills and knowledge gained from her majors together, she aims to use biochemistry and biomolecular techniques to study the ancient past within her honour’s thesis. Whilst working on her thesis, she has assisted with bioarchaeological research in Sumatra, Indonesia and recently published an article investigating the presentation of scurvy on an individual from the Metal Period of the Philippines (~2000-1800 BP). |
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Research Summary
Archaeological skeletal human remains are an indispensable resource for reconstructing the past. For descendant communities they also typically hold strong ancestral significance, which means developing and using minimally destructive methods for analysis is paramount for the future of culturally accessible bioarchaeological research. This project will assess the reliability of minimally destructive techniques for paleoproteomic analysis and bulk carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analysis of teeth from tropical archaeological sites. Childhood diet will also be assessed using a novel minimally destructive ‘hot water bath’ technique for extracting the collagen needed for isotopic analysis. The paleoproteomic analysis will use an established minimally destructive acid etching method to extract a sex dependant protein for biological sex estimation. These results will compare childhood diets across two archaeological sites from the Metal Period Philippines and any possible sex-related dietary differences during this period. Through the use of these techniques, this research aims to grow greater confidence in minimally destructive bioarchaeological techniques for future research.
Archaeological skeletal human remains are an indispensable resource for reconstructing the past. For descendant communities they also typically hold strong ancestral significance, which means developing and using minimally destructive methods for analysis is paramount for the future of culturally accessible bioarchaeological research. This project will assess the reliability of minimally destructive techniques for paleoproteomic analysis and bulk carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analysis of teeth from tropical archaeological sites. Childhood diet will also be assessed using a novel minimally destructive ‘hot water bath’ technique for extracting the collagen needed for isotopic analysis. The paleoproteomic analysis will use an established minimally destructive acid etching method to extract a sex dependant protein for biological sex estimation. These results will compare childhood diets across two archaeological sites from the Metal Period Philippines and any possible sex-related dietary differences during this period. Through the use of these techniques, this research aims to grow greater confidence in minimally destructive bioarchaeological techniques for future research.