Dr Wendy Smith BA MSc PhD

Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology
Honorary Research Fellow

Contact details

Wendy Smith is an archaeobotanist  at Museum of London Archaeology with over 20 years’ experience in British archaeobotany.  She is responsible for the assessment and analysis of plant macrofossils from archaeological sites.  Her research interests include environmental reconstruction, alternatives to wood fuels and ancient economy.  She has published her PhD results as an Egypt Exploration Society Monograph, co-authored an AEA conference monograph and published on aspects of environmental archaeology, as well as publishing archaeobotanical results.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Archaeology - University of Leicester
  • MSc in Environmental Archaeology & Palaeoeconomy - University of Sheffield
  • BA in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology - Bryn Mawr College (USA)

Biography

I currently am an archaeobotanist at Museum of London Archaeology (2022 - present).   Previously, I have worked as the English Heritage (now Historic England) Research Fellow in Archaeobotany at the Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton and the Historic England Laboratory at Fort Cumberland (2000 - 2002) and also as a Project Officer/ Archaeobotanist at Oxford Archaeology (2006 - 2010).  At various points (1998 - 2000/ 2003 - 2006/ 2010 - 2022) I have worked as a free-lance archaeobotanist with University of Birmingham Environmental Archaeology Services.  I continue to work with colleagues at the University of Birmingham, assisting with archaeobotanical data on various projects.

Research

My research interests include environmental reconstruction, alternatives to wood fuels and the ancient economy.

Publications

Recent publications

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Smith, W 2018, Olives and Olive Oil. in The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences. Wiley Online Library.

Chapter

Smith, W 2022, The vegetational history of Stratton. in D Shotliff & D Ingham (eds), Stratton, Biggleswade: 1,300 Years of Village Life in Eastern Bedfordshire from the 5th Century AD. Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 166-179. https://doi.org/10.32028/9781803270746

Smith, W 2020, Charred and mineralised plant remains. in A Dodds, S Mileson & L Webley (eds), The Archaeology of Oxford in the 21st Century: Investigations in the City by Oxford Archaeology, 2006 – 2016: Oxford Archaeological and Historical Society Occasional Paper 1. pp. 396-400.

Smith, W & Smith, D 2017, ASQ3: Plant macrofossil and insect remains. in K Krawiec, A Howard & B Gearey (eds), Beside the River Trent: Archaeological Investigations at Shardlow Quarry, Derbyshire: Spoil Heap Publications Monograph 14. Spoilheap publications, pp. 84-94.

Smith, D & Smith, W 2017, ASQ4: Insects and plant macrofossils. in K Krawiec, A Howard & B Gearey (eds), Beside the River Trent: Archaeological Investigations at Shardlow Quarry, Derbyshire: Spoil Heap Publications Monograph 14. Spoilheap publications, Portslade, East Sussex, pp. 94 - 95.

Smith, D & Smith, W 2017, Channel H and Logboat 2: insect and plant remains. in K Krawiec, A Howard & B Gearey (eds), Beside the River Trent: Archaeological Investigations at Shardlow Quarry, Derbyshire: Spoil Heap Publications Monograph 14. Spoilheap publications, pp. 102 - 104.

Smith, D, Smith, W, Ciaraldi, M & McKenna, R 2017, Locations G1 adn G2: Insect and plant remains. in K Krawiec, A Howard & B Gearey (eds), Beside the River Trent: Archaeological Investigations at Shardlow Quarry, Derbyshire: Spoil Heap Publications Monograph 14. Spoilheap publications, Portslade, East Sussex, pp. 45 - 61.

Smith, W 2017, Plant remains. in K Krawiec, A Howard & B Gearey (eds), Beside the River Trent: Archaeological Investigations at Shardlow Quarry, Derbyshire: Spoil Heap Publications Monograph 14. Spoilheap publications, Portslade, East Sussex, pp. 69 - 70.

Bamforth, M, Krawiec, K, Baldwin, E, Gaffney, C, Hopla, E, Marshall, P, Mynett, A, Smith, D, Smith, W, Tyers, I & Tester, C 2016, Archaeological excavations and analyses of a Late Prehistoric timber alignment: The Beccles Project (2006–2012). in B Gearey, H Chapman & A Howard (eds), Down by the River: Archaeological, Palaeoenvironmental and Geoarchaeological Investigations of the Suffolk River Valleys. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 79 - 138.

Panter, I, Hopla, E, Smith, D, Smith, W, Fletcher, W & Ward, I 2016, Assessing the preservation of the archaeo-envrionmental resource at Beccles and Barsham: implications for future management and preservation in situ. in B Gearey, H Chapman & A Howard (eds), Down by the River: Archaeological, Palaeoenvironmental and Geoarchaeological Investigations of the Suffolk River Valleys. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 158 - 175.

Hill, T, Hopla, E, Krawiec, K, Tetlow, E, Grinter, P, Smith, D, Smith, W, Reilly, E & Moss, A 2016, Palaeonvironmental and goarchaeological investigations of the Suffolk River Valleys: Birmingham Archaeo-Environmental Commercial Projects 2005–2012. in B Gearey, H Chapman & A Howard (eds), Down by the River: Archaeological, Palaeoenvironmental and Geoarchaeological Investigations of the Suffolk River Valleys. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 39 - 78.

Smith, W 2015, Charred, mineralised and waterlogged plant macrofossils. in A Hicks (ed.), Destined to Serve: Use of the Outer Grounds of St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, before, during and after the Time of the Monks: Canterbury Christ Church University Excavations 1983–200: Canterbury Archaeological Trust Occasional Paper No 11. Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 338-357.

McKenna, R & Smith, W 2015, Charred Plant Remains from the Excavations. in S Paul & J Hunt (eds), Evolution of a Community: The Colonisation of a Clay Inland Landscape: Neolithic to Post-medieval Remains Excavated over Sixteen Years at Longstanton in Cambridgeshire. Archaeopress, pp. 148-158. <https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvqc6k93.16>

Smith, W & McKenna, R 2015, CPR Tables. in S Paul & J Hunt (eds), Evolution of a Community: The Colonisation of a Clay Inland Landscape: Neolithic to post-medieval remains excavated over sixteen years at Longstanton in Cambridgeshire. Archaeopress, pp. 227-247. <https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvqc6k93.30>

Smith, W & Moffett, L 2015, The charred remains. in P Parr (ed.), Excavations at Tell Nebi Mend, Syria: Levant Supplementary Series Volume 16. vol. 1, Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 336 -343.

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