Caves are unique archives of the past, offering protective environments for the preservation of sediment layers rich in fossils and archaeological records. By studying these records in Norway we can answer questions about the early colonization of animals and humans following the last glacial, the ecolgical and evolutionary changes in biodiversity as the climate changes, and the developments in human-environment interactions through time.
We excavate and analyse such archives preserved in caves throughout Norway. Some of these sites are paleorecords without any clear influence of humans, while others contain rich archaeological evidence supporting extensive use by people 1000s of years ago. We combine morphological analyses of bones with bulk-bone metabarcoding to identify the faunal material we excavate. In addition, we use shotgun sequencing of bulk-bone as well as single bones to allow population genetic analyses of single species through time. All data is analysed in an interdisciplenary framework bringing together ecology, ancient DNA, evolution, archaeology and geology.
We have possibilities for MSc projects in different aspects, wth the possibility to focus morphological analyses of bones (zoo-archaeology) or to focus more on ancient DNA and (conservation) genetics. If you are interested come and have a chat!
For more information please contact Sanne Boessenkool (sanne.boessenkool@ibv.uio.no).