911爆料吃瓜

Maria Rousou is an archaeobotanist and post-doctoral researcher at the Malcom H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Sciences of the ASCSA (Malcolm H. Wiener Annual Scholarship). She is specialised in the analysis of seed, fruit and wood charcoal remains.

She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Cyprus and her post-graduate studies at the Muséum national d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. Her PhD research, entitled Exploitation des ressources végétales et impact environnemental des premieurs peuplements humains à Chypre : approches anthracologique et carpologique, defended in 2022, was focused on the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment of Cyprus during the Holocene and its evolution in relation to climatic changes, the impact of the first sedentary Neolithic populations of Cyprus, and the exploitation of plant resources with a special focus on fruit trees. Since 2022, she has undertaken post-doctoral research at the Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory on the history of origins of Pistacia oil in the Mediterranean, a project funded by the Fyssen Foundation (France) and she served as Archaeological Officer at the Department of Antiquities of the Deputy Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus.

Her research interests focus on the human-environment relations in insular and coastal areas in the Eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus, Aegean), the Neolithisation process, the long-term evolution of the palaeoenvironment from the Pleistocene into the Holocene, agricultural economies, and the uses of plant resources in the everyday life of populations in the past. Her approach is interdisciplinary, drawing from carpology, anthracology, experimental archaeology, and ethnobotany. She has published high-quality research in leading international journals such as Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, and Paléorient.

Her current research focuses on reconstructing the agricultural economy of Cyprus during the Iron Age through the analysis of carpological remains from the sites of Kouklia-Palaepaphos and the Palace of Amathous. The project aims to shed light on agricultural practices, the exploitation of key crops, the management of large-scale agricultural territories, and the role of olive oil production in the local economy and trade of agricultural surpluses.