Dr Kate Farr was until recently a Senior Lecturer in the
School of Sciences, University of Wolverhampton
having there taught for 32 years. Her interests are in
the impacts of humans on their environment over the
last 10 000 years since the last Ice Age. She has
examined cores of mud from many lakes and bogs to
examine pollen, algae and other evidence to find out
what the environment was like in the past and what
humans were doing there. One of the most tricky sites
we cored was the bottom of Loch Ness where we used a
mini submarine to check all was well, as this is the
deepest and probably darkest lake in Britain.
Dr Kate is also interested in the scientific techniques
that can be applied to archaeology to learn more about
sites and objects. For example, ancient DNA can show
us that the Body in the Leicester Car Park was indeed
Richard III and stable isotope analysis has shown us
that after a very meagre childhood diet he drank an
awful lot of wine as monarch!
In the lecture she will introduce you to some of our
newly discovered ancient ancestors and consider what
happened to the Neanderthals and the Beaker People.
Kate will show you how new techniques such as Isotope
Analysis can reveal so much more about our ancestors
by analysing what we eat after any other remains have
decayed away completely. Hence the title "You Are
What You Eat". Archaeologists are now
having to be much more careful about throwing
anything away as science has shown that in future
there may be a wealth of further information in the
most unpromising finds.
