My main research topics focus on the archaeology of sub-Saharan Africa and Central Europe with an emphasis on hunter-gatherers, pastoralists, and early farmers by comparing research data on lithic technology, subsistence patterns, organic artefacts, ceramic typology, and the ethnographic record. During my studies in Tuebingen I participated in a large number of different projects, including Sibudu Cave, Umbeli Belli and Iron Pig Shelter in South Africa, Hohle Fels,  Vogelherd, Schöningen in Germany, Sefunim Cave in Israel, Lobamba National Museum in eSwatini, and Mumba Cave in Tanzania. 

Since 2017, I was employed at the ORA lab in Tuebingen under the direction of Dr Cynthianne Spiteri. I received extensive training in the analysis of lipids originating from archaeological and modern reference samples (GC-MS and GC-c-IRMS). Furthermore, I received training by Dr Stephen Buckley in human dental calculus analysis (TD/Py-GC-MS). Since March 2021, I was employed at the Biogeology lab, supervised by Prof. Dr Hervé Bocherens, receiving training in the study of δ15N through compound specific isotopic analysis (CSIA) of amino acids from bone collagen. 

My MA dissertation focused on vessel use at Lydenburg Heads site, South Africa, dating to the Early Iron Age, using a combined approach of lipid biomarkers (GC-MS) and compound-specific isotope analysis (GC-c-IRMS). In addition to the microscale evidence, I conducted a detailed review of botanical and zoological data in the study area. This MA project is the first ORA study on early farming pottery in southern Africa. The project was supervised by Dr Cynthianne Spiteri (University of Tuebingen, Germany/University of Turin, Italy) and Dr Alex Schoeman (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa). Dr Gavin Whitelaw (Chief Curator, KwaZulu-Natal Museum, South Africa), Dr Stephen Buckley (University of Tuebingen/University of York), and Jean-Pierre Celliers (Curator, Lydenburg Museum, South Africa) were collaborative research partners. 

Spiteri, C., Kardamaki, E., Becher, J., Belser, M., Fratucello, L., Heikkilä, R. K., Labra-Odde, C., Mittelstädt, K., Jung, R. (2024). Vessel use at the Mycenaean Palace of Ayios Vasileios, Laconia, using Organic Residue Analysis. Praehistorische Zeitschrift.  https://doi.org/10.1515/pz-2024-2029 

Becher, J., Schoeman, A., Buckley, S., Whitelaw, G., Celliers, J.-P., Rageot, M., Cafisso, S., Belser, M., Spiteri, C. (2024). Multi-purpose pots: reconstructing early farmer behaviour at Lydenburg Heads site, South Africa, using organic residue analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science, 161, 105894: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105894 

Cubas, M., Becher, J., Chiang, Y., Antonius Dekker, J. A., Di Muro, A., Doliente, J. E., Craig, O. E. (2023). Organic Residue Analysis of Archaeological Pottery. In: Reference Module in Social Sciences: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90799-6.00047-1 

Buckley, S., Power, R. C., Andreadaki-Vlazaki, M., Akar, M., Becher, J., Belser, M., et al. Cafisso, S., Eisenmann, S., Fletcher, J., Francken, M., Hallager, B., Harvati, K., Ingman, T., Kataki, E., Maran, J., Martin, M. A. S., McGeorge, P. J. P., Milevski, I., Papadimitriou, A., Protopapadaki, E., Salazar-García, D. C., Schmidt-Schultz, T., Schuenemann, V. J., Shafiq, R., Stuijts, I., Yegorov, D., Yener, K. A., Schultz, M., Spiteri, C., Stockhammer, P. W. (2021). Archaeometric evidence for the earliest exploitation of lignite from the bronze age Eastern Mediterranean. Scientific Reports, 11, 24185. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-03544-w

Becher, J. (2019). Sipplingen (Lkr. Bodenseekreis). Eine Pfahlbaustation mit jahrzehntelanger Forschungsgeschichte. In: Plattform, Jahrbuch 25-27, 2016-18: 72-74.