Melanie Roffet-Salque

Email: Melanie.Salque@bristol.ac.uk

Short Biography

My main research has been focussing on the study of lipids preserved in

archaeological artefacts, in order to reconstruct past exploitation of natural resources

by ancient populations, using the molecular composition of extracts and compound-

specific C isotope composition of fatty acids. I have been particularly interested in

developing and validating new biomarker and compound-specific stable isotope

proxies to investigate subsistence practices.

My Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship recognises the untapped potential of

archaeological pottery vessels to serve as a novel proxy for palaeoprecipitation and

explores the link between climate change and human responses in the past, and will

be held in the Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, in collaboration

with Professor Paul Valdes (climate modeller, BRIDGE, UoB), Professor Michael

Lee (ruminant dietician, Bristol Veterinary School, UoB and North Wyke Farm

Platform), Dr Marie Balasse(isotopic archaeozoologist, MNHN, Paris), Professor

Arek Marciniak (archaeozoologist, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland)

and Dr Olivier Nieuwenhuyse (Humboldt Fellow at the Institut für Vorderasiatische

Archäologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany).

My research uses biomolecular and isotope approaches to study the lives of ancient humans. I apply

‘big data’ approaches to complex chemical datasets to tackle questions from local to continental

scales. I develop new analytical methods to advance the disciplinary state-of-the-art, e.g. pioneering a

novel hydrogen isotope proxy to build archaeological climate archives.

I am an analytical and environmental chemist tackling questions relating to human-environment

interactions in the past and unravelling complex chemical pathways in modern systems. My most

significant contributions to research have centred around using state-of-the-art analytical methods

to generate high-quality data using analytical rigour (analytical chemistry) to investigate

biomolecules (particularly lipids) in archaeological and historic artefacts, and modern environments.

The themes explored in my research gravitate around food and water and are highly cross-

disciplinary, intersecting with archaeology, climate science, genetics, and veterinary sciences.

While the hydrogen (H) isotope signal from plant-derived n-alkanes are traditionally used for

palaeoclimate reconstruction, I have realised the untapped potential of fatty acids from animal fats

preserved in ancient artefacts. The H isotope signature of animal fats reflect that of precipitation,

which is ultimately linked to precipitation patterns and climate. My pilot study on lipid extracts from

archaeological sherds from the UNESCO site of Çatalhöyük showed the potential of well-dated

precipitation-driven climate records from the very locations where people lived.

As part of B2C (PI: Matthew Collins; PhD student: Sam Johns), we proposed to test this proxy in

historic periods using parchments (animal skin) containing animal fats. We developed a minimally

invasive vacuum-aided extraction technique for the lipid analysis of historic parchment (Johns et al,

under review) and tested its effects on parchment integrity using artificial ageing (Vermeulen et al.,

in revision) in collaboration with colleagues from The National Archives, UK (Vermeulen and

Angelova). We are currently compiling H isotope climate data obtained from the Chancery

Parliament Rolls (1814-1820 CE) held by The National Archives, UK.

Using our compound-specific 14 C dating method developed at the Bristol Research AMS

(BRAMS) facility (Manager: Tim Knowles), animal fats can be dated with high accuracy and

precision, enabling reconstruction of well-dated terrestrial precipitation-driven climate

records for the first time.