Professor Andrew Fairbairn

Professor

School of Social Science
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
a.fairbairn@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 52780

Overview

I research ancient agriculture, plant use and human environmental impact in Turkey, Italy (Pompeii) and Australasia via the analysis of archaeological plant remains (seeds, fruits leaves etc)

I started my archaeological career in 1988, working on the excavation of Blawearie Cairn in my native Northumberland (UK). I studies at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL (London) gaining BSc Archaeology (1991), MSc Bio and Geoarchaeology (1992) and PhD (2001), specialising in the study of plant macrofossil remains, such as seeds, fruits, leaves and wood, from archaeological sites to reconstruct past environments and economic practices. I also developed a large consulting portfolio, working as an environmental archaeologist for the Museum of London Archaeology Service (1993-1994) and UCL Geoarchaeology Unit (1992-1993) and as an independent contractor (1994-2001). From 1999-2001 I worked as a research assistant for the Catalhoyuk Research Project, based at Cambridge University and during that time moved to Australia. From 2001 - 2004 I worked at The Australian National University in Canberra as a research assistant to the Engendering Roman Spaces Project and then received a research fellowship at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. I moved to UQ in January 2006. My research interests are currently focused on the origins of agriculture in Central Anatolia (Turkey) and the later development of the region's state economies. I also work in Australasia where I have been developing plant macrofossil techniques to disentangle ancient tree-fruit use and the development of food production in Papua New Guinea.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University College London
  • Masters (Coursework) of Science, University College London
  • Bachelor of Science, University College London

Publications

  • Adams, Shaun, Norman, Kasih, Kemp, Justine, Jacobs, Zenobia, Costelloe, Michael, Fairbairn, Andrew, Robins, Richard, Stock, Errol, Moss, Patrick, Smith, Tam, Love, Serena, Manne, Tiina, Lowe, Kelsey M., Logan, India, Manoel, Michael, McFadden, Karen, Burns, Darren, Falkiner, Zac and Clarkson, Chris (2024). Early human occupation of Australia’s eastern seaboard. Scientific Reports, 14 (1) 2579. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-52000-y

  • Barker, Bryce, Lamb, Lara, Leavesley, Matthew, Manne, Tiina, Fairbairn, Andrew, Coe, Andrew, Lowe, Kelsey M., Beni, Teppsy, Neanda, Betty and Aubert, Maxime (2023). A Holocene sequence from Walufeni Cave, Southern Highlands Province, and its implications for the settlement of the Great Papuan Plateau, Papua New Guinea. Australian Archaeology, 89 (1), 47-65. doi: 10.1080/03122417.2023.2175960

  • Pearson, Jessica, Evans, Jane, Lamb, Angela, Baird, Douglas, Hodder, Ian, Marciniak, Arkadiusz, Larsen, Clark Spencer, Knüsel, Christopher J., Haddow, Scott D., Pilloud, Marin A., Bogaard, Amy, Fairbairn, Andrew, Plug, Jo-Hannah, Mazzucato, Camilla, Mustafaoğlu, Gökhan, Feldman, Michal, Somel, Mehmet and Fernández-Domínguez, Eva (2023). Mobility and kinship in the world's first village societies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120 (4) e2209480119, 1-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2209480119

View all Publications

Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

  • Doctor Philosophy

  • Master Philosophy

View all Supervision

Publications

Book

Book Chapter

  • Fairbairn, Andrew S. (2021). Agriculture in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age of Asia Minor. A companion to ancient agriculture. (pp. 211-239) edited by David Hollander and Timothy Howe. Hoboken, NJ, United States: Wiley Blackwell. doi: 10.1002/9781118970959.ch11

  • Summerhayes, Glenn, Szabo, Katherine, Fairbairn, Andrew, Horrocks, Mark, McPherson, Shannon and Crowther, Alison (2019). Early Lapita subsistence: the evidence from Kamgot, Anir Islands, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. Debating Lapita: distribution, chronology, society and subsistence. (pp. 379-402) edited by Stuart Bedford and Matthew Spriggs. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ANU.

  • Sobotkova, Adela, Ross, Shawn A., Ballsun-Stanton, Brian, Fairbairn, Andrew, Thompson, Jessica and Van Valkenburgh, Parker (2016). Measure twice, cut once: cooperative deployment of a generalized, archaeology-specific field data collection system. Mobilizing the past for a digital future: the potential of digital archaeology. (pp. 337-371) edited by Erin Walcek Averett, Jody Michael Gordon and Derek B. Counts. Grand Forks, ND United States: The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota.

  • Atici, Levent, Kulakoğlu, Fikri, Barjamovic, Gojko and Fairbairn, Andrew (2014). Introduction: integrating current research at Kultepe-Kanesh. Current Research at Kültepe/Kanesh: An Interdisciplinary and Integrative Approach to Trade Networks, Internationalism, and Identity. (pp. 1-4) edited by Levent Atici, Fikri Kulakoğlu, Gojko Barjamovic and Andrew Fairbairn. Atlanta, GA, USA: Lockwood Press.

  • Fairbairn, Andrew S. (2014). Plant processing technologies in archaeology. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. (pp. 5973-5978) edited by Claire Smith. New York, NY, United States: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_86

  • Fairbairn, Andrew (2014). Preliminary archaeobotanical investigations of plant production, consumption, and trade at middle bronze age Kultepe-Kanesh. Current Research at Kültepe/Kanesh: An Interdisciplinary and Integrative Approach to Trade Networks, Internationalism, and Identity. (pp. 177-193) edited by Levent Atici, Fikri Kulakoğlu, Gojko Barjamovic and Andrew Fairbairn. Atlanta, GA, USA: Lockwood Press.

  • Baird, Douglas, Fairbairn, Andrew, Martin, Louise and Middleton, Caroline (2012). The Boncuklu project: the origins of sedentism, cultivation and herding in central Anatolia. The neolithic in Turkey: new excavations and new research-central Turkey. (pp. 219-244) edited by Mehmet Özdoğan, Nezih Başgelen and Peter Kuniholm. Istanbul, Turkey: Archaeology & Art Publications.

  • Asouti, Eleni and Fairbairn, Andrew S. (2010). Farmers, gatherers or horticulturalists? Reconstructing landscapes of practice in the Early Neolithic. Landscapes in transition. (pp. 161-172) edited by B. Finlayson and G. Warren. Oxford, U.K.: Oxbow Books.

  • Fairbairn, Andrew S. (2008). Beyond Economy: Seed Analysis in Landscape Archaeology. Handbook of landscape archaeology. (pp. 442-450) edited by Bruno David and Julian Thomas. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press. doi: 10.4324/9781315427737-57

  • Fairbairn, A. S. (2006). Seasonality. Çatalhöyük perspectives : reports from the 1995-99 seasons. (pp. 93-108) edited by Ian Hodder. London/ Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, British Institute at Ankara.

  • Fairbairn, Andrew, Near, Julie and Martinoli, Daniele (2005). Macrobotanical investigations of the North, South and KOPAL areas at Catalhoyuk. Inhabiting Catalhoyuk: Reports from the 1995-1999 seasons. (pp. 137-201) edited by Ian Hodder. Cambridge, England, U.K.: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

  • Keeley, H., Allison, E., Branch, N., Cameron, N., Dobinson, S., Ellis, I., Ellison, P., Fairbairn, Andrew S., Green, C., Hunter, R., Lee, J., Locker, A., Lowe, J., Palmer, A., Robinson, E., Stewart, J. and Wilkinson, K. (2004). The environmental evidence. The Dover bronze age boat. (pp. 229-249) edited by Peter Clark. Swindon, U.K.: English Heritage.

  • Asouti, E. and Fairbairn, Andrew S (2002). Subsistence economy in Central Anatolia during the Neolithic: the archaeobotanical evidence. The Neolithic of Central Anatolia, internal developments and external relations during the 9th-6th millennia cal BC. (pp. x-x) edited by Gerard, Frederic and Thissen, Laurens. İstanbul: Ege Yayınları.

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Edited Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Master Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Master Philosophy — Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

Completed Supervision