Ronika K. Power is an Associate Professor of Bioarchaeology in the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University, an Honorary Research Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge, an elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries London, and one of the 30 inaugural Superstars of STEM for Science and Technology Australia. She is also the Deputy Director of CACHE, so it is a pleasure to feature her in our first Centre profile.
A/Prof. Power’s research platform aligns with biocultural archaeological approaches, whereby data derived from scientific analyses of the human body is interpreted in conjunction with all other forms of archaeological and historical evidence to provide meaningful insights into the demography, health, life-ways and world-views of individuals and groups from past populations. To achieve this aim, she applies an interdisciplinary research methodology that incorporates the following fields:
Biological Anthropology
Human Osteology, Palaeopathology, Dental Anthropology, 3D Geometric Morphometrics, CT-Scanning, X-Rays
Archaeological Science
Stable Isotope Analyses (Human Migration, Mobility and Palaeodiet)
Archaeology
Material Culture, Mortuary Behaviour
History
Textual Analyses
Theory
Philosophy, Historiography and Ethics
Art
Representation, Production
A/Prof. Power has applied this research methodology to various geographically and temporally diverse populations from across the world: from early Holocene hunter-gatherers of Kenya; to megalithic temple builders of Neolithic Malta; multi-period cemeteries across Egypt; the Garamantes of the pre-Islamic Libyan Sahara; Amarna Period Egyptian colonies in Nubia; Late Anglo-Saxon England child, infant and foetal burials; settlement interments in Medieval Benin; and post-14th Century palace burials from the Maldives, to name a few. Her current focus is on Neolithic Malta, in her role as the principal researcher of the Population History Workgroup of the ERC-funded FRAGSUS Project (in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast and the Universities of Cambridge and Malta), in which her team is analysing the health, disease, lifestyle, diet and affinity profiles of the Neolithic human skeletal assemblage from the Xaghra Circle Hypogeum, Gozo, Malta.
A/Prof. Power also has a particular interest in the curation, display and scientific and cultural analyses of mummified human remains from all geographical and temporal contexts, but especially those of ancient Egypt. Using the same interdisciplinary approach described above, she searches for insights into the suite of religious, cultural, technological, socioeconomic and environmental impetuses that gave rise to the many and varied expressions of this phenomenon across cultures. She is also interested in the modern history of mummy studies and engages museological and historiographical research to explore the insatiable public and scientific desire for direct engagement with these individuals from the past who 'live' among us.
Latest Publications:
· Power, R.K., E. Nikita, D. Mattingly, M. Mirazón Lahr & T.C. O’Connell (2019) “Human Mobility and Identity: Variation, Diet and Migration in Relation to the Garamantes of Fazzan”, in M.C. Gatto, D.J. Mattingly, N. Ray & M. Sterry (eds) Burials, Migration and Identity in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Trans-Saharan Archaeology Volume II. Series editor D.J. Mattingly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press and The Society for Libyan Studies; ISBN10: 110847408X; ISBN13: 9781108474085; https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108634311.
· Malone, C., N. Cutajar, T.R. McLaughlin, B. Mercieca-Spiteri, A. Pace, R.K. Power, S. Stoddart, S. Sultana, C. Bronk Ramsey, E. Dunbar, A. Bayliss, F. Healy & A. Whittle (2019) “Island questions: the chronology of the Brochtorff Circle at Xagħra, Gozo, and its significance for the Neolithic sequence on Malta”, Anthropological and Archaeological Sciences https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00790-y.
· Power, R.K. & A. Haour (2018) “The Human Skeletal Material”, in A. Haour (ed) Birnin Lafiya: 2000 Years in a Dendi Village, Frankfurt, Brill: Journal of African Archaeology Monograph Series; ISBN: 978-90-04-37669-4; doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004376694.
· Thompson, J., D. Martin-Vega, R. Power, S. Stoddart & C. Malone (2018) “Identification of dermestid beetle modification on Neolithic Maltese human bone: Implications for funerary practices at the Xemxija Tombs”, Journal of Archaeological Science – Reports 22: 123-131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.09.016.
· Mounier, A., M. Correia, F. Rivera, F. Crivellaro, R. Power, J. Jeffery, A. Wilshaw, R.A. Foley & M. Mirazón Lahr (2018) “Who were the Nataruk people? Mandibular morphology among late Pleistocene and early Holocene fisher-forager populations of West Turkana (Kenya)”, Journal of Human Evolution 121: 235-253; doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.04.013 [
· C. Malone, R. McLaughlin, B. Mercieca-Spiteri, E. Parkinson, R. Power, J. Stock, S. Stoddart & J. Thompson (2018) “The social implications of death in prehistoric Malta”, in Gathered in Death: Archaeological and Ethnological Perspectives on Collective Burial and Social Organisation, ISBN-13: 978-2-87558-699-5; Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses Universitaires de Louvain, 128-142.