• Elise J. Laugier
  • NSF Postdoctoral Fellow - Visiting Scientist
  • Specialization: Environmental archaeology, land use, paleoethnobotany, geospatial approaches, Southwest Asia
  • Degree and University: PhD, Dartmouth College, 2021



Dissertation Title: Reconstructing Agro-Pastoral Land Use in the Mesopotamian-Zagros Foothills

RESEARCH INTERESTS
I am an environmental archaeologist interested in the role of agriculture in the emergence and maintenance of cities, states, and empires, particularly in Southwest Asia. My research investigates the complex interplay between past agricultural economies and local environments, focusing on the legacy effects (ecological inheritances) of human landscape modification and the development of new approaches to quantify past land use. My work integrates a variety of approaches ranging from satellite remote sensing to the analysis of microbotanical remains.

CURRENT PROJECTS
I am currently working with the ALMA lab on the HEISL project investigating long-term human-environment relationships using archaeological sediments and modern reference collections. My current research also assesses the relationship between soil microbotanicals and remote sensing datasets and well as the potential of phytoliths to investigate the long-term impacts of agricultural land use on semi-arid ecosystems. I am also continuing to build on my previous research using phytoliths to approach long-standing questions about pastoralism in Mesopotamian (ancient Iraq) archaeology.

TEACHING INTERESTS
Environmental archaeology, digital archaeology, society and environment, agricultural origins

PUBLICATIONS
Laugier, E.J., Casana, J., Glatz, C., Sameen, S.M., Cabanes, D., 2021. Reconstructing agro-pastoral practice in the Mesopotamian-Zagros borderlands: Insights from phytolith and FTIR analysis of a dung-rich deposit. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 38, 103106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103106

Casana, J., Laugier, E.J., Hill, A.C., Reese, K.M., Ferwerda, C., McCoy, M.D., Ladefoged, T., 2021. Exploring archaeological landscapes using drone-acquired lidar: Case studies from Hawai’i, Colorado, and New Hampshire, USA. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 39, 103133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103133

Hill, A.C., Laugier, E.J., Casana, J., 2020. Archaeological Remote Sensing Using Multi-Temporal, Drone-Acquired Thermal and Near Infrared (NIR) Imagery: A Case Study at the Enfield Shaker Village, New Hampshire. Remote Sensing 12, 690. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12040690

Glatz, C., Casana, J., Bendrey, R., Beysal, E., Calderbank, D., Chelazzi, F., Del Bravo, F., Erskine, N., Hald, M.M., Laugier, E.J., Jensen, E., Perruchini, E., 2019. Babylonian Encounters in the Upper Diyala Valley: Contextualizing the Results of Regional Survey and the 2016-2017 Excavations at Khani Masi. American Journal of Archaeology 123, 439–471. https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.123.3.0439

Casana, J., Laugier, E.J., 2017. Satellite imagery-based monitoring of archaeological site damage in the Syrian civil war. PLOS ONE 12, e0188589. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188589

 

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UWAGIVAAAAAJ&hl=en