Welcome to the Laboratory for the Analysis of Early Food-Webs at Washington University!
Our lab is involved in a range of multidisciplinary research projects focused on reconstructing ancient food-webs. Lab isotope scientists, archaeologists and archaeobotanists work closely to address questions about diet and nutrition, palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment. Some of our recent projects have included analysis of movement of ancient crops across the Eurasian continent, climate variability in Africa, human settlement of marginal environments on the Tibetan Plateau and the Negev desert, and llama herding in Peru.
Research Highlights
Drs. Sewasew Assefa and Melissa Ritchey successfully defended their dissertations Spring 2025!
Melissa Ritchey, Xinyi Liu, and previous members Yufeng Sun and Petra Vaiglova publish paper in Frontiers on early agricultural investment in high-elevation Western Tibet.
Melissa Ritchey received the Robert W. Sussman Graduate Student Research Award
Alum Yufeng Sun, lab members Melissa Ritchey and Xinyi Liu, and colleagues publish paper in Antiquity on the influence of cuisine on millet grains across ancient Asia
To find out more about our ongoing research activities, check out our blog!
Contact us
Xinyi Liu, Principal Investigator: liuxinyi@wustl.edu
Melissa Ritchey, Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lab Manager:
mmritchey@wustl.edu
Location: B29 McMillan Hall, One Brookings Drive, St Louis, MO 63130-4899
Teaching Highlights
Biomolecular Archaeology: Are you what you eat? (Anthropology 4565) is listed as one of the ‘6 Classes That Will Make You Want to Return to Classroom’
Melissa Ritchey received the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence