Sian Halcrow exacavating a child and an infant at Ban Non Wat in Thailand (images: Nancy Tayles, left, and Nigel Chang, right)
Sian Halcrow is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology at the University of Otago. She is a bio-archaeologist with a particular interest in the study of infant and child health and disease in prehistoric Southeast Asia, most recently at Ban Non Wat. She researches the effects of agricultural intensification, which has been well studied in temperate wheat-based cultures, but is an exciting new area in rice-based tropical cultures.
The University of Otago, under the leadership of anthropologist Charles Higham, has a strong history of research into pre-historic cultures in South East Asia, and Sian Halcrow's work falls under the umbrella of this work. She collaborates with Nancy Tayles, also in the Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, and Nancy Beavan Athfield at GNS, whose work on radio-carbon dating Cambodian human remains featured on Our Changing World recently.
