Dr. Kevin Salesse

I am an Assistant Professor in Biological Anthropology at the Department of Anthropology of Masaryk University (Brno, Czech republic).

I am a science-based archaeologist specializing in bioanthropology and biogeochemistry and am interested in a range of biocultural issues related to the past. My main work focuses on the study of dietary habits, funerary practices and mobility of Graeco-Roman populations (e.g. Catacombs of Saints Peter and Marcellinus, Pompeii, Tongeren, etc.), although scientific opportunities have also offered me to work on other archaeological and forensic contexts (e.g. soldiers from modern period in Prague or from the First World War in France).

I am the founder and director of the IsoArcH initiative (www.isoarch.eu), an open access isotope database for bioarchaeology supported by a community of isotope experts with a strong interest in archaeology, anthropology, zooarchaeology, and archaeobotany. Through IsoArcH, I aim to propose new tools to facilitate researchers to enter fully into the era of Big Data and Open Science.

I am the editor-in-chief of Anthropologica et Praehistorica, the journal of the Royal Belgian Society of Anthropology and Prehistory (founded in 1882).

Background

B.A.s History & Archaeology, 2008, Univ. Panthéon-Sorbonne, France
M.Sc. Biological Anthropology, 2010, Univ. of Bordeaux, France
Ph.D. Biological Anthropology, 2015, Univ. of Bordeaux, France
Postdoctoral fellow, 2016, Univ. of South Florida, USA - Scientific Officer, 2017-2018, European Commission (ERCEA), Belgium
Post-doc researcher, 2018-2021, Univ. Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Key Research Interests

Bioarchaeology
Graeco-Roman world
Past diet practices
Population movements
Funerary customs
Isotope (C, N, O, S, Sr, Pb) & infrared (FTIR) analyses

Main Publications

K. Salesse, E. Stamataki, I. Kontopoulos, G. Capuzzo, M. Boudin, S. Dalle, R. Annaert, G. De Mulder, M. Hlad, C. Sabaux, A. Sengeløv, D. Tys, B. Veselka, E. Warmenbol, M. Vercauteren, C. Snoeck, 2021. These boots are made for burnin': Identifying the position of the corpse and the presence of garments during cremation through isotope (δ13C, δ18O) and structural (FTIR) analyses of experimentally burnt skeletal remains. Plos One (forthcoming).
K. Salesse, É. Dufour, V. Balter, R. Tykot, N. Maaranen, M. Rivollat, A. Kharobi, M.-F. Deguilloux, M.-H. Pemonge, J. Brůžek, D. Castex, 2021. Far from home: a multi-analytical approach revealing the migration of an African-born individual to imperial Rome, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (in press).
M. Hlad, B. Veselka, D. Steadman, R. Annaert, M. Boudin, G. Capuzzo, S. Dalle, I. Kontopoulos, G. De Mulder, C. Sabaux, K. Salesse, A. Sengeløv, E. Stamataki, M. Vercauteren, Dries, Tys, C. Snoeck, 2021, Revisiting metric sex estimation of cremated human remains via supervised learning using a reference collection of modern identified individuals (Knoxville, USA), American Journal of Physical Anthropology (in press).
R. Fernandes, K. Salesse, 2020. Ancient Mediterranean isotopic studies, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 33, 102513.
G. Capuzzo, C. Snoeck, M. Boudin, S. Dalle, R. Annaert, G. De Mulder, M. Hlad, I. Kontopoulos, C. Sabaux, K. Salesse, A. Sengeløv, E. Stamataki, D. Tys, B. Veselka, E. Warmenbol, M. Vercauteren, 2020. Cremation vs inhumation, modelling cultural changes in funerary practices from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages in Belgium using Kernel Density Analysis on 14C data. Radiocarbon, 1-24.
Paridaens, N., Salesse, K., Müller, R., Klein, S., Snoeck, C., Mattelli, N., 2020. Les balles de fronde en plomb découvertes sur l’oppidum de Thuin : caractérisation, origine et interprétation. Signa Romana 9, 111-123.
K. Salesse, S. Kaupová,, J. Brůžek, V. Kuželka, P. Velemínský, 2019, An isotopic case study of individuals with syphilis from the pathological-anatomical reference collection of the national museum in Prague (Czech Republic, 19th century A.D.), International Journal of Paleopathology, 25 (1), 46-55.
K. Salesse, R. Fernandes, X. de Rochefort, D. Castex, J. Bruzek, É. Dufour, 2018, IsoArcH.eu: An open-access and collaborative isotope database for bioarcheological samples from Graeco-Roman World and its margins, Journal of Archaeological Science: Report, 19: 1050-1055.
K. Salesse, É. Dufour, M. Lebon, C. Wurster, D. Castex, J. Bruzek, A. Zazzo, 2014, Variability of bone preservation in a confined environment: The case of the catacomb of Sts Peter and Marcellinus (Rome, Italy), Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 416 (1), 43-54
K. Salesse, É. Dufour, D. Castex, P. Velemínský, F. Santos, H. Kuchařová, L. Jun, J. Bruzek, 2013, Life history of the individuals buried in the St. Benedict cemetery (Prague, 15th-18th centuries): Insights from 14C dating and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O) analysis, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 151 (2), 202-214.

Kevin.Salesse@ulb.be