Sarah Dalle

CRUMBEL

I finished my archaeology studies at Ghent University in 2008, specialising in geo-archaeology (landscape science) and protohistory. After a short research project in landscape assessment, I started my career in field archaeology in combination with some science communication projects at the Ename Expertise Center. In commercial archaeology, I gained field experience in different companies (2009-2018) and was several times engaged in business management.

I worked part-time on the Altai Mountains Survey Project, which aims to study and preserve the burial landscapes of the Russian steppe peoples (UG, 2015-2018). It strenghtened my skills in data management and GIS. Since 2013 I kept a strong link with science communication of archaeology to a wider audience through editing and writing for the Belgian archaeology magazine Ex situ and in 2014 by writing exhibition content and a book on the Boudelo Monastery (BE).

Early 2023, I defended my PhD within the CRUMBEL project. I studied strontium isotopes and concentrations from Belgian cremated remains dating from the end of the Neolithic to the Early Middle Ages. I specialised in interpreting strontium concentrations to derive dietary information from cremated remains and created methods for modelling large amounts of strontium isotope results to study populations (rather than individuals). This modelling, using general statistics, GIS and network analysis, looked at variability and homogeneity in the isotope data. These methods show in which regions and periods people were more homogenous in strontium isotopes and consumed food sources coming from more similar regions.

Before the PhD, I enjoyed varied experiences as an archaeologist: field archaeology, science communication and collection, data and tender management. I worked both in commercial archaeology and on university projects. Currently, I am scientific collaborator in the coastal museum of Atlantikwall Raversyde/Anno 1465 in Ostend (B.), taking care of and studying the collection and heritage of the provincial domain and creating exhibition content.

Background

Ma archaeology, option geoarchaeology 2008, Ghent University, Belgium

Key Research Interests

Spatial archaeology
Landscape archaeology
Funerary archaeology
Isotope analysis
Strontium applications

Main Publications

Dalle S., Snoeck C., Sengeløv A., Salesse K., Hlad M., Annaert R., Boonants T., Boudin M., Capuzzo G., Goderis S., Gerritzen C., Sabaux C., Stamataki E., Vercauteren M., Veselka B., Warmenbol E., De Mulder G. 2022. Strontium isotopes and concentrations in cremated bones suggest an increased salt consumption in Gallo-Roman diet, Scientific Reports 12, 9280 .
Dalle S., Capuzzo G., Hlad M., Veselka B., Annaert R., Boudin M., Sabaux C., Salesse K., Sengeløv A., Stamataki E., Vercauteren M., Warmenbol E., Snoeck C. & De Mulder G. 2023. Hidden transitions. New insights into changing social dynamics between the Bronze and Iron Age in the cemetery of Destelbergen (Belgium),Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports 49, 103979.
Capuzzo G., Snoeck C., Boudin M., Dalle S., Annaert R., Hlad M., Kontopoulos I., Sabaux C., Salesse K., Sengeløv A., Stamataki E., Veselka B., Warmenbol E., De Mulder G., Tys D. & Vercauteren M. 2020. Cremation vs inhumation, modelling cultural changes in funerary practices from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages in Belgium using Kernel Density Analysis. Radiocarbon.
Dalle S., Sabaux C., Capuzzo G., Tys D., Snoeck C., Vercauteren M., Warmenbol E., Boudin, M., Annaert R., Stamataki E., Kontopoulos I. Veselka B., Sengeløv A., Hlad M., Salesse K. & De Mulder G. 2019, Preliminary results in the collecting of protohistoric cremation samples for the CRUMBEL project, Lunula. Archaeologia Protohistorica XXVII, 9-14.

sarah.dalle@ugent.be

Sarah.Raice.G.Dalle@vub.be