The Cyprus Institute

Anna Spyrou

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Anna has a Bachelor degree in Archaeology and History of Art from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) and an MSc in Environmental Archaeology from UCL. For her PhD, also at UCL, she focused on meat preservation and storage during the Epipalaeolithic period and the significance of these practices for human evolution.

Anna joined STARC in 2018 and since then she has been involved in various projects. Her work focuses primarily on the economic, social and symbolic significance of animals and her research methodology combines traditional zooarchaeological and biomolecular methods as well as iconography and ethnographic approaches. Her new project, entitled Animals Resilient in Time: Unravelling the genetic, economic and cultural history of Cyprus local cattle from prehistoric times to present (ARETI) is funded by the Anastasios G. Leventis Foundation and is in close collaboration with the Cyprus’ Agricultural Research Institute and the Smurfit Institute of Genetics.

Anna is particularly interested in the multiples ways Zooarchaeology can move beyond its strict scientific boundaries, expand the knowledge to the wider public and contribute to global issues such as livestock biodiversity, ecosystem engineering and climate change.