Main
Joe Roe
I am a computational archaeologist specialising in Southwest Asian prehistory. I use data science to study human ecology and cultural evolution in past societies; develop research software and open datasets for reproducible quantitative analysis in archaeology; and direct field surveys using digital recording and geoinformatics technology.
Education
Postgraduate studies
UCL Institute of Archaeology
University College London
2017 - 2013
- Computational modelling of prehistoric human ecology in the Southern Levant
- Part of the Prehistoric Hunting Strategies in Jordan project
- Supervisors: Prof. Louise Martin, Prof. Andrew Bevan, Dr. Andrew Garrard
MA Archaeology (Distinction)
UCL Institute of Archaeology
University College London
2013 - 2012
- Dissertation: Cultural phylogeny of kurgan burial mounds in the west Eurasian steppe
- Supervisor: Prof. Stephen Shennan
BA Anthropology & Archaeology (1st class hons.)
Departments of Anthropology & Archaeology
Durham University
2011 - 2008
- Dissertation: Spatial analysis of intra-site surface collection data from a Cucuteni-Tripolye mega-site
- Supervisor: Prof. John Chapman
Secondary education
Woodkirk High School
Leeds
2008 - 2001
Academic appointments
Research assistant (Projektmitarbeiter)
Institute of Archaeological Sciences
University of Bern
current - 2021
- Lead developer of XRONOS, an open repository for chronometric data
- PIs: Dr. Martin Hinz, Prof. Dr. Albert Hafner
Research assistant (Videnskabelig assistent)
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
University of Copenhagen
2020 - 2017
- Responsibility for archaeological survey and spatial analysis components of major field projects in Iran and Jordan
- Developed databases and software interfaces for the projects’ research data
- PIs: Dr. Tobias Richter,
Publications
My publications reflect a number of ongoing collaborations with domain-specialist colleagues, bringing a data science perspective to addressing multidisciplinary research questions in prehistory.
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2024
- Batist, Z. & Roe, J., Open archaeology, open source? Collaborative practices in an emerging community of archaeological software engineers. Internet Archaeology 67. doi:10.11141/ia.67.13
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2023
- Batist, Z. & Roe, J., open-archaeo: a resource for documenting archaeological software development practices. Journal of Open Archaeology Data 11: 9. doi:10.5334/joad.111
- Arranz-Otaegui, A. & Roe, J., Revisiting the concept of the ‘Neolithic Founder Crops’ in southwest Asia. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 32: 475–499. doi:10.1007/s00334-023-00917-1
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2022
- Arranz-Otaegui, A., Pedersen, P. N., Schmidt, A. F., Jörgensen-Lindahl, A., Roe, J., Villemoes, J., Pantos, G. A., & Killackey, K., Identifying the chaîne opératoire of club-rush (Bolboschoenus glaucus [Lam.] S.G.Sm) tuber exploitation during the Early Natufian in the Black Desert (northeastern Jordan). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 47. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103677
- Jones, M., Richter, T., Rollefson, G., Rowan, Y., Roe, J., Toms, P., Wasse, A., Ikram, H., Williams, M., AlShdaifat, A., Pedersen, P. N., & Esaid, W., The palaeoenvironmental potential of the eastern Jordanian desert basins (Qe’an). Quaternary International 635: 72-82. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.06.023
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2021
- Richter, T., Darabi, H., Alibaigi, S., Arranz-Otaegui, A., Bangsgaard, P., Khosravi, S., Maher, L., Mortensen, P., Pedersen, P., Roe, J., & Yeomans, L., The formation of Early Neolithic Communities in the Central Zagros: an 11,500 year old communal structure at Asiab. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 40 (1): 2–22. doi:10.1111/ojoa.12213
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2020
- Khosravi, S., Pedersen, P. N., Alibaigi, S., Roe, J., Heidary Dastenaei, M., Miladi, B., Darabi, H., Richter, T., & Mortensen, P., Archaeological Landscape of Razavar Valley in the Neolithic Period: the survey of the 8th–6th millennium BC in the north of Kermanshah Province. Pazhoheshha-ye Bastan shenasi Iran 26. doi:10.22084/NBSH.2020.21133.2094
- Nebbia, M., & Roe, J., Landscape Studies. In Gaydarska, B., Early Urbanism in Europe: The Trypillia Mega-Sites of the Ukrainian Forest-Steppe. De Gruyter, pp. 60–107. doi:10.1515/9783110664959-007
- Martin, L., & Roe, J., The Kheshiya Cattle Skull Ring: Zooarchaeological Analyses. In McCorriston, J., & Harrower, M. J., Landscape History of Hadramawt: The Roots of Agriculture in Southern Arabia (RASA) Project, 1998–2008. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, pp. 275–348. doi:10.2307/j.ctvzgb8n3.20
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2019
- Henton, E., Roe, J., Martin, L., Garrard, A., Boles, O., Lewis, J., Thirlwall, M., & Jourdon, A-L., Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic gazelle hunting in the Badia of north-east Jordan. Reconstruction of seasonal movements of herds by stable isotope and dental microwear analyses. Levant 50 (2): 127-172. doi:10.1080/00758914.2019.1598764
- Jones et al., 20,000 years of societal vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in southwest Asia. WIREs Water 6 (2): e1330. doi:10.1002/wat2.1330
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2018
- Arranz-Otaegui, A., González Carretero, L., Roe, J., & Richter, T., “Founder crops” v. wild plants: Assessing the plant-based diet of the last hunter-gatherers in southwest Asia. Quaternary Science Reviews 186: 263–283. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.02.011
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2016
- Martin, L., Edwards, Y., Roe, J., & Garrard, A., Faunal turnover in the Azraq Basin, eastern Jordan 28,000 to 9,000 cal BP, signalling climate change and human impact. Quaternary Research 86 (2): 200–219. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2016.07.001
Publications (non-peer-reviewed)
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2023
- Roe, J., Peer Review Report For: Inglämnlagare: a tool for restructuring Swedish HER record site data for statistical analysis [version 2; peer review: 3 approved]. F1000Research 11 (1370). doi:10.5256/f1000research.157510.r222117
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2016
- Roe, J., PIA at 25: A Retrospective. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 25 (2): p.Art. 16. doi:10.5334/pia.517
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2015
- Allentuck, A., Martin, L., & Roe, J., Refuse Disposal in the Early Epipalaeolithic? Preliminary Zooarchaeological Evidence from Kharaneh IV, Eastern Jordan. Bulletin of the Council for British Research in the Levant 10: 67–69. doi:10.1179/1752726015Z.00000000034
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2014
- Roe, J., Review of Green Arabia: Human Prehistory at the Crossroads of Continents. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 24 (1). doi:10.5334/pia.458
Conference presentations
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2024
- Heitz, C., Ismail-Meyer, K., Aellen, C., & Roe, J., Coping with the Cold – Climate Change Resilience and Vulnerabilities of Bronze Age Communities during the 3.7 ka ‘Löbben’ Glacier Advance (ca. 1900–1450 BCE). Presented at Climate of the Past and Societal Responses to Environmental Changes (Climpast), Bern, 5–8 June 2024.
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2023
- Roe, J. & Hinz, M., XRONOS: open chronometric data from archive to infrastructure. Presented at Digital Archaeology Bern 2023.
- Roe, J., Modelling the range of wild plants and crop progenitors in the Late Epipalaeolithic–Early Neolithic Levant. Presented at Digital Archaeology Bern – Ancient West Asia.
- Roe, J., More than just porridge: old materialism and the macroarchaeology of the Neolithic Revolution. Presented at 13th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Copenhagen.
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2022
- Hinz, M. & Roe, J., Zoom and Enhance: high-resolution reconstruction of macro-scale processes with Bayesian hierarchical models. Presented at European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) Annual Meeting, Budapest, 31 August – 3 September.
- Roe, J., Are we what we eat? The Southwest Asian ‘Neolithic Revolution’ as macroarchaeological theory. Presented at the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) Annual Meeting, Budapest, 31 August – 3 September.
- Roe, J. & Hinz, M., XRONOS: challenges in building a global open repository for chronometric data. Presented at the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) Annual Meeting, Budapest, 31 August – 3 September.
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2021
- Roe, J., Out with the new, in with the old: recent advances in palaeoecological modelling with open data. Presented at the Association for Environmental Archaeology Spring Meeting 2021: Open Science Practices in Environmental Archaeology, Oxford.
- Roe, J., A revised radiocarbon chronology of Ganj Dareh. Presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, ‘Ganj Dareh Then and Now: Integrating Past and Current Research’.
- Roe, J., Nonequilibrium dynamics in models of human palaeoecology. Presented at Computer Applications & Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Limassol (Virtual).
- Batist, Z. & Roe, J., Open archaeology: a survey of collaborative software engineering in archaeological research. Presented at Computer Applications & Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Limassol (Virtual).
- Roe, J., Computational models of chronology and regional settlement in the Epipalaeolithic–Neolithic Zagros (20000–6000 BP). Presented at the ‘Revisiting the Hilly Flanks: the Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic periods in the eastern Fertile Crescent’ conference, Copenhagen.
- Pedersen, P. N., Roe, J., & Richter, T., Free foragers? A case for transient social inequality at Epipalaeolithic Shubayqa, eastern Jordan. Presented at the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Bologna.
- Roe, J., On uncertain ground: modelling human palaeoecology in the Azraq basin, eastern Jordan, 24,000–8,000 BP. Presented at the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Bologna.
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2019
- Roe, J., **Gorram shiny!* An accessible interface for reproducible landscape archaeology with
Randfieldwalkr*. Presented at Computer Applications & Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Kraków. - Richter, T., Arranz Otaegui, A., Jones, M., Roe, J., & Yeomans, L., Environmental Crisis and Societal Collapse: Was the Younger Dryas a significant factor in triggering the transition from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic in the Levant?. Presented at ‘Culture in Crisis: Flows of Peoples, Artifacts and Ideas’, the 14th International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan (ICHAJ 14), Florence.
- Arranz-Otaegui, A., Roe, J., Pantos, G. A., Santana, J., Araus-Cabrera, J. L., Le Roux, P., & Richter, T., Locally available or imported? Identifying the provenance of Natufian plant food and fuel resources at Shubayqa 1 (northeastern Jordan). Presented at the 18th conference of the International Workgroup for Palaeoethnobotany (IWGP), Lecce.
- Buffington, A., Olson, K., Roe, J., Al Kathiri, A. A., McCorriston, J., Over Mountains and Through Woods: survey results and preliminary spatial analysis of the 2018 field season of the Ancient Socio-Ecological Systems in Oman (ASOM) project. Presented at the 53rd Seminar for Arabian Studies, Leiden.
- Roe, J., & Richter, T., Mutable mobilities: 15,000 years of nomadic settlement in the Qa’ Shubayqa, eastern Jordan. Presented at the 53rd Seminar for Arabian Studies, Leiden.
- Pantos, G. A., & Roe, J., A halfway house: open source tools for tidy photographic and 3D data management between the field and the archive. Presented at Computer Applications & Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Kraków.
- Roe, J., The Q Continuum: open source GIS tools for paperless field survey. Presented at Computer Applications & Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Kraków.
- Roe, J., Pedersen, P. N., Khosravi, S., A survey of early prehistoric sites in the Razavar Valley (Kermanshah, Iran). Presented at the British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology (BANEA) annual conference, Liverpool.
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2018
- Roe, J., Is there anything R can’t do?. Presented at the Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) conference, Tübingen.
- Roe, J.,
fieldwalkr: an R package for spatial sampling and field survey simulation. Presented at the Landscape Archaeology Conference (LAC), Newcastle & Durham. - Richter, T., Arranz-Otaegui, A., Boaretto, E., Jones, M., Roe, J., & Yeomans, L., Reconstructing Environmental Impacts on Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Societies in the Marginal Zone of the southern Levant: A Case Study from Shubayqa. Presented at the XVIII UISPP World Congress, Paris.
- Roe, J., The Zagros in Prehistory: geography, chronology, demography. Presented at the British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology (BANEA) annual conference, Liverpool, 2019, and the KU Archaeology Day.
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2017
- Martin, L. & Roe, J., The Complexities of Mammalian Body Size Change in Late Pleistocene to Holocene Southern Levant, 35 years on. Presented at ‘From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic: themes in European zooarchaeology’, Museum of Natural History and Science, Lisbon.
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2016
- Roe, J., A
greenermodel of palaeoenvironments in the eastern Levant. Presented at Unravelling the Palaeolithic, Southhampton.
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2015
- Allentuck, A., Martin, L., Roe, J., Domestic maintenance practices in the Early Epipalaeolithic of the Jordanian steppe. Presented at the 12th International Symposium of the ICAZ Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas Working Group (ASWA), Groningen.
- Roe, J. & Martin, L., Open season: modelling prehistoric wildlife dynamics in Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic Jordan. Presented at the British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology (BANEA) annual conference, London.
- Allentuck, A., Roe, J., Martin, L., Macdonald, D., & Maher, L., Zooarchaeological evidence for domestic maintenance in the Early Epipalaeolithic. Presented at the British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology (BANEA) annual conference, London.
Software & datasets
I am also an active contributor to a number of other open source software and open data projects.
Field projects
In the field, I specialise in site prospection, intrasite survey, digital recording and GIS.
I was responsible for the survey component Shubayqa Archaeological Project (2018–2019), including designing the research strategy, planning and obtaining permits, and directing teams on the ground.
Supervisor
Razavar Valley Survey
Iran
2018
Field archaeologist & supervisor
Shubayqa Archaeological Project
Jordan
2018 - 2015
Field archaeologist & supervisor
Tripillia Mega-Sites Project
Ukraine
2014 - 2012
Supervisor
Mirkovo Project
Bulgaria
2012
Trainee
Tripillia Mega-Sites Project
Ukraine
2009
Trainee
York Archaeological Trust
England
2007
Grants & scholarships
Young Researchers’ Promotion Fund
And other internal funds
University of Bern
2022
- 7300 CHF to support conference organisation, ‘Digital Archaeology Bern 2023’
Project grant
Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond
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2019
- “Connecting the Dots: Reconfiguring the Indo-European family tree”
- Named applicant. PI: Dr. Thomas Olander
Fieldwork grant
Det Danske Institut i Damaskus
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2018
- 115,000 DKK to support archaeological fieldwork in eastern Jordan (2019)
- Co-applicant with Dr. Tobias Richter
Fieldwork grant
H. P. Hjerl Hansen Mindefondet for Dansk Palæstinaforskning
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2018
- 50,000 DKK to support archaeological fieldwork in eastern Jordan (2019)
- Co-applicant with Dr. Tobias Richter
Project grant
C. L. Davids Fond og Samling
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2016
- “Tracking Cultural and Environmental Change: the Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic in the Seimarreh Valley, central Zagros”
- Named applicant. PIs: Prof. Peder Mortensen, Dr. Tobias Richter, Dr. Hojjat Darabi
Institute of Archaeology Award
UCL Institute of Archaeology
London
2015
- Individual grant (£1888) to participate in archaeological fieldwork in eastern Jordan
Research Students’ Conference Grant
London Centre for the Ancient Near East (LCANE)
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2014
PhD Studentship
Leverhulme Trust
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2013
- Part of Research Project Grant RPG-2013-223
Research-preparation Masters Award
Arts and Humanities Research Council
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2012
Teaching & public engagement
Promoting computational tools, and especially R, in archaeology has been a particular focus; I have experience in teaching at a range of levels, as well as informally mentoring students and colleagues.
Course lecturer
Institute of Archaeological Sciences
University of Bern
current - 2022
- Lead instructor on BA-/MA-level courses GIS in Archaeology and Statistical Methods for Archaeological Data Analysis (SMADA)
- Recognised for “Excellence of Teaching” for SMADA 2023 (top 14% of courses in the Faculty of Humanities according to student satisfaction)
Instructor
“R for Archaeologists” winter school
University of Pisa
2023 - 2020
- For four years I have led an intensive two-day workshop on data visualisation in R for archaeologists
Course lecturer
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
University of Copenhagen
2021 - 2018
- BA: “Practical Archaeology 1” (Arkæologisk praksis 1, HNAB0100FU), “Practical Archaeology 2” (Arkæologisk praksis 2, HNAB0102EU), “Science and Theory of Science” (Videnskabsteori, HTOR0102FU)
- KA: “Theory and Method in Near Eastern Archaeology” (HNAK0101EU), “Environments and landscapes in the archaeological record of southwest Asia” (HNAB0102FU), “Neolithic to Early Urban Periods in the Near East” (HNAK0102EU), “Project-based course” (HNAK0100FU)
Workshop organiser
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
University of Copenhagen
2020
- Led an intensive two-day workshop on mobile GIS for linguistic field research
Postgraduate Teaching Assistant
UCL Institute of Archaeology
University College London
2016 - 2015
- ARCL2028 Research & Presentation Skills
Tutor
Schools in London
2016 - 2014
- Designed and delivered a university-style tutorial course for primary and high school students
Student Volunteer
Maths and Archaeology workshop
Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
2015
- Outreach event for high school students organised by Dr. Alice Stevenson (Petrie Museum) and Dr. Luciano Rila (UCL Mathematics) and supported by the London Mathematical Society
Professional service
Peer review
Journals
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- Journal of Open Source Software: #4335, #5811
- Journal of Open Archaeology Data (2)
- PCI Archaeology: #333
- Advances in Archaeological Practice (1); Open Archaeology (1); Open Quaternary (1); PLOS ONE (1)
Member of Review College
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2023 - 2020
- Reviews completed: CAA2024 (4)
- CAA2023 (3)
- CAA2022 (7)
- CAA2021 (8)
- CAA2020 (3)
Session organiser
CAA2021
Limassol
2021
Session organiser
CAA2019
Kraków
2019
- S06: Recent advances in spatial statistics for archaeology
Postgraduate Student Representative
UCL Institute of Archaeology
University College London
2016 - 2014
- Communications Committee
- Publications Committee
Editorial Assistant
Papers from the Institute of Archaeology
University College London
2014 - 2013
Professional memberships
I am especially active in CAA International and its special interest group for scientific scripting languages.
Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology International
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current - 2014
- Member of Review College (2018–present)
- Member of ‘Scientific Scripting Languages in Archaeology’ special interest group (2019–present)
Workshop & seminar participation
“Scientific Scripting Languages in Archaeology” Roundtable
CAA2019
Kraków
2019
“Connecting the Dots”
International Summer School
Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel
2018
- Development of the R package moin: Modeling Interaction in Landscape Archaeology
Shubayqa Project Workshop
Workshop
University of Copenhagen
2017
Near East Climate Workshop
Workshop
University of Nottingham
2016
Other employment & volunteering
In my work with Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, I seek to promote engagement between academic archaeology and the free knowledge movement.
Editor & administrator
English Wikipedia
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current - 2010
- Community-appointed administrator
- Elected member of the Arbitration Committee (2019–2020)
Gateway Advisor
Kirklees Citizens Advice Bureau
Dewsbury
2018
Curatorial assistant
Gradski Musej Vršac
Vršac
2012
Software engineer
Leeds
2012
- Front-end and data migration programming for a large clinical systems developer, working with Java and SQL