Colin Smith

La Trobe Co-author Network

Colin Smith's primary research area is biomolecular archaeology, and in particular investigating the preservation of biomolecules in archaeological skeletal tissue and how this affects the information they contain.His most recent research has focused on the application of stable isotope analysis to ancient proteins with a particular interest in analyzing them at the amino acid level. He currently leads the LC IRMS facility at La Trobe University, which is housed in the School of Molecular Sciences.

Previous research highlights include the development of the concept and models of 'Thermal Age' degradation of ancient DNA (with Professor Matthew Collins) as well as concepts of bone diagenesis and protein degradation (collagen and osteocalcin) in archaeological bone.

Prior to coming to La Trobe, Colin studied Archaeological Science, Analytical Chemistry, and a PhD in Geochemistry in the UK, and has also conducted research at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid), in Uppsalla and Stockholm Universities, Durham University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig).

Positions

Archaeology , School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Research Areas

Archaeological Science (Expertise)
Archaeology (Expertise)
Archaeometry (Expertise)
Securing Food, Water & The Environment (Research Areas)
Transforming Human Societies (Research Areas)

Publications
Research
Teaching
Background
Contact
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selected publications

academic article
- Valdiosera CGünther TVera-Rodríguez JCUreña IIriarte ERodríguez-Varela RSimões LGMartínez-Sánchez RMSvensson EMMalmström HRodríguez LBermúdez de Castro J-MCarbonell EAlday AHernández Vera JAGötherström ACarretero J-MArsuaga JLSmith CIJakobsson M. Four millennia of Iberian biomolecular prehistory illustrate the impact of prehistoric migrations at the far end of Eurasia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA. 115:3428-3433. 2018
- Mora APacheco ARoberts CSmith C. Pica 8: Refining dietary reconstruction through amino acid δ 13 C analysis of tendon collagen and hair keratin. Journal of Archaeological Science. 93:94-109. 2018
- Mora AArriaza BTStanden VGValdiosera CSalim ASmith C. High-resolution palaeodietary reconstruction: Amino acid δ 13 C analysis of keratin from single hairs of mummified human individuals. Quaternary International. 436:96-113. 2017
- Cooper CLupo KMatson RGLipe WSmith CIRichards MP. Short-term variability of human diet at Basketmaker II Turkey Pen Ruins, Utah: insights from bulk and single amino acid isotope analysis of hair. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 5:10-18. 2016
- Llamas BFehren-Schmitz LValverde GSoubrier JMallick SRohland NNordenfelt SValdiosera CRichards SMRohrlach ABarreto Romero MIFlores Espinoza ITomasto Cagigao EWatson Jimenez LMakowski KLeboreiro Reyna ISMansilla Lory JBallivian Torrez JARivera MABurger RLConstanza Ceruti MReinhard JWells RSPolitis GSantoro CMStanden VGSmith CReich DHo SYWCooper AHaak W. Ancient mitochondrial DNA provides high-resolution time scale of the peopling of the Americas. Science Advances. 2. 2016
- Raghavan MSteinruecken MHarris KSchiffels SRasmussen SDeGiorgio MAlbrechtsen AValdiosera CAvila-Arcos MCMalaspinas A-SEriksson AMoltke IMetspalu MHomburger JRWall JCornejo OEMoreno-Mayar JVKorneliussen TSPierre TRasmussen MCampos PFDamgaard PDBAllentoft MELindo JMetspalu ERodriguez-Varela RMansilla JHenrickson CSeguin-Orlando AMalmstrom HStafford TShringarpure SSMoreno-Estrada AKarmin MTambets KBergstrom AXue YWarmuth VFriend ADSingarayer JValdes PBalloux FLeboreiro IVera JLRangel-Villalobos HPettener DLuiselli DDavis LGHeyer EZollikofer CPEde Leon MSPSmith CIGrimes VPike K-ADeal MFuller BTArriaza BStanden VLuz MFRicaut FGuidon NOsipova LVoevoda MIPosukh OLBalanovsky OLavryashina MBogunov YKhusnutdinova EGubina MBalanovska EFedorova SLitvinov SMalyarchuk BDerenko MMosher MJArcher DCybulski JPetzelt BMitchell JWorl RNorman PJParham PKemp BMKivisild TTyler-Smith CSandhu MSCrawford MVillems RSmith DGWaters MRGoebel TJohnson JRMalhi RSJakobsson MMeltzer DJManica ADurbin RBustamante CDSong YSNielsen RWillerslev E. Genomic evidence for the Pleistocene and recent population history of Native Americans. Science. 349. 2015
- Guiry EJStaniforth MNehlicha OGrimes VSmith CHarpley BNoël SRichards MP. Tracing historical animal husbandry, meat trade, and food provisioning: a multi-isotopic approach to the analysis of shipwreck faunal remains from the William Salthouse, Port Phillip, Australia. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 1:21-28. 2015
- Colonese ACCollins MLucquin AEustace MHancock YPonzoni RDARMora ASmith CDeBlasis PFiguti LWesolowski VPlens CREggers SEloy de Farias DSGledhill ACraig OE. Long-term resilience of late Holocene coastal subsistence system in southeastern South America. PLoS ONE. 9:1-13. 2014
- Guiry EHarpley BJones ZSmith C. Integrating Stable Isotope and Zooarchaeological Analyses in Historical Archaeology: A Case Study from the Urban Nineteenth-Century Commonwealth Block Site, Melbourne, Australia. International Journal of Historical Archaeology. 18:415-440. 2014
- Raghavan MThemudo GSmith CZazula GCampos P. Musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) of the mammoth steppe: tracing palaeodietary and palaeoenvironmental changes over the last 50,000 years using carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis. Quaternary Science Reviews. 102:192-201. 2014
- Strzepek KMThresher RERevill ATSmith CIKomugabe AFFallon SF. Preservation effects on the isotopic and elemental composition of skeletal structures in the deep-sea bamboo coral Lepidisis spp. (Isididae). Deep-Sea Research Part 2: Topical Studies in Oceanography. 99:199-206. 2014
- Blyth AJSmith CIDrysdale RN. A new perspective on the δ13C signal preserved in speleothems using LC–IRMS analysis of bulk organic matter and compound specific stable isotope analysis. Quaternary Science Reviews. 75:143-149. 2013
- Blyth AJShutova YSmith C. δ13C analysis of bulk organic matter in speleothems using liquid chromatography–isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Organic Geochemistry. 55:22-25. 2013
- Nehlich OFuller BTJay MMora ANicholson RASmith CIRichards MP. Application of sulphur isotope ratios to examine weaning patterns and freshwater fish consumption in Roman Oxfordshire, UK. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 75:4963-4977. 2011
- Choy KSmith CIFuller BTRichards MP. Investigation of amino acid δ13C signatures in bone collagen to reconstruct human palaeodiets using liquid chromatography–isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 74:6093-6111. 2010
- Fernández-Jalvo YAndrews PPesquero DSmith CMarín-Monfort DSánchez BGeigl E-MAlonso A. Early bone diagenesis in temperate environments. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 288:62-81. 2010
- Rasmussen MCummings LSGilbert MTPBryant VSmith CJenkins DLWillerslev E. Response to Comment by Goldberg et al. on "DNA from Pre-Clovis Human Coprolites in Oregon, North America". Science. 325:148-148. 2009
- Smith CIFuller BTChoy KRichards MP. A three-phase liquid chromatographic method for δ13C analysis of amino acids from biological protein hydrolysates using liquid chromatography–isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Analytical Biochemistry. 390:165-172. 2009
- Richards MGrimes VSmith CSmith THarvati KHublin J-JKarkanas PPanagopoulou E. Response to Nowell and Horstwood (2009). Journal of Archaeological Science. 36:1657-1658. 2009
- Smith CIFaraldos MFernández-Jalvo Y. The precision of porosity measurements: Effects of sample pre-treatment on porosity measurements of modern and archaeological bone. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 266:175-182. 2008
- Richards MHarvati KGrimes VSmith CSmith THublin J-JKarkanas PPanagopoulou E. Strontium isotope evidence of Neanderthal mobility at the site of Lakonis, Greece using laser-ablation PIMMS. Journal of Archaeological Science. 35:1251-1256. 2008
- Buckley MWalker AHo SYWYang YSmith CAshton POates JTCappellini EKoon HPenkman KElsworth BAshford DSolazzo CAndrews PStrahler JShapiro BOstrom PGandhi HMiller WRaney BZylber MIGilbert MTPPrigodich RVRyan MRijsdijk KFJanoo ACollins MJ. Comment on "Protein Sequences from Mastodon and Tyrannosaurus rex Revealed by Mass Spectrometry". Science. 319:33-33. 2008
- Smith CINielsen-Marsh CMJans MMECollins MJ. Bone diagenesis in the European Holocene I: patterns and mechanisms. Journal of Archaeological Science. 34:1485-1493. 2007
- Nielsen-Marsh CMSmith CIJans MMENord AKars HCollins MJ. Bone diagenesis in the European Holocene II: taphonomic and environmental considerations. Journal of Archaeological Science. 34:1523-1531. 2007
- Svensson EMAnderung CBaubliene JPersson PMalmström HSmith CVretemark MDaugnora LGötherström A. Tracing genetic change over time using nuclear SNPs in ancient and modern cattle. Animal Genetics. 38:378-383. 2007
- Valdiosera CGarcia NDalen LSmith CKahlke R-DLiden KAngerbjorn AArsuaga JLGotherstrom A. Typing single polymorphic nucleotides in mitochondrial DNA as a way to access Middle Pleistocene DNA. Biology Letters. 2:601-603. 2006
- Gotherstrom AAnderung CHellborg LElburg RSmith CBradley DGEllegren H. Cattle domestication in the Near East was followed by hybridization with aurochs bulls in Europe. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences. 272:2345-2351. 2005
- Gilbert MTPBarnes ICollins MJSmith CEklund JGoudsmit JPoinar HCooper A. Long-term survival of ancient DNA in Egypt: Response to Zink and Nerlich (2003). American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 128:110-114. 2005
- Anderung CBouwman APersson PCarretero JMOrtega AIElburg RSmith CArsuaga JLEllegren HGotherstrom A. Prehistoric contacts over the Straits of Gibraltar indicated by genetic analysis of Iberian Bronze Age cattle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA. 102:8431-8435. 2005
- Thomas P. Gilbert MRudbeck LWillerslev EHansen AJSmith CPenkman KEHPrangenberg KNielsen-Marsh CMJans MEArthur PLynnerup NTurner-Walker GBiddle MKjølbye-Biddle BCollins MJ. Biochemical and physical correlates of DNA contamination in archaeological human bones and teeth excavated at Matera, Italy. Journal of Archaeological Science. 32:785-793. 2005
- Smith CICraig OEPrigodich RVNielsen-Marsh CMJans MMEVermeer CCollins MJ. Diagenesis and survival of osteocalcin in archaeological bone. Journal of Archaeological Science. 32:105-113. 2005
- Jans MMENielsen-Marsh CMSmith CICollins MJKars H. Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone. Journal of Archaeological Science. 31:87-95. 2004
- Smith CIChamberlain ATRiley MSStringer CCollins MJ. The thermal history of human fossils and the likelihood of successful DNA amplification. Journal of Human Evolution. 45:203-217. 2003
- Jans MMEKars HNielsen-Marsh CMSmith CINord AGArthur PEarl N. In situ preservation of archaeological bone: a histological study within a multidisciplinary approach. Archaeometry. 44:343-352. 2002
- Smith CINielsen-Marsh CMJans MMEArthur PNord AGCollins MJ. The strange case of Apigliano: early 'fossilization' of medieval bone in southern Italy. Archaeometry. 44:405-415. 2002
- Collins MJNielsen-Marsh CMHiller JSmith CIRoberts JPPrigodich RVWess TJCsapo JMillard ARTurner-Walker G. The survival of organic matter in bone: a review. Archaeometry. 44:383-394. 2002
- Roberts SJSmith CIMillard ACollins MJ. The taphonomy of cooked bone: characterizing boiling and its physico-chemical effects. Archaeometry. 44:485-494. 2002
- Smith CIChamberlain ATRiley MSCooper AStringer CBCollins MJ. Neanderthal DNA: Not just old but old and cold?. Nature. 410:771-772. 2001
chapter
- Smith CFaraldos MFernandez-Jalvo Y. Bone diagenesis at Azokh Caves. 251-269. 2016
- Blyth AJSmith CI. Applications of liquid chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry in geochemistry and archaeological science. RSC Detection Science. 313-323. 2015
- Fernandez-Jalvo YHovsepian-King TMoloney NYepiskoposyan LAndrews PMurray JSafarian Val ESmith C. Azokh Caves excavations 2002-2006. Middle upper Palaeolithic transition in Nagorno-Karabagh. 325-338. 2009
- Smith CJans MNielsen-Marsh CCollins M. Human and animal taphonomy in Europe : a physical and chemical point of view.. 71-80. 2007