Priscilla Ulguim

PhD Researcher in the United Kingdom

Priscilla Ulguim

PhD Researcher in the United Kingdom

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Hello. I am a PhD researcher at Teesside University (UK) with interests in bioarchaeology, burnt bone analysis, cremation and South American archaeology. I completed an MSc in Bioarchaeology (Human Osteology) at the University of Exeter (UK) as a Wenner-Gren Foundation scholar supervised by Prof. Christopher Knüsel, while my undergraduate education resulted in a first in class History degree from the Universidade Federal de Pelotas (Brazil).

My doctoral research applies advanced analytical and digital methods to cremated human remains from archaeological mound and enclosure complexes in the southern Brazilian highlands. Such complexes appear at the top of prominent hills in intervisible locations from c.1500 BP to 300 BP. Interpreted as funerary sites reflecting aspects of the cosmogony and social traditions of southern Jê groups, they are linked with the rise of complex societies in lowland South America and Early Formative ceremonial and funerary architecture. However, relatively few studies have analysed the human remains in detail. My research aims to analyse heat-induced change in bone, including microscopic structural and colour alteration, along with ethnohistorical and ethnoarchaeological data on regional funerary practices in order to understand the individuals involved, and interpret the nature of the funerary process. My doctoral supervisors are Tim Thompson, Gillian Taylor and Sheila Mendonça de Souza.

I have published articles and chapters on my research, in addition to presenting at a range of conferences, with other publications in progress. I have also worked on different academic projects, with other research focused on zooarchaeological analyses of southern Brazilian lagoon Cerritos sites and Guarani occupations, the most extensive of which implemented a holistic excavation methodology and analysed thousands of icthyoarchaeological remains.

I am a Research Associate at LEPAARQ, UFPel, member of the “Jê Landscapes of Southern Brazil” project, collaborator at “Alfred Russel Wallace Correspondence Project” (Natural History Museum, London), and member of BABAO (British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology); ICAZ (International Council for Archaeozoology) and ABRAF (Associação Brasileira de Antropologia Forense) among others. My ORCiD is 0000-0002-5563-5682.

  • Work
    • Teesside University
  • Education
    • Teesside University
    • University of Exeter