Dr Silvia Bello
Researcher, Calleva
Division: ES Vertebrates and Anthropology Palaeobiology
Summary
I graduated at the University of Turin (Italy) and completed two Masters and my PhD studies in Marseilles (France) before arriving at the Natural History Museum (NHM, London, UK) in 2002 with a post-doctoral European Grant. I joined the ‘Ancient Human Occupation of Britain’ Project at the NHM in 2005 and since 2012 I have been directing three projects financed by the Calleva Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. Over the last 12 years I have been pursuing my research in the evolution of human behaviour through the analysis of bone assemblages, aiming to recognise and interpret different expressions of human actions. These include hunting, butchering and feeding choices, production and use of bone and antler artefacts and the cultural modifications of human remains within funerary and cannibalistic practices.
Qualifications
- BSc, University of Turin, Turin
- MSc, University of Marseilles, Marseilles
- Ma, University of Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence
- PhD, Joint supervision between the University of Florence and the University of Marseilles, Italy and France
Degrees
Employment history
- Researcher, Calleva, The Natural History Museum, Earth Sciences, United Kingdom, 2005 - ongoing
Academic
Grants
Prehistoric Human Behaviour in 3D (Phase 1)
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: Calleva Foundation
Dates: 2016 - 2016
Prehistoric Human Behaviour in 3D (Phase 2)
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: Calleva Foundation
Dates: 2016 - 2019
Cutmark micro-morphometrics and the stage of carcass decay: a pilot study using 3D microscopy
Role: Principal investigator
Co-investigator: Stringer C
Funding: Leverhulme Trust
Total value £89,389 (to Museum £89,389)
Dates: 2014 - 2016
Calleva 2 General Research Fund
Role: Principal investigatorStringer CB
Role: Co-investigator
Funding: Calleva Foundation
Dates: 2016 - 2019
Dispersals of early humans: adaptations, frontiers and new territories
Role: Principal investigatorStringer C
Funding: Leverhulme Trust
Total value £1,133,815 (to Museum £389,176)
Dates: 2009 - 2013
The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain and its European Context
Role: Principal investigatorStringer C
Funding: Leverhulme Trust
Total value £1,050,028 (to Museum £230,726)
Dates: 2006 - 2010
Events
Organisation
Organiser, British Association for Biological Anthropology & Osteoarchaeology Conference 2019, (Conference),
Publications
Bello SM, Wallduck R, Dimitrijevic V, Zivaljevic I, Stringer CB (2016) Cannibalism versus funerary defleshing and disarticulation after a period of decay: comparisons of bone modifications from four prehistoric sites. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 161 (4) : 722 - 743. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23079
Antoine P, Moncel M-H, Limondin-Lozouet N, Locht J-L, Bahain J-J, Moreno D, Voinchet P, Auguste P, Stoetzel E, Dabkowski J, Bello SM, Parfitt SA, Tombret O, Hardy B (2016) Palaeoenvironment and dating of the Early Acheulean localities from the Somme River basin (Northern France): New discoveries from the High Terrace at Abbeville-Carrière Carpentier. Quaternary Science Reviews, 149 : 338 - 371. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.07.035
De Groote I, Flink LG, Abbas R, Bello SM, Burgio L, Buck LT, Dean C, Freyne A, Higham T, Jones CG, Kruszynski R, Lister A, Parfitt SA, Skinner MM, Shindler K, Stringer CB (2016) Correction to ‘New genetic and morphological evidence suggests a single hoaxer created ‘Piltdown Man’’. Royal Society Open Science, 3 (10) : 160679 - 160679. doi: 10.1098/rsos.160679
Bello SM, Delbarre G, De Groote I, Parfitt SA (2016) A newly discovered antler flint-knapping hammer and the question of their rarity in the Palaeolithic archaeological record: Reality or bias?. Quaternary International, 403 : 107 - 117. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.094
Wallduck R, Bello SM (2016) An Engraved Human Bone from the Mesolithic–Neolithic Site of Lepenski Vir (Serbia). Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 26 (2) : 329 - 347. doi: 10.1017/s0959774316000020
Van Kolfschoten T, Parfitt SA, Serangeli J, Bello SM (2015) Lower Paleolithic bone tools from the ‘Spear Horizon’ at Schöningen (Germany). Journal of Human Evolution, 89 : 226 - 263. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.09.012
Bello SM, Saladié P, Cáceres I, Rodríguez-Hidalgo A, Parfitt SA (2015) Upper Palaeolithic ritualistic cannibalism at Gough's Cave (Somerset, UK): The human remains from head to toe. Journal of Human Evolution, 82 : 170 - 189. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.02.016
Bello S, Wallduck R (2015) Cannibalism vs funerary defleshing and disarticulation after a period of decay: a comparison of modifications on human remains from four prehistoric sites.. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 156 (S60) : :
Wallduck R, Bello SM (2015) Cannibalism vs funerary defleshing and disarticulation after a period of decay: micro-morphometric comparisons of cut-marks on human and non-human remains from four prehistoric sites. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY. 156 : WILEY-BLACKWELL : 317 - 317.
Schulting RJ, Bello SM, Chandler B, Higham TFG (2015) A Cut-marked and Fractured Mesolithic Human Bone from Kent's Cavern, Devon, UK. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 25 (1) : 31 - 44. doi: 10.1002/oa.2261
Bates MR, Wenban-Smith FF, Bello SM, Bridgland DR, Buck LT, Collins MJ, Keen DH, Leary J, Parfitt SA, Penkman K, Rhodes E, Ryssaert C, Whittaker JE (2014) Late persistence of the Acheulian in southern Britain in an MIS 8 interstadial: evidence from Harnham, Wiltshire. Quaternary Science Reviews, 101 : 159 - 176. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.07.002
De Groote I, Bello SM, Kruszynski R, Compton T, Stringer C (2014) Sir Arthur Keith's Legacy: Re-discovering a lost collection of human fossils. Quaternary International, 337 : 237 - 253. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.047
Abrams G, Bello S, Bonjean D, Di Modica K, Otte M, Pirson S (2014) Les retouchoirs en os de l’ensemble sédimentaire 5 de Scladina: utilisation des restes d’ours des cavernes (Ursus spelaeus).. Notae Praehistoricae, 34 : 5 - 19.
Bello S, Wallduck R (2014) Engraved human bone from the Magdalenian site of Gough’s Cave, Somerset (UK).. PESHE, 3 :
Dinnis R, Bello S, Chamberlain AT, Coleman C, Stringer C (2014) A cut-marked Neolithic human tooth from Ash Tree Shelter, Derbyshire.. Cave and Karst Science, 43 (3) : 114 - 117.
DINNIS R, BELLO SM, T CHAMBERLAIN A, COLEMAN C, STRINGER C (2014) A cut-marked Neolithic human tooth from Ash Tree Shelter, Derbyshire, UK. Cave and Karst Science, 41 : 114 - 117.
Wallduck R, Bello S (2014) Extending Death-Ways: Post-Mortem Body Manipulations in the Mesolithic-Neolithic Period of the Danube Gorges, Serbia.. Yilmaz Ö (Eds). 20th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, 109 9 - 10 9 9Archaeology and Art Publications Tur. San. ve Tic. Ltd : Şt: Istanbul. 433 - 434.
Abrams G, Bello SM, Di Modica K, Pirson S, Bonjean D (2014) When Neanderthals used cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) remains: Bone retouchers from unit 5 of Scladina Cave (Belgium). Quaternary International, 326-327 : 274 - 287. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.10.022
Bello SM, De Groote I, Delbarre G (2013) Application of 3-dimensional microscopy and micro-CT scanning to the analysis of Magdalenian portable art on bone and antler. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40 (5) : 2464 - 2476. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2012.12.016
Bello SM, Delbarre G, Parfitt SA, Currant AP, Kruszynski R, Stringer CB (2013) Lost and found: the remarkable curatorial history of one of the earliest discoveries of Palaeolithic portable art. Antiquity, 87 (335) : 237 - 244. doi: 10.1017/s0003598x00048742
Bello SM, Parfitt SA, De Groote I, Kennaway G (2013) Investigating experimental knapping damage on an antler hammer: a pilot-study using high-resolution imaging and analytical techniques. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40 (12) : 4528 - 4537. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2013.07.016
Humphrey L, Bello SM, Turner E, Bouzouggar A, Barton N (2012) Iberomaurusian funerary behaviour: Evidence from Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, Morocco. Journal of Human Evolution, 62 (2) : 261 - 273. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.11.003
HUMPHREY L, BELLO S, ROUSHAM E (2012) SEX DIFFERENCES IN INFANT MORTALITY IN SPITALFIELDS, LONDON, 1750–1839. Journal of Biosocial Science, 44 (1) : 95 - 119. doi: 10.1017/s0021932011000484
Bello SM, Verveniotou E, Cornish L, Parfitt SA (2011) 3-dimensional microscope analysis of bone and tooth surface modifications: comparisons of fossil specimens and replicas. Scanning, 33 (5) : 316 - 324. doi: 10.1002/sca.20248
Bello SM (2011) New Results from the Examination of Cut-Marks Using Three-Dimensional Imaging. null, 249 - 262. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-444-53597-9.00013-3
Bello SM, Parfitt SA, Stringer CB (null) Earliest Directly-Dated Human Skull-Cups. PLoS ONE, 6 (2) : e17026 - e17026. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017026
BELLO SM (2011) New results from the examination of cut-marks using 3-Dimensional imaging, In: The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain, Ashton NM, Lewis SG, STRINGER CB (Eds). null : Elsevier, Amsterdam. 227 - 239.
Hillson SW, Parfitt SA, Bello SM, Roberts MB, Stringer CB (2010) Two hominin incisor teeth from the middle Pleistocene site of Boxgrove, Sussex, England. Journal of Human Evolution, 59 (5) : 493 - 503. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.06.004
BELLO S (2010) Butchered but not eaten? New evidence from the analyses of cut-marks on human remains at Gough’s Cave (Somerset, England, 14,700 cal BP). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 132 :
Bello SM, Parfitt SA, Stringer C (2009) Quantitative micromorphological analyses of cut marks produced by ancient and modern handaxes. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36 (9) : 1869 - 1880. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2009.04.014
BELLO SM, PARFITT SA (2009) New results from the examination of cut-marks on the human incisors from Boxgrove (West Sussex, England), In: Second Workshop of AHOB2: Ancient Human Occupation of Britain and its European Context, STRINGER C, BELLO SM (Eds). AHOB : London.
STRINGER C, BELLO S (2009) Second Workshop of AHOB2: Ancient Human Occupation of Britain and its European Context. March 26-27th 2009. AHOB : London.
Bello SM, Humphrey LT (2007) The funerary behaviour and the social value of children in a proto-industrial urban population during the 18th and 19th centuries. BAR International Series, 1712 : 24 - 24.
Bello SM, Soligo C, Parfitt S (2007) Micromorphology of cut-marks palaeolithic Britain. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 71 - 72.
BELLO S (2007) L'utilité des collections ostéologiques en taphonomie et anthropologie : la collection idéale n'est pas nécessairement la mieux conservée. Bulletin archéologique de Provence, Suppl 4 : 145 - 151.
BELLO SM, Soligo C, Parfitt S (2007) Three-dimensional micromorphology of cut-marks.. American Journal of Physical Anthropology,
BELLO SM, SOLIGO C, PARFITT S (2007) Micromorphology of cut-marks in Palaeolithic Britain. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 132 : 70 - 71.
Stringer C, Bello S (null) First Workshop of AHOB2: Ancient Human Occupation of Britain and its European Context. :
ANDREWS P, BELLO S (2006) Pattern in human burial practices, In: The Social Archaeology of Funerary Remains., Knusel C, Gowland R (Eds). Oxbow Books : Oxford. 14 - 29.
Bello SM, Thomann A, Signoli M, Dutour O, Andrews P (2006) Age and sex bias in the reconstruction of past population structures. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 129 (1) : 24 - 38. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.20243
BELLO S, ANDREWS P (2006) The intrinsic pattern of preservation of human skeletons and its influence on the interpretation of funerary behaviours., In: The Social Archaeology of Funerary Remains, Knusel C, Gowland R (Eds). Oxbow Books : Oxford. 1 - 13.
HUMPHREY LT, BELLO SM (2006) New Late Upper Palaeolithic Ibéromaurusian burials from Eastern and Northern Morocco. Book of Abstracts for the XV Congress of the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences. :
Bello SM, Soligo C (2008) A new method for the quantitative analysis of cutmark micromorphology. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35 (6) : 1542 - 1552. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2007.10.018
BELLO SM, HUMPHREY LT (2005) The funerary behaviour and the social value of children in a proto-industrial urban community..
BELLO S (2004) Taphonomy, selective preservation and robusticity in human skeletal samples: the osteometric paradox. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Annual Meeting Issue 2004, suppl. 38, 61 - 62.
De Groote I, Flink LG, Abbas R, Bello SM, Burgia L, Buck LT, Dean C, Freyne A, Higham T, Jones CG, Kruszynski R, Lister A, Parfitt SA, Skinner MM, Shindler K, Stringer CB (2016) New genetic and morphological evidence suggests a single hoaxer created ‘Piltdown man’. Royal Society Open Science, 3 (8) : 160328 - 160328. doi: 10.1098/rsos.160328