Mr Mark Lewis
Research Assistant Calleva Rift Valley
Division: ES Vertebrates and Anthropology Palaeobiology
Summary
My main research interests lie in Quaternary environmental reconstruction, with particular reference to early hominin sites, principally in the British Isles. My specialism is palynology, with particular knowledge of the Cromerian (sensu lato) and Ipswichian interglacials and I have excavated at both British and European sites. A recent line of research has involved the study of pollen from unconventional contexts, such as spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) coprolites, sediment found in the cavities of bones in museum collections and speleothems. I also have working experience of other proxies including small and large mammals, particularly smaller felids, as well as sedimentology including the use of volcanic tephras as isochronous markers.
Qualifications
- BSc Biology, King's College London, United Kingdom
- MSc Bio- & Georchaeology, University College London, United Kingdom
- MSc Human Evolution & Behaviour, University College London, United Kingdom
Degrees
Employment history
- Researcher/palynologist (Calleva Project: Pathways to Ancient Britain), Natural History Museum, United Kingdom, 2013 - ongoing
- Part-time RA, NERC funded RESET Tephrochronology Project (Response of Humans to Abrupt Environmental Change), Natural History Museum, Palaeontology, United Kingdom, 2008 - 2012
- Researcher/RA, AHOB (Leverhulme funded project: Ancient Human Occupation of Britain), Natural History Museum, Palaeontology, United Kingdom, 2005 - 2012
- Leverhulme funded project: Mammoth, vertebrate fauna and palaeoenvironment of the Cromerian stratotype (West Runton Freshwater Bed), University College London, Biology, United Kingdom, 2003 - 2004
- Project-based Research Assistant (RA), Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Jan 1998 - May 2003, Natural History Museum, United Kingdom, 1998 - 2003
Academic
Grants
Pathways to Ancient Britain 2
Role: Principal investigatorStringer CB
Funding: Calleva Foundation
Dates: 2016 - 2019
Role: Principal investigatorStringer CB
Co-investigator: Bello S
Funding: The Calleva Foundation
Dates: 2016 - 2019
European Rift Valley (AHOB)
Role: Principal investigatorStringer C
Funding: Calleva Foundation
Dates: 2012 - 2016
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
Publications
Field MH, Verleijsdonk B, Peglar S, Lewis M (2021) Hippophaë rhamnoides L. (Elaeagnaceae family) in the Pleistocene epoch of the British Isles. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 289 : 104385 - 104385. doi: 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2021.104385
Farjon A, Horne DJ, Parfitt SA, Buckland PI, Lewis MD (2020) Early Pleistocene conifer macrofossils from Happisburgh, Norfolk, UK, and their environmental implications for early hominin occupation. Quaternary Science Reviews, 232 : 106115 - 106115. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106115
Lewis M, Stringer C (2019) 1 Million Years of Humans in Britain. 2019 (2019) : 6 - 7.
Lord TC, Palmer AP, Telfer MW, Murphy PJ, Lewis M, Wilson P (2017) The Pleistocene laminated sediments of Victoria Cave, North Yorkshire, UK: characteristics, age and significance. Cave and Karst Science, 44 (3) : 143 - 144.
Holmes P, Rose J, Lee JR, Barendregt R, Candy I, Riding JB, Lewis M (2018) The Middle Pleistocene terraces of the central Waveney valley, Earsham, south Norfolk, UK. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 129 (1) : 70 - 88. doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.10.005
De Groote I, Lewis M, Stringer C (2017) Prehistory of the British Isles: A tale of coming and going. BMSAP, doi: 10.1007/s13219-017-0187-8
Pappa S, Adams N, Brewer P, Parfitt S, Carnegie G, Lewis M (2017) Elephant dung, chewed antlers, weathered bones: documenting a unique taphonomic collection. Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy, 129 9 - 12 9 9
Ivanova S, Gurova M, Spassov N, Hristova L, Tzankov N, Popov V, Marinova E, Makedonska J, Smith V, Ottoni C, Lewis M (2016) Magura Cave, Bulgaria: A multidisciplinary study of Late Pleistocene human palaeoenvironment in the Balkans. Quaternary International, 415 : 86 - 108. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.082
Davies W, White D, Lewis M, Stringer C (2015) Evaluating the transitional mosaic: frameworks of change from Neanderthals to Homo sapiens in eastern Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews, 118 : 211 - 242. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.12.003
Marín-Arroyo AB, Cano FG, Lewis M (2015) Late Pleistocene foot infection in Dama mesopotamica from Tabun B (Mount Carmel, Israel). International Journal of Paleopathology, 8 : 48 - 50. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2014.08.002
Marín-Arroyo AB, Landete-Ruiz MD, Seva-Román R, Lewis MD (2014) Manganese coating of the Tabun faunal assemblage: Implications for modern human behaviour in the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic. Quaternary International, 330 : 10 - 18. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.016
Ashton N, Lewis SG, De Groote I, Duffy SM, Bates M, Bates R, Hoare P, Lewis M, Parfitt SA, Peglar S, Williams C, Stringer C (null) Hominin Footprints from Early Pleistocene Deposits at Happisburgh, UK. PLoS ONE, 9 (2) : e88329 - e88329. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088329
Lowe J, Barton N, Blockley S, Ramsey CB, Cullen VL, Davies W, Gamble C, Grant K, Hardiman M, Housley R, Lane CS, Lee S, Lewis M, MacLeod A, Menzies M, Müller W, Pollard M, Price C, Roberts AP, Rohling EJ, Satow C, Smith VC, Stringer CB, Tomlinson EL, White D, Albert P, Arienzo I, Barker G, Borić D, Carandente A, Civetta L, Ferrier C, Guadelli J-L, Karkanas P, Koumouzelis M, Müller UC, Orsi G, Pross J, Rosi M, Shalamanov-Korobar L, Sirakov N, Tzedakis PC (2012) Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109 (34) : 13532 - 13537. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1204579109
LEWIS MD (2011) Pleistocene Hyaena Coprolite Palynology in Britain: Implications for the Environments of Early Humans., In: The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain., Ashton N, Lewis SG, STRINGER C (Eds). Elsevier : Amsterdam. 309 pp. 263 - 278.
Lewis M, Pacher M, Turner A (2010) The larger Carnivora of the West Runton Freshwater Bed. Quaternary International, 228 (1-2) : 116 - 135. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2010.06.022
Parfitt SA, Ashton NM, Lewis SG, Abel RL, Coope GR, Field MH, Gale R, Hoare PG, Larkin NR, Lewis MD, Karloukovski V, Maher BA, Peglar SM, Preece RC, Whittaker JE, Stringer CB (2010) Early Pleistocene human occupation at the edge of the boreal zone in northwest Europe. Nature, 466 (7303) : 229 - 233. doi: 10.1038/nature09117
Larkin NR, Alexander J, Lewis MD (2000) Using Experimental Studies of Recent Faecal Material to Examine Hyaena Coprolites from the West Runton Freshwater Bed, Norfolk, U.K.. Journal of Archaeological Science, 27 (1) : 19 - 31. doi: 10.1006/jasc.1999.0437
Aiello LC, Wood B, Key C, Lewis M (1999) Morphological and taxonomic affinities of the Olduvai ulna (OH 36). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 109 (1) : 89 - 110. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199905)109:1<89::aid-ajpa8>3.0.co;2-4