| Michael Phillip Richards | |
| Birth Place: | Zambia |
| Nationality: | Canadian and British |
| Occupation: | Archaeological scientist, researcher and academic |
| Canada Research Chair | |
| Education: | B.A.(Hons) M.A. D.Philosophy |
| Alma Mater: | Simon Fraser University University of Oxford |
| Thesis Title: | Palaeodietary studies of European human populations using bone stable isotopes |
| Workplaces: | Simon Fraser University |
Michael Phillip Richards (FSA, FRSC) is an archaeological scientist, researcher and an academic. He is an archaeology Professor at Simon Fraser University[1] and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Archaeological Science, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (London)[2] and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.[3] Richards has published more than 300 research articles (including in journals such as Nature, Science, and PNAS). His research focuses on studying the diets diet evolution and migrations of past humans and animals using various techniques such as isotope analysis and radiocarbon dating. His work is highly cited and has gathered media coverage.[4]
Richards completed his Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) and received his Certificate in Liberal Arts from Simon Fraser University in 1992. He completed his master's degree in 1994 from the same institution before moving to U.K. for his doctoral studies. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in 1998.[1]
Right after his doctoral studies, he accepted a position as postdoctoral research assistant at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art at Oxford University. From 2000 till 2005, Richards was associated with University of Bradford, funded through a Wellcome Trust University Award, first as a lecturer, and was later promoted to reader and then professor. In 2004 he joined the newly founded Department of Human Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) in Leipzig, Germany as a Professor (W2) until 2009.[5] During that time he also held a part-time professorship in archaeology at the University of Durham (UK).[1]
In 2009, Richards moved to the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and held a part-time professorship at the MPI-EVA. Richards was associate dean for research and graduate studies in the Faculty of Arts at UBC from 2012 to 2016. He then moved to the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University as a professor and Canada Research Chair in Archaeological Science (Tier 1) in 2016.[1]
Richard's major research areas include bioarcheology, stable isotopes, and archaeological science. He has worked studying the diet evolution of humans in the past, focusing especially on early modern humans and Neanderthals. He published his first article in 2000 about Neanderthal diets using stable isotopes, followed by a number of papers, including a review paper in 2008 in PNAS. The isotope analysis characterized Neanderthals as true carnivores and the results pointed out to the fact that they were effective predators and hunters instead of acquiring protein through scavenging.[6] His research on Neanderthal diet was featured in the New York Times.[7] He has also used strontium isotope analysis to study the landscape use by the early hominins.[8] Richards conducted studies on cave bears using isotopic analysis and found that these bears had nitrogen isotopes values similar but slightly higher than those of herbivores. His research led to the discovery of the fact that these European cave bears were capable to altering their diets to become omnivores or even carnivores.[9]
Richards and his students have also conducted considerable research on the diets of people around the world in the Holocene period. A particular focus of this research has been the application of isotopes to study the change of diets associated with the introduction of farming and animal husbandry in Europe and China (the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition). He found, with colleagues, that there was a relatively abrupt change in diet when Neolithic artifacts and foods arrived in northwest Europe ca. 4000 BC. In 2002, Richards co-authored an article about the Medieval Wharram Percy population. They studied the measurements of the nitrogen and carbon isotope analysis conducted on the population to study the weaning age and impact of weaning on the population. The measurements and the data collected traced the weaning age of the Medieval Wharram Percy population to 2 years old. They also discussed the dietary changes in children after weaning.[10] While researching on medieval era and the dietary preferences of the past people, Richards co-wrote an article in 2005 titled "Fast or feast: reconstructing diet in later medieval England by stable isotope analysis" and designed a pilot study to analyze the isotopic variations in medieval population of England. He observed the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis conducted in three different medieval sites in England and found that the values differed significantly from the isotope analysis values collected from medieval sites other than England. His results indicated an important impact of the medieval fasting on everyday livelihood of the populations.[11]
Richards has also developed new methods of isotope analysis, especially focusing on the application of sulphur isotopes as dietary and migration indicators. Current research includes developing new isotope systems for dietary and migration studies using isotope analysis (including compound-specific measurements and non-traditional isotopes such as zinc) to explore and catalogue the range and nature of human dietary adaptations throughout the Holocene, and developing and applying isotope analysis in forensics.
Richards has also developed new methods of isotope analysis, especially focusing on the application of sulphur isotopes as dietary and migration indicators.[12] Current research includes developing new isotope systems for dietary and migration studies using isotope analysis (including compound-specific measurements and non-traditional isotopes such as zinc) to explore and catalogue the range and nature of human dietary adaptations throughout the Holocene, and developing and applying isotope analysis in forensics.[4]