Personal profile
Research interests
My research focuses the application of analytical chemistry to understand ancient human societies, particularly their food systems and environmental interactions. I specialise in organic residue analysis of archaeological materials, with expertise in reconstructing prehistoric dietary practices, agricultural origins, and cultural transitions through chemical evidence preserved in pottery, coprolites, and other archaeological remains.
Specific research interests include:
- Coprolite and palaeofaecal analysis – identification of ancient faecal material and paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
- Compound-specific isotope and mass spectrometric analyses for LC and GC.
- Analytical method development for archaeological and environmental chemistry.
- Archaeological organic residue analysis - lipid analysis in ceramics to reconstruct diet and subsistence practices.
Research Groups and Themes
- Organic & Biological
Keywords
- analytical chemistry
- organic residue analysis
- radiocarbon dating
- stable isotope analysis
- archaeological science
- bioarchaeology
- organic geochemistry
- chromatography
- mass spectrometry
- faecal biomarkers
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Research output
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Comparability of Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Dissolved Organic Matter across Laboratories
Kalinski, J.-C., Ruiz Brandão da Costa, B., Schramm, T., Buckett, L., Carlson, L., Coffey, N., Damiani, T., Dechent, E., El Abiead, Y., Heuckeroth, S., Jennings, E., Kaesler, J., Stock, N., Orme, A., Torres, R., Trojahn, S., Whelton, H. L., Yan, Y., Aron, A. & Boiteau, R. & 31 others, , 6 Feb 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Environmental Science & Technology. 60, 6, p. 4814-4829 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review
Open Access -
Characterisation of the unknown chemical composition of a commercial biodegradable agricultural plastic mulch film using complementary spectrometric and spectroscopic techniques
Monkley, C. G., Reay, M., Whelton, H. L., Evershed, R. P. & Lloyd, C. E. M., 7 Aug 2025, In: Analyst. 150, 15, p. 3319-3332 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus) -
Organic residue analysis of pottery residues from Aguntum
Cramp, L. J. E. & Whelton, H. L., 5 Feb 2025, Municipium Claudium Aguntum – Das Macellum: Mit Beiträgen von Lucy Cramp, Otto Defranceschi, Ruth Irovec, Helen Whelton, Benjamin Wimmer und Katrin Winkler. Harrassowitz Verlag, Vol. 6. p. 81-84 4 p. (Ager Aguntinus / Historisch-archäologische Forschungen).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter in a book
Datasets
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Marine fats in ancient pots GCMS
Whelton, H. (Creator), Evershed, R. (Creator) & Cramp, L. (Creator), University of Bristol, 1 Jul 2014
DOI: 10.5523/bris.13kidnrls4jnl1m806eyfd8h6z, http://data.bris.ac.uk/data/dataset/13kidnrls4jnl1m806eyfd8h6z
Dataset
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Marine fats in ancient pots IRMS
Cramp, L. (Creator), Whelton, H. (Creator) & Evershed, R. (Creator), University of Bristol, 1 Jul 2014
DOI: 10.5523/bris.upjtf9os1dzr154phmgvrupib, http://data.bris.ac.uk/data/dataset/upjtf9os1dzr154phmgvrupib
Dataset
Thesis
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Reconstructing diet and mobility in the Neolithic of northern Greece: a multi-proxy biomolecular and stable isotope approach
Whelton, H. L. (Author), Evershed, R. P. (Supervisor), 24 Jan 2017Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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