Dr Elle Grono
Areas of expertise
- Archaeological Science 210102
- Soil Sciences 0503
- Sedimentology 040310
- Palaeoecology 060206
- Geochemistry 0402
- Hermeneutic And Critical Theory 220307
- Phenomenology 220310
Research interests
- Geoarchaeology, microarchaeology, archaeological micromorphology, microstratigraphy, palaeoecology, palynology, phytolith analysis, micro-archaeobotany, geochemistry, environmental archaeology
- Neolithic archaeology, hunter-gatherer to agriculture transition, mobile to sedentary transition
- Reconstructing the shared human and environmental pasts of Island and Mainland Southeast Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and the Eastern Mediterranean-Levant
- Philosophy in archaeology, archaeological history and theory, application of phenomenology, hermeneutics and critical theory to archaeological practice and interpretation
Biography
I am an archaeological scientist with interdisciplinary professional and research experience in geoarchaeology, microarchaeology, archaeobotany and palaeoecology. I specialise in the microscopic analysis of archaeological soils and sediments and archaeobotanical and palaeoenvironmental proxies to reconstruct human–environmental relations and depositional histories.
My current research projects span geographic and chronological periods encompassing Late Pleistocene and Holocene Australia, prehistoric New Zealand, the Neolithic transition in Southeast Asia, and Paleolithic to Neolithic and Iron Age sites in the southern Levant and Eastern Mediterranean.
In my current role as Senior Specialist Advisor in Geoarchaeology and Environmental Archaeology with Extent Heritage I apply versatile archaeological science methodologies to Australian archaeological contexts to enrich our understanding of our shared human and environmental past.
In my former postdoctoral roles, I studied sediment and pollen to reconstruct paleovegetation histories of archaeological sites and landscapes in Australasia (Australian National University) and to develop applications of microarchaeology to submerged Neolithic coastal settlements (c.9000 years BP) off the Carmel Coast, Israel (University of Haifa).
My doctoral research (Australian National University) pioneered the application of microarchaeology and geoarchaeology in Southeast Asia to identify dwellings and human activities in Neolithic settlements in Vietnam (c. 4000 years BP).
Publications
- Leclerc, M, Hardy, K, Grono, E et al. 2023, 'Automated analysis of pottery by QEM-EDS', Journal of Global Archaeology, no. 2023, pp. 50â93.
- Grono, E, Friesem, D, Wood, R et al. 2022, 'Site formation processes of outdoor spaces in tropical environments: A micro-geoarchaeological case study from backyard Lo Gach, southern Vietnam', Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, vol. 14, no. 11.
- Grono, E, Piper, P, Kien, N et al. 2022, 'The identification of dwellings and site formation processes at archaeological settlements in the tropics: A micro-geoarchaeological case study from neolithic Loc Giang, southern Vietnam', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 291.
- Grono, E, Friesem, D, Dzung, L et al. 2022, 'Microstratigraphy reveals cycles of occupation and abandonment at the mid Holocene coastal site of Thach Lac, northern-central Vietnam', Archaeological Research in Asia, vol. 31, p. 100396.
- Prideaux, G, Kerr, I, van Zoelen, J et al. 2022, 'Re-evaluating the evidence for late-surviving megafauna at Nombe rockshelter in the New Guinea highlands', Archaeology in Oceania, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 223-248.
- Grono, E, Piper, P, Ngoc Kinh, D et al. 2022, 'Early settlement construction in Southeast Asia: lime mortar floor sequences at Loc Giang, southern Vietnam', Antiquity, vol. 96, no. 390, pp. 1538-1554.
- Clark, G, Leclerc, M, Parton, P et al 2020, 'Royal funerals, ritual stones and participatory networks in the maritime Tongan state', Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, vol. 57.
- Lam, T, Nguyen, T, Tran, T et al 2020, 'Ru Diep and the Quynh Van culture of central Vietnam', Archaeological Research in Asia. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2020.100190
- Leclerc, M, Grono, E, Bedford, S and Spriggs M. 2019, 'Assessment of the technological variability in decorated Lapita pottery from Teouma, Vanuatu, by petrography and LA-ICP-MS: implications for Lapita social organisation', Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 11:5257, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00862-z
- Wesley, D, Litster, M, O'Connor, S et al 2018, 'The archaeology of Maliwawa: 25,000 years of occupation in the Wellington Range, Arnhem Land', Australian Archaeology, vol. 84, no. 2, pp. 108-128.
- Barron, A, Turner, M, Beeching, L et al. 2017, 'MicroCT reveals domesticated rice (Oryza sativa) within pottery sherds from early Neolithic sites (4150-3265 cal BP) in Southeast Asia', Scientific Reports, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 7410 (5pp).
- Denham, T & Grono, E 2017, 'Sediments or soils? Multi-scale geoarchaeological investigations of stratigraphy and early cultivation practices at Kuk Swamp, highlands of Papua New Guinea', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 77, pp. 160-171.
- Edwards, T, Grono, E, Brink, F, Troitzsch, U et al 2017, 'Visualising scales of process: Multi-scalar geoarchaeological investigations of microstratigraphy and diagenesis at hominin bearing sites in South African karst', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 83, pp. 1-11.
- Clark, G, Grono, E, Ussher, E et al 2015, 'Early settlement and subsistence on Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga: Insights from a 2700-2650 cal BP midden deposit', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 3, pp. 513-524.
