Katherine Szabó, PhD (ANU)
Visiting Fellow, Department of Archaeology and Natural History

Email: katherine.szabo@anu.edu.au

Biographical Statement

After completing my doctorate and an ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship within Archaeology and Natural, I am now based at the University of Guam as an Assistant Professor in Anthropology.  My doctoral research investigated potential linkages in neolithic shell-working traditions across Island Southeast Asia and the western Pacific, while my post-doctoral research focused on the neolithic/metal age transition in the Philippines.  I have conducted research in a variety of places within the Asia-Pacific region including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, the Marianas, Fiji and French Polynesia and have worked extensively with both Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological material.

Research Interests

Shell-working and shell as a raw material; shell as a food resource and environmental indicator; material culture; theory of technology; human/hominid perception and manipulation of raw materials and the natural environment.

Key Publications

• Szabó, K., P. Piper and G. Barker. 2008. Sailing Between Worlds: The Symbolism of Death in Northwest Borneo. In G. Clark, S. O’Connor and B.F. Leach (eds) Islands of Enquiry. Canberra: ANU E-Press.
• Szabó, K., A. Brumm and P. Bellwood. 2007. Shell artefact production at 32,000 – 28,000 b.p. in Island Southeast Asia: Thinking across media? Current Anthropology 48(5):701-723.
• Szabó, K. and E. Dizon. 2007. The Archaeology of Linaminan, Central Palawan: A Preliminary Report on Excavations. Hukay 11:1-84.
• Szabó, K. and S. O’Connor. 2004. Migration and Complexity in Holocene Island Southeast Asia. World Archaeology36(4): 621-8.
• Szabó, K. and G. Summerhayes. 2002. Worked shell artefacts – new data from Early Lapita. In S. Bedford, C. Sand and D. Burley (eds) Fifty Years in the Field – Essays in Honour and Celebration of Richard Shutler Jr’s Archaeological Career, pp. 91-100. New Zealand Archaeological Association Monograph 25.

Career Highlights

1999 ANU summer scholar; 2000 PhD scholarship awarded by the Endowment for Excellence, ANU; 2005 ARC postdoctoral fellowship; 2007-8 British Academy Visiting Fellow, University of Cambridge UK.