Anne Johnakin

Anne Johnakin is a Ph.D. student in archaeology working in the Mediterranean and Near East during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. She works with archaeological science techniques including starch and phytolith residue analysis and stable isotopes, and is interested in questions of food consumption and preparation. Additionally, she is interested in bioarchaeology at large and her research tries to prioritize feminist, queer, and disabled theoretical frameworks. For her doctoral research, she is interested in using microbotanical techniques to investigate prehistoric textile processing and the use of textiles in cooking. Before coming to BU, Anne received their BA in Anthropology modified with Classical Archaeology from Dartmouth College in 2023 and their MSc in Archaeological Science from University of Oxford in 2024. Anne has dug in Cyprus and Albania, and has done research using materials from Syria and Bulgaria. To learn more about Johnakin’s research and publications, visit her webpage.

In Spring 2025, Anne received a CISS Summer mini-grant to support her joining Dr. John M. Marston’s ongoing archaeobotanical project in the Athenian Agora excavating an undisturbed 15x30m archaeological profile that includes Ottoman industrial structures and Middle Byzantine through Roman era domestic spaces. Once they reach the Classical period, the project hopes to find Archaic (7th to 6th century BCE) houses and below that, Early Iron Age tombs. Learn more in our featured article.