Kathleen Forste

Graduated Summer 2021

Websites

https://bu.academia.edu/KathleenForste 

http://sites.bu.edu/ealab/profile/kathleen-forste/

Research Interests

Southern Levant and Eastern Mediterranean, paleoethnobotany/archaeobotany, agricultural economy, agriculture, arboriculture, foodways and food traditions, fuel use, political economy, Byzantine, Early Islamic, Crusader periods, recovery techniques, sampling strategies, intrasite analysis

About

Kathleen studies human-landscape and human-plant interactions as well as ancient economic practices through the lens of archaeobotanical remains. Her dissertation project is focused on the agricultural economy in the Levant during the Early Islamic period (c. 636-1099 CE). Specifically, she is investigating how access to and organization of plant resources is impacted by a site’s architectural configuration as well as by its location in the geographic and socio-cultural landscapes. Kathleen is currently analyzing the macrobotanical remains (seeds, fruits, plant parts, wood charcoal) recovered from 4 sites in Israel: Ashkelon, Caesarea Maritima, Tel Shimron, and Neby Zakaria.

Kathleen has been involved in archaeobotanical work in southern Europe, specifically the analysis of Late Bronze Age assemblages from Greece and Albania, and maintain an interest in low-level food production in the North American Prehispanic Southwest with professors at the University of Cincinnati.

Awards

• Cora Du Bois Writing Fellowship (2020)
• BU Center for the Humanities Graduate Student Award (2020)
• Marcia and Oded Borowski Research Fellowship, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research (2019)
• Short-term Graduate Research Abroad Fellowship (GRAF) (2019)
• Outstanding Teaching Fellow Award (2018)
• Short-term Graduate Research Abroad Fellowship (GRAF) (2017)
• ASOR Heritage Excavation Fellowship (2016)