Rita Peyroteo Stjerna

I am a bioarchaeologist specialised in the analysis of archaeological human remains, trained in archaeothanatology, ancient DNA, radiocarbon and isotopes, and I have been developing my research by working with archaeological museum collections since 2011 in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

My main interests are archaeological science and ethical issues concerning the biomolecular research of ancient human remains.

I received my degree in archaeology at the University of Lisbon (2007) and I hold a PhD (2016) in archaeology from Uppsala University that focuses on the role of mortuary ritual practice in Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in south-western Europe, 8000 years ago.

Since 2016, I am a researcher at the Human Evolution Research Program at the Evolutionary Biology Centre in Uppsala, where I have developed protocols for contamination-free sampling of human bones with minimal impact on museum collections.

I have published primarily on Holocene hunter-gatherers in Western Europe and I am currently working in several interdisciplinary projects in Europe, Asia, and Africa, focusing on mortuary practices and aDNA.

I am the director of the Biomolecular Archaeology course at Uppsala University and a founding member of the Archaeothanatology Working Group.

Recently awarded research project, as PI:

Holding on to the Dead. Investigating Mummification in European Prehistory

Uppsala University. Research Project Grant (2024-2027) funded by the Swedish Research Council (Verenskapsrådet - VR)

Ongoing projects, as researcher:

Ethical Entanglements. The caring for human remains in museums and research

PI Liv Nilsson Stutz, Linnaeus University. Funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ)
In this project, I investigate researchers' perspectives on the ethics of human remains research, from tissue to biomolecules.

NEOSEA - Neolithic seafaring and maritime technologies shaped a new world of megalithic societies (4500-2500 cal BC)

PI Bettina Schulz Paulsson, University of Gothenburg. Funded by the European Research Council (ERC StG)
Here I focus on the archaeogenomics of megalithic societies in Portugal, construction of in-depth chronologies using radiocarbon and Bayesian modelling, dietary and mobility patterns through stable isotope analyses.