Anneke Janzen

Anneke Janzen serves as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, specializing in zooarchaeological methods and stable isotope applications for reconstructing ancient human-animal relationships and subsistence economies across global contexts.

Her academic foundation includes:

• Ph.D. in Anthropology from University of California, Santa Cruz (2015)

Janzen's research program integrates Zooarchaeology, Stable Isotope Analysis, and Taphonomy to investigate Pastoralism, Mobility patterns, and Seasonality in prehistoric societies. Her African Archaeology focus examines the Origins of Food Production through case studies in Kenya and West Africa, while her methodological innovations in bone grease production analysis demonstrate cross-cultural applications. This interdisciplinary approach bridges archaeological science with anthropological theory to decode human adaptation strategies.

Her 2013-2014 publications reveal a cohesive research trajectory centered on African pastoral mobility (using Kenya case studies) and West African historical archaeology (Dahomey Kingdom culinary politics), complemented by European Neolithic herding investigations. Methodologically, she consistently employs stable isotope analysis to reconstruct seasonal behaviors and mobility patterns, while her experimental zooarchaeological work on bone fragmentation provides new insights into energy-efficient resource processing.

Recognition for her scholarship includes:

• UCLA Cotsen Institute Student Paper Award (2014)
• CenTREAD Tropical Research Award (2012)
• National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant ($19,370)
• Wenner Gren Foundation Fieldwork Grant ($6,727)
• Multiple UC Santa Cruz research awards totaling $8,400

Janzen's $29,097 NSF/Wenner Gren-funded dissertation research demonstrates exceptional grant-writing capability, with additional support from the Lewis and Clark Fund and departmental sources. Though no formal students are documented, her Postdoctoral Fellowship likely involves mentoring junior researchers at UCLA's Cotsen Institute. Her laboratory work necessitates collaboration with specialized facilities for stable isotope analysis and zooarchaeological processing, both at UCLA and international field sites in Africa and Europe.