Catherine J. Frieman

Dr. Catherine J. Frieman is an Associate Professor of European Archaeology at the Australian National University's School of Archaeology & Anthropology. Her research focuses on material culture, technological innovation, and the social-political dimensions of ancient migrations. She specializes in Neolithic and Bronze Age flint daggers and integrates biomolecular data (e.g., aDNA) to model past societies. Frieman co-authored Negotiating Migrations: The Archaeology and Politics of Mobility (2024), which explores migration through small-scale political negotiations. She also authored An Archaeology of Innovation (2021), examining patterns of innovation and resistance in prehistoric contexts.

Her work derives from an international collaborative project funded by the Centre of Advanced Studies in Oslo, reflecting interdisciplinary approaches combining archaeology, linguistics, and genetics. She advocates for a 'bottom-up' methodology to understand migration impacts on communities. Frieman is affiliated with the People and Plants Lab at ANU, contributing to broader research on human-environment interactions in prehistory.