معرفی
Nerissa Russell is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Cornell University, with affiliations in the Archaeology Program and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She has spent decades at Çatalhöyük in Turkey, serving as co-director of the zooarchaeology lab.
- Specializes in Neolithic societies across Eastern Europe and Anatolia
- Research focuses on human-animal relations through domestication, symbolism, feasting, and inequality
- Key methodological emphasis on zooarchaeology and material culture analysis
Her publications reveal a multidisciplinary approach combining taphonomy, isotopic analysis, and symbolic interpretation. Recent work examines the ontological turn in anthropology, analyzing Çatalhöyük's ritual use of cattle remains, bird symbolism, and the social implications of faunal assemblages. She contributes to debates on domestication models and the wild-domestic dichotomy in prehistoric thought.
Articles show consistent exploration of Neolithic cosmology through animal remains, with specific attention to cattle ancestry, scapulae deposits, and ritual practices. Her scholarship intersects with environmental anthropology and economic transitions during agricultural adoption.
Fieldwork spans multiple Neolithic sites including Çatalhöyük, Pınarbaşı, and Konispol Cave, with methodological innovations in multi-isotope analysis, household archaeology, and ritual deposit interpretation.
