Sonja Filatova

Dr. Sonja Filatova is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Groningen, affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and the Groningen Institute of Archaeology (GIA). Her research focuses on (ethno)archaeobotany, prehistoric archaeology, and human-plant interactions. She investigates plant economies, agricultural practices, and formation processes in archaeological contexts. Key projects include the analysis of Bronze Age plant spectra in Hungary and the study of crop choices in Odisha's highlands. She is a Rotating Committee Member of the International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany (IWGP) and contributes to interdisciplinary research on plant domestication and ancient agricultural systems.

Education: Doctor of Natural Sciences (PhD) in Archaeology. Current roles include teaching courses such as 'Archaeobotany' and 'Themes in Bioarchaeology'. Her work combines fieldwork, laboratory analysis, and ethnographic methods. She has collaborated on projects like the CRC 1266 on plant economies and co-authored numerous publications on topics ranging from Bronze Age food economies to historical rye genetics.

Research highlights include the Kakucs-Turján III project, which examines macrobotanical formation processes in Hungarian Bronze Age settlements, and the sequencing of historical rye genomes to understand domestication patterns. Her work emphasizes the interplay between environmental factors and human agency in shaping agricultural practices.