Kirsi Lorentz

Kirsi O. Lorentz‘s research focuses on human health, disease and osteobiographies in the ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean, through bioarchaeological approaches and palaeopathology, as well as synchrotron radiation enabled studies. In 2017, together with collaborating colleague Gihan Kamel (SESAME infrared beamline scientist), she completed the first ever set of synchrotron radiation enabled studies of ancient human remains from Iran, including hair, bone and teeth, at the SOLEIL synchrotron SMIS beamline. She is currently collaborating with several beamline scientists in several synchrotron facilities on projects focusing on analyses of ancient human remains.

A faculty member and researcher at the Science and Technology in Archaeology Research Center (STARC) at the Cyprus Institute (CyI), Lorentz received her Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Cambridge (Trinity College). Prior to joining CyI and STARC, she was the director of the Wolfson Bioarchaeology Laboratory of Newcastle University (UK), and tenured faculty in the archaeology section of SHS at Newcastle University. She led the implementation of multi-partner and international cooperation projects, including the EU funded FP7 Science and Technology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean (STACHEM) Project (FP7-Capacities: Research Infrastructures), of which she was the scientific coordinator. She also coordinated the RPF funded DIDAKTOR project MIDAC-OSTA, and she participated in the multi-partner international project STAR-Lab, funded by the RPF, resulting in the creation of a mobile archaeological laboratory. In 2014, she was appointed the chair of the faculty council of STARC. She was appointed the Cyprus representative to the SESAME Synchrotron IUEC Committee in 2012, elected as the Cyprus member for the SESAME Synchrotron User Committee in 2016, and appointed as the Cyprus representative to the European Synchrotron User Organisation (ESUO) in 2017.