Ancestors: A prehistory of Britain in seven burials

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At one point Roberts memorably describes excavating Beaker pottery, like that found in the grave of the Amesbury Archer. It was, she writes movingly, “a gorgeous object”, one that allowed her to feel a profound connection across time to those involved in the burial: “Human experience is built of moments – and here were two, linked together across millennia. The moment I lifted the bowl out of the grave, my hands earthy from digging; the moment the potter (the mourner, the parent?) held the bowl in their hands, making that corded pattern, their hands covered in clay.” Yeah, absolutely. I think there's something really fascinating about these sort of legends that we grow up with, and the points of crossover between legend and history, and maybe not all is, as we think it is.

Rotator cuff disease in humans and apes: a palaeopathological and evolutionary perspective on shoulder pathology (2008) But there's some really profound bigger picture stuff as well. It's quite a disruptive technology at the moment, because it's coming along and providing answers that we didn't even know were possible 10 years ago. But I think it will get to the point where it becomes an almost standard thing to do when you're analysing human remains, in the same way that we use radiocarbon dating to work out the date of any organic remains. I think that we'll be seeing genomes used much more frequently and much more widely. a b "Professor Alice Roberts – Professor of Public Engagement in Science". University of Birmingham . Retrieved 19 January 2019.

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In March and April 2023, Roberts presented the four-part Channel 4 series Fortress Britain with Alice Roberts. [61] Yeah, well, I was brought up in a quite devoutly religious family. So I got taken to church, pretty much every Sunday, and to Sunday school. And brought up with no kind of idea that there was really anything else on offer. And I went as far as getting confirmed. So I think I got confirmed when I was about 14.

a b "2014 list of leading 100 UK practising scientists". Science Council. January 2014. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017 . Retrieved 21 February 2023.She presented the series Origins of Us, which aired on BBC Two in October 2011, examining how the human body has adapted through seven million years of evolution. [43] The last part of this series featured Roberts visiting the Rift Valley in East Africa.

Alice first trained as a doctor before specialising in the crossover between human anatomy and archaeology and history. And she's published numerous books as well as presenting popular TV and radio shows about science. She's also a Professor of Public Engagement with Science at the University of Birmingham. And she has been vocal about her atheism. She's currently the president of Humanists UK. So her research combines biology and anatomy with archaeology and anthropology to shed new light on ancient history.Don't Die Young: An Anatomist's Guide to Your Organs and Your Health. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2007. ISBN 978-0-7475-9025-5. OCLC 81195249. [33]

She wrote and presented a BBC Two series on anatomy and health entitled Dr Alice Roberts: Don’t Die Young, which was broadcast from January 2007. She presented a five-part series on human evolution and early human migrations for the channel entitled The Incredible Human Journey, beginning on 10 May 2009. In September 2009, she co-presented (with Mark Hamilton) A Necessary Evil?, a one-hour documentary about the Burke and Hare murders. Yeah. I mean, I guess we probably won't be seeing a return to carving cups out of each other's skulls, or I hope not. But that's a really fascinating point about our current burial practices. I sort of wondered what you think that archaeologists of the future might be able to learn from studying our remains and the way that we commemorate the dead? Absolutely. And some of that, I guess, is about how it's communicated. And how these, you know, quite complicated scientific developments are put across to the public, which I guess is something that you think about, both in your books and your broadcasting. And I know you're, you're a Professor of Public Engagement with Science as well. One thing I wondered about, I think we hear a lot about the failings of the media, in reporting on science, you know, that this idea of crushing nuance or not fully understanding the peer review process, and so on. But I wondered what scientists can get wrong in communicating with the media. So what’s the kind of flipside of that? Let’s return to that Red Lady skeleton. Just by looking at the carefully preserved bones (which she lays out in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History), Alice can see from the left pelvic bone that – far from being a witch – this was an adult male. Mind-bogglingly, radio-carbon dating carried out in 2006 indicated he lived 34,000 years ago, well before the peak of the last Ice Age. In other words, his is the earliest burial found anywhere in Britain. Brief Candle in the Dark – with Richard Dawkins. 21 January 2016. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021 . Retrieved 21 January 2016. I'm a vegetarian, who eats fish (29:50)a b c d e f "In the hot seat: Alice Roberts". thisisbristol.co.uk. 11 July 2008. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009 . Retrieved 28 May 2009.