Bethany L. Turner-Livermore
Georgia State University
Department of Anthropology
Professor
Bioarchaeology Lab – Director
Emory University
Department of Anthropology
Adjunct Assistant Professor
education
University of Massachusetts Amherst – BA, Anthropology, summa cum laude (2001)
Emory University – MA, Anthropology (2005)
Emory University – PhD, Anthropology (2008)
BACKGROUND
Dr. Bethany Turner is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Georgia State University and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Emory University. During her time at Emory, she wrote her dissertation on isotopic and osteological analyses of the skeletal population from Machu Picchu, Peru. Currently, she is the director of the GSU Bioarchaeology Laboratory and focusing her research on the Cuzco region of the southern Peruvian highlands as well as the Lambayeque region of the Peruvian north coast.
“The Servants of Machu Picchu: Life Histories and Population Dynamics in Late Horizon Peru.” 2008. PhD Committee: John D. Kingston (chair), Emory University; George J. Armelagos (chair), Emory University; Gordon McEwan, Wagner College; Daniel W. Sellen, Emory University.
Research interests
Dr. Turner’s research focuses on examining the skeletal remains individuals who lived in the Andes during the rule of ancient imperial states as well as during Spanish colonial conquest. She does so through light and heavy isotope analysis and osteological analysis in order to create an understanding of diet, geographic movement, trauma, and health within the context of ancient life. While her work primarily engages with the history of the Peruvian Andes, Dr. Turner has also conducted work on ancient populations in Sudanese Nubia, northern Florida, and southern Mongolia. Additionally, Dr. Turner had written publications pertaining to the evolution of human diet and the effects of modern dieting on long-term health outcomes.
- Social Bioarchaeology
- Andean South America
- Isotope Analysis
- Paleopathology
- Osteology
- Ancient Empires
publications
Books:
Turner, Bethany L., Klaus, Haagen D. (2020). Diet, Nutrition, and Foodways on the North Coast of Peru: Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Adaptive Transitions. Springer. Part of book series Bioarchaeology and Social Theory. ISBN 978-3-030-42613-2.
Articles:
Zechini, Mariana E., Killgrove, Krisina, Schaefer, Benjamin J., Melisch, Claudia M., Turner, Bethany L. (2021). Diachronic Changes in Diet in Medieval Berlin: Comparison of Dietary Isotopes from Pre- and Post-Black Death Adults. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 38: 103064. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103064.
Turner, Bethany L. (2021). Residential Mobility in the Inka Sacred Valley: Oxygen, Strontium, and Lead Isotopic Analysis at Patallaqta, Peru. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 37: 102930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102930.
Toyne, J. Marla, Turner, Bethany L. (2020). Advances in Andean Stable Isotopes: Beyond Diet and Mobility. International Journal of Paleopathology 29: 117-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2019.11.002.
Acosta, Andrea N., Killgrove, Kristina, Moses, Victoria C., Turner, Bethany L. (2019). Nourishing Urban Development: A Palaeodietary Study of Archaic Gabii, Italy (6th-5th c BCE). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 27: 101962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.101962.
Turner, Bethany L., VanValkenburgh, Parker, Lee, Kristina E., Schaefer, Benjamin J. (2019). Palaeodiet Inferred from Pre-Hispanic and Early Colonial Human Remains from Carrizales, Zaña Valley, Peru. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 29(4): 560-573. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2752.
Awards and Distinctions
Nominated to Executive Committee (Treasurer), American Association of Physical Anthropologies (2020)
Nominated for Outstanding Teaching Award, GSU College of Arts & Sciences (2020)
Nominated for Outstanding Faculty Diversity Award, GSU College of Arts & Sciences (2020)
Nominated for Outstanding Graduate Mentoring Award and Outstanding Teach Award, GSU College of Arts & Sciences (2018)
Teaching
Georgia State University
- Introduction to Anthropology
- Introduction to Biological Anthropology
- Human Biology Human Variation
- Diet, Demography, and Disease
- Graduate Professionalization Seminar
- Scientific Perspectives on Global Problems
Emory University
- The Evolutionary Ecology of the Human Diet
- Concepts and Methods in Biological Anthropology
