Dr Kerry Sayle

Research Scientist (Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre)

Suerc, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF

Biography

I manage the running of the light stable isotope facility for the SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory in support of both collaborative research and commercial work.

In collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific, I developed methodologies to simultaneously analyse δ¹⁵N, δ¹³C, and δ³⁴S isotopes on small archaeological bone collagen/dentine samples (~1–1.5mg).

Those interested in using the facility should contact myself in the first instance and prior to submitting grant applications.

Research interests

RESEARCH INTERESTS

I am an isotope chemist specialising in the analysis archaeological bone collagen and tooth dentine.

My main research interests include using nitrogen (δ¹⁵N), carbon (δ¹³C), and sulfur (δ³⁴S) stable isotope analysis to investigate diet, mobility, and social status within pre-historic societies.

I also exploit the use of sulfur isotope analysis (δ³⁴S) in conjunction with radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating to better understand marine and freshwater reservoir effects.

I collaborate with archaeologists to produce more robust and precise Bayesian chronologies for archaeological sites.

Collaborative research projects are strongly encouraged. PhD project proposals and visitors interested in training at the facility are warmly welcomed.

ONGOING COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

ERC – TRADITION: Long-term coastal adaptation, food security and poverty alleviation in Latin America. (2019–2025). https://erc-tradition.com/

Leverhulme Trust – ArchaeoFINS: Medieval Archaeology of Fishing around the Irish and North Seas. (2022–2025). https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/projects/archaeofins-medieval-archaeology-of-fishing-around-the-irish-and-

ANR – WOMENSOFAR: Individual life histories and WOMEN Status at the Onset of FARming. Bioarchaeological perspectives in the French and Mediterranean Prehistoric context. (2022–2026). https://womensofar.hypotheses.org/

Icelandic Heritage Foundation Antiquities Fund – Svínasaga: The use of pigs during the Settlement Period. (2023–2024).

(UKRI) Horizon Europe Guarantee Fund – PALaEoScot: People, Animals, Landscapes and Environments of Late Glacial Scotland. (2023–2028).

PAST COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

ERC – UP-NORTH: Colonisation and cultural diversification in unfamiliar landscapes. (2018–2020). https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/617777

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2007 | 2003

Number of items: 39.

2024

Macheridis, Stella, Faillace, Katie, Hood, Meredith, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Inglis, Edward and Madgwick, Richard (2024) Sheep Ahoy: Exploring sheep management and its role in Viking Age economy through multiproxy analyses at Löddeköpinge, Sweden. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 34(6), e3355. (doi: 10.1002/oa.3355)

Gutierrez, Eléa, Mitchell, Sharon, Hambly, Catherine, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, von Kriegsheim, Alex, Speakman, John R. and Britton, Kate (2024) Carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur elemental and isotopic variations in mouse hair and bone collagen during short-term graded calorie restriction. iScience, 27(6), 110059. (doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110059) (PMID:38947513)

Fossile, T. et al. (2024) The historical ecology of subsistence and early commercial fisheries in mangrove systems in Brazil. Journal of Archaeological Science, 166, 105986. (doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.105986)

Schjerven, Nicoline, Wadstål, Molly, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Bartosiewicz, Laszlo and Wright, David K. (2024) Walking commodities: a multi-isotopic approach (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S, 14C and 87/86Sr) to trace the animal economy of the Viking Age town of Birka. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 56, 104543. (doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104543)

2023

Bernardini, Sara, Zeppilli, Carlotta, Micarelli, Ileana, Goude, Gwenaëlle, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Manzi, Giorgio and Tafuri, Mary Anne (2023) Multi‐isotope analysis of primary and secondary dentin as a mean to broaden intra‐life dietary reconstruction. A case from Longobard Italy. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 33(2), pp. 355-360. (doi: 10.1002/oa.3200)

Bondioli, Luca, Reade, Hazel, Tripp, Jennifer A., Frémondeau, Delphine, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Higham, Thomas F. G., Street, Martin and Stevens, Rhiannon E. (2023) Nitrogen palaeo-isoscapes: changing spatial gradients of faunal δ15N in late Pleistocene and early Holocene Europe. PLoS ONE, 18(2), e0268607. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268607) (PMID:36745587) (PMCID:PMC9901814)

2022

Bondioli, L. et al. (2022) Multi-isotopic analysis of zooarchaeological material from Estonia (ca. 200–1800 CE): Variation among food webs and geographical regions. PLoS ONE, 17(12), e0279583. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279583) (PMID:36574368) (PMCID:PMC9794088)

Hamilton, Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823, Fox, Thomas G.B., Adams, Sophia, Alexander, Michelle, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 and Steinke, Katharine (2022) Diet and mobility: stable isotope analyses of the Iron Age population at Burnby Lane and The Mile. In: Stephens, Mark (ed.) Chariots, Swords and Spears: Iron Age Burials at the Foot of the East Yorkshire Wolds. Oxbow Books, pp. 211-230. ISBN 9781789255423

Charlton, S. et al. (2022) Dual ancestries and ecologies of the Late Glacial Palaeolithic in Britain. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 6(11), pp. 1658-1668. (doi: 10.1038/s41559-022-01883-z) (PMID:36280785) (PMCID:PMC9630104)

2021

Stevens, Rhiannon E., Reade, Hazel, Tripp, Jennifer, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 and Walker, Elizabeth A. (2021) Changing environment at the Late Upper Palaeolithic ite of Lynx Cave, North Wales. In: Gaudzinski-Windheuser, Sabine and Jöris, Olaf (eds.) The Beef behind all Possible Pasts: The Tandem-Festschrift in Honour of Elaine Turner and Martin Street. Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, pp. 589-607. ISBN 9783884673423 (doi: 10.11588/propylaeum.950.c12581)

Czére, Orsolya, Fawcett, Jovita, Evans, Jane, Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Müldner, Gundula, Hall, Mark, Will, Bob, Mitchell, Juliette, Noble, Gordon and Britton, Kate (2021) Multi-isotope analysis of the human skeletal remains from Blair Atholl, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal, 27, pp. 31-44.

Hamilton, Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823, Jay, Mandy, Montgomery, Janet and Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 (2021) Multi-isotope analysis. In: Clark, J.R., Garner-Lahire, J.I., Spall, C.A. and Toop, N.J. (eds.) Lincoln Castle Revealed: The Story of a Norman Powerhouse and its Anglo-Saxon Precursor. Oxbow Books, pp. 193-200. ISBN 9781789257359

Hamilton, Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823 and Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 (2021) Radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analyses and Bayesian modelling. In: Clark, J.R., Garner-Lahire, J.I., Spall, C.A. and Toop, N.J. (eds.) Lincoln Castle Revealed: The Story of a Norman Powerhouse and its Anglo-Saxon Precursor. Oxbow Books, pp. 201-206. ISBN 9781789257359

Reade, H. et al. (2021) Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian chronology and palaeoenvironments at Kůlna Cave, Moravia, Czech Republic. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 13(1), 4. (doi: 10.1007/s12520-020-01254-4)

Skeates, Robin, Beckett, Jessica, Mancini, Daniela, Cavazzuti, Claudio, Silvestri, Letizia, Hamilton, W. Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Crowder, Kayla D., Rolfo, Mario and Angle, Micaela (2021) Rethinking collective burial in Mediterranean caves: Middle Bronze Age Grotta Regina Margherita, Central Italy. Journal of Field Archaeology, 46(6), pp. 382-398. (doi: 10.1080/00934690.2021.1917137)

2020

Reade, H. et al. (2020) Deglacial landscapes and the Late Upper Palaeolithic of Switzerland. Quaternary Science Reviews, 239, 106372. (doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106372)

Reade, Hazel, Tripp, Jennifer A., Charlton, Sophy, Grimm, Sonja, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Fensome, Alex, Higham, Thomas F. G., Barnes, Ian and Stevens, Rhiannon E. (2020) Radiocarbon chronology and environmental context of Last Glacial Maximum human occupation in Switzerland. Scientific Reports, 10, 4694. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61448-7) (PMID:32170159) (PMCID:PMC7070022)

Gestsdóttir, Hildur, Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 and Roberts, Howell (2020) Þú ert það sem þú borðar. Yearbook of the Icelandic Archaeological Society = Árbók Hins Íslenzka Fornleifafélags, 109, pp. 69-92.

2019

Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Brodie, Christopher R., Cook, Gordon T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-6266 and Hamilton, W. Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823 (2019) Sequential measurement of δ15N, δ13C and δ34S values in archaeological bone collagen at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC): a new analytical frontier. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 33(15), pp. 1258-1266. (doi: 10.1002/rcm.8462) (PMID:30993809)

Krus, Anthony ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1970-4473, Jensen, Anne M., Hamilton, W. Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823 and Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 (2019) A context-appropriate approach to marine 14C calibration: ΔR and Bayesian framework for the Nuvuk cemetery, Point Barrow, Alaska. Radiocarbon, 61(3), pp. 733-747. (doi: 10.1017/RDC.2019.20)

Blanz, Magdalena, Ascough, Philippa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6529-2903, Mainland, Ingrid, Martin, Peter, Taggart, Mark A., Dieterich, Burkart, Wishart, John, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Raab, Andrea and Feldmann, Jorg (2019) Seaweed fertilisation impacts the chemical and isotopic composition of barley: implications for analyses of archaeological skeletal remains. Journal of Archaeological Science, 104, pp. 34-44. (doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2019.02.003)

Hamilton, W. Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Boyd, Marcus O.E., Haselgrove, Colin C. and Cook, Gordon T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-6266 (2019) 'Celtic Cowboys' reborn: application of multi-isotopic analysis (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S) to examine mobility and movement of animals within an Iron Age British society. Journal of Archaeological Science, 101, pp. 189-198. (doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2018.04.006)

Hamilton, W. Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823 and Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 (2019) Stable isotopes, chronology and Bayesian models for the Viking archaeology of north-east Iceland. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 14(1), pp. 71-81. (doi: 10.1080/15564894.2017.1363097)

2017

Pickard, Catriona, Schoop, Ulf-Dietrich, Bartosiewicz, László, Gillis, Rosalind and Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 (2017) Animal keeping in Chalcolithic north-central Anatolia: what can stable isotope analysis add? Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 9(7), pp. 1349-1362. (doi: 10.1007/s12520-016-0386-0)

Fraser, Sheena, Elsner, Julia, Hamilton, W. Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Schlumbaum, Angela and Bartosiewicz, László (2017) Matrilines in Neolithic cattle from Orkney, Scotland reveals complex husbandry patterns of ancestry. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 14, pp. 46-54. (doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.04.022)

2016

Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Hamilton, W. Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823, Gestsdóttir, Hildur and Cook, Gordon T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-6266 (2016) Modelling Lake Mývatn’s freshwater reservoir effect: Utilisation of the statistical program FRUITS to assist in the re-interpretation of radiocarbon dates from a cemetery at Hofstaðir, north-east Iceland. Quaternary Geochronology, 36, pp. 1-11. (doi: 10.1016/j.quageo.2016.07.001)

Pickard, Catriona, Schoop, Ulf-Dietrich, Dalton, Alan, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Channell, Ian, Calvey, Kevin, Thomas, Jayne-Leigh, Bartosiewicz, László and Bonsall, Clive (2016) Diet at Late Chalcolithic Çamlıbel Tarlası, north-central Anatolia: an isotopic perspective. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 5, pp. 296-306. (doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.11.034)

Krus, Anthony ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1970-4473, Jensen, Anne M., Hamilton, W. Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823 and Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 (2016) Research in progress: Assessing marine radiocarbon reservoir effect variation in greater Utqiaġvik, Alaska. Alaska Journal of Anthropology, 14(1&2), p. 107.

Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Hamilton, W. Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823, Cook, Gordon T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-6266, Ascough, Philippa L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6529-2903, Gestsdóttir, Hildur and McGovern, Thomas H. (2016) Deciphering diet and monitoring movement: multiple stable isotope analysis of the Viking Age settlement at Hofstaðir, Lake Mývatn, Iceland. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 160(1), pp. 126-136. (doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22939) (PMID:26799531)

2015

Bownes, Jessica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6738-2539, Ascough, Philippa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6529-2903, Cook, Gordon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-6266, Murray, Iona, Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 and Bonsall, Clive (2015) Reassessing the Diet of the Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in West Scotland. 21st Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, Glasgow, UK, 2-5 Sep 2015.

Brewington, S. et al. (2015) Islands of change vs. islands of disaster: managing pigs and birds in the Anthropocene of the North Atlantic. Holocene, 25(10), pp. 1676-1684. (doi: 10.1177/0959683615591714)

Cook, G.T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-6266, Ascough, P.L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6529-2903, Bonsall, C., Hamilton, W.D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823, Russell, N., Sayle, K.L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Scott, E.M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3709-0623 and Bownes, J.M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6738-2539 (2015) Best practice methodology for 14C calibration of marine and mixed terrestrial/marine samples. Quaternary Geochronology, 27, pp. 164-171. (doi: 10.1016/j.quageo.2015.02.024)

Beavan, Nancy, Hamilton, Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823, Sokha, Tep and Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 (2015) Radiocarbon dates from the Highland Jar and Coffin burial site of Phnom Khnang Peung, Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia. Radiocarbon, 57(1), pp. 15-31. (doi: 10.2458/azu_rc.57.18194)

Bonsall, Clive, Cook, Gordon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-6266, Pickard, Catriona, McSweeney, Kathleen, Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Bartosiewicz, László, Radovanović, Ivana, Higham, Thomas, Soficaru, Andrei and Boroneanţ, Adina (2015) Food for thought: re-assessing Mesolithic diets in the Iron Gates. Radiocarbon, 57(4), pp. 1-11. (doi: 10.2458/azu_rc.57.18440)

2014

Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Cook, Gordon T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-6266, Ascough, Philippa L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6529-2903, Gestsdóttir, Hildur, Hamilton, William Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823 and McGovern, Thomas H. (2014) Utilisation of δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S analyses to understand 14C-dating anomalies within a Late Viking Age community in north-east Iceland. Radiocarbon, 56(2), (doi: 10.2458/56.17770)

2013

Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979, Cook, Gordon T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-6266, Ascough, Philippa L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6529-2903, Hastie, Helen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6978-3443, Einarsson, Árni, McGovern, Thomas H., Hicks, Megan T., Edwald, Ágústa and Friðriksson, Adolf (2013) Application of ³⁴S analysis for elucidating terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems: evidence of animal movement/husbandry practices in an early Viking community around Lake Mývatn, Iceland. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 120(1), pp. 531-544. (doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2013.07.008)

2007

Marchetti, F. et al. (2007) Structure-based design of 2-arylamino-4-cyclohexylmethoxy-5-nitroso-6-aminopyrimidine inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinase 2. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 5(10), pp. 1577-1585. (doi: 10.1039/b703241b) (PMID:17571187)

2003

Whitfield, Hayley J., Griffin, Roger J., Hardcastle, Ian R., Henderson, Andrew, Meneyrol, Jerome, Mesguiche, Veronique, Sayle, Kerry L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 and Golding, Bernard T. (2003) Facilitation of addition–elimination reactions in pyrimidines and purines using trifluoroacetic acid in trifluoroethanol. Chemical Communications, 2003(22), pp. 2802-2803. (doi: 10.1039/b308948g) (PMID:14651112)

Sayle, K. L. et al. (2003) Structure-based design of 2-arylamino-4-cyclohexylmethyl-5-nitroso-6-aminopyrimidine inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 1 and 2. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 13(18), pp. 3079-3082. (doi: 10.1016/S0960-894X(03)00651-6) (PMID:12941338)

This list was generated on Sun Jun 15 07:31:53 2025 BST.

Jump to: Articles | Book Sections | Conference or Workshop Item

Number of items: 39.

Articles

Reade, H. et al. (2020) Deglacial landscapes and the Late Upper Palaeolithic of Switzerland. Quaternary Science Reviews, 239, 106372. (doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106372)

Krus, Anthony ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1970-4473, Jensen, Anne M., Hamilton, W. Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3823 and Sayle, Kerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-5979 (2016) Research in progress: Assessing marine radiocarbon reservoir effect variation in greater Utqiaġvik, Alaska. Alaska Journal of Anthropology, 14(1&2), p. 107.

Book Sections

Conference or Workshop Item

This list was generated on Sun Jun 15 07:31:53 2025 BST.

Grants

Mapping the Icelandic Sea-Spray Effect: Implications for Palaeodietary Reconstruction and Chronology Building. Sayle. (British Academy/Leverhulme). £5,390. 2016.

Sulphur isotope analysis of water sources in Mývatnssveit, Iceland: an insight into early settler diets. Sayle. (Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland). £2,470. 2013.

Supervision

CURRENT POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

External Doctoral Committee Advisor:

Ármann Guðmundsson (2023–) School of Humanities, University of Iceland.

PAST POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

Secondary Supervisor:

Nicoline Schjerven (MSc completed 2021) – ‘Beyond the Harbour. Tracing animal mobility in the context of an urban Viking Age town, utilising a multi isotopic approach’. Institute of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo.

VISITING POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

Orsolya Czére (2017–2019): Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities Student Development Fund. Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen.

Additional information

I joined the SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory as a member of the technical team in August 2009 after spending a number of years in industry working for Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisations (CDMOs) as a Research & Development Chemist. In 2011 I was promoted to Research Associate and began developing methodologies for analysing sulfur isotope values in archaeological bone samples.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Medicinal Chemistry – Northern Institute for Cancer Research, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2000–2003

M.Chem. (Hons) Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry – University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1996–2000

Kerry Sayle

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