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Brenna Hassett

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American British bioarchaeologist

Brenna Hassett
BornCalifornia, USA
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles; University College London
Occupation(s)Researcher and author
EmployerUniversity College London

Brenna R. Hassett is an American British bioarchaeologist at University College London (UCL), author, public speaker and one of the founders of TrowelBlazers, which celebrates women archaeologists, paleontologists and geologists.

Early life and education

Hassett was born in California, USA and attended Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California.

She holds a BA in anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MA in archaeology from University College London in the United Kingdom. She was awarded a PhD in dental anthropology from UCL in 2011, supported by a Wenner Gren Foundation Research Scholarship.

Research career

Hassett has undertaken substantial archaeological fieldwork, including in Greece, Thailand and Turkey. The majority of her fieldwork has concerned analysis and recording of human remains for Aşıklı Höyük (Istanbul University), the Çatalhöyük Project (Stanford/UCL), Giza Plateau Mapping Project (Oriental Institute Chicago/American Research Center in Egypt), AOC Archaeology Unit (London), and the British Museum (London).

Hassett was a post-doctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum in London from 2012 to 2016, working on the "Tooth fairy" project, researching what forensic analysis of teeth can tell us about the diet and lifestyles of children in the past. Hassett remains a scientific associate of the Natural History Museum.

Since 2018, she has been co-leading the large four year research project "Radical Death", funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, at University College London. Using new evidence from the Early Bronze Age graves of Başur Höyük, on the Upper Tigris in Turkey, the project is researching how ritual killing was implicated in the political transformations of the third millennium BC. In 2019, Hassett was awarded a British Institute at Ankara (BIAA) study grant to extend the impact of the Radical Death project to include conservation and finds training for graduate students and undergraduates at Ege University.

Writing career

In 2017, her first book Built on Bones 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death was published by Bloomsbury Sigma press to critical acclaim. She wrote her second book, called Growing Up Human: the evolution of childhood, published by Bloomsbury Sigma in 2022.

Hassett has a regular column "Dirty Science" on the Cosmic Shambles Blog Network which was created in 2017 by Robin Ince and Trent Burton. She also writes for The Guardian and History Today.

Public engagement, media and outreach

Hassett is a regular invited speaker at public events such as the Cheltenham Science Festival, New Scientist Live, the London Feminist Conference, Skeptics in the Pub, the Cambridge Science Festival and Nature Live amongst others. She has also appeared on the BBC, PBS, the Guardian Science Podcast, Nine Lessons Live, and was a speaker in the 2017 March for Science in London.

She is a founding member of the TrowelBlazers collective, which seeks to promote awareness of female participation in science, particularly contributions to archaeology, palaeontology, and geology. This project has included a public-participatory online archive, as well as much wider engagement with social media communities and public talks, panel discussions, and lectures aimed at diverse audiences. In 2015, TrowelBlazers worked with the toy company Arklu to develop the Fossil Hunter Lottie Doll, which is now sold all over the world. In 2016, TrowelBlazes developed and launched the Raising Horizons project, which was a collaboration highlighting the contributions of women geoscientists past and present with artist Leonora Saunders and toured the UK throughout 2017-19.

References

  1. brennawalks. "Live dispatches from the Tooth Fairy". Day of Archaeology. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  2. UCL (1 February 2018). "AHRC award for research on radical death and early state formation". Institute of Archaeology. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  3. "Radical Death and Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East". Archived from the original on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  4. "Radical Death and Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  5. "Bioarchaeology at Basur Hoyuk | Research at the BIAA | BIAA". biaa.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  6. Hassett, Brenna (8 May 2018). Built on bones : 15,000 years of urban life and death (Paperback ed.). London. ISBN 9781472922960. OCLC 1032369213.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. Archaeology, Current World (25 January 2018). "Review: Built on Bones". World Archaeology. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  8. Whitney, Karl (10 March 2017). "Built on Bones by Brenna Hassett review – have cities been good for humans?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  9. Whipple, Tom (4 March 2017). "Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death by Brenna Hassett". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  10. Sigma, Bloomsbury (20 June 2019). "Announcing the acquisition of GROWING UP HUMAN by @brennawalks – the evolutionary biology of childhood and its cultural impact in the archaeological record, featuring teeth, skulls and bones. Publishing 2021!". @sigmascience. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  11. Hassett, Brenna; Birch, Suzanne Pilaar; Sykes, Becky Wragg; Herridge, Victoria (8 March 2017). "The history of women in science shows us the fight is worth it". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  12. Hassett, Brenna (22 February 2017). "A tale of four skulls: what human bones reveal about cities". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  13. Sykes, Becky Wragg; Hassett, Brenna; Herridge, Victoria; Birch, Suzanne Pilaar (20 October 2016). "Trowel blazers: women have been digging geosciences longer than you think". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  14. "The Forgotten Women of Archaeology | History Today". www.historytoday.com. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  15. "Cheltenham Science Festival Brochure 2018". Issuu. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  16. "New Scientist Live". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  17. "Built on Bones: 15,000 years of urban life and death - Tuesday, January 9 at 7:30PM". oxford.skepticsinthepub.org. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  18. "BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Live, Paul Nicholas, Live in the studio - 11th March 2017 - Presenters and Guests in the studio - 11th March 2017". BBC. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  19. "Indiana Jones and I have different policies on artefact acquisition. I try to avoid any sort of death trap". BBC Science Focus Magazine. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  20. "First Civilizations: Part 3". Films Media Group. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  21. Sample, Presented by Ian; Sanderson, produced by Max (28 March 2017). "Built on bones: the history of humans in the city - Science Weekly podcast". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  22. "Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People Family Matinee • Kings Place". Kings Place. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  23. Brenna Hassett Speech - March for Science London, retrieved 6 October 2019
  24. "Introducing Fossil Hunter Lottie! | TrowelBlazers". 8 December 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  25. "Lottie Doll Fossil Hunter". Lottie Dolls. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  26. "Fossil Hunter Lottie doll | Natural History Museum Online Shop". www.nhmshop.co.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  27. "Raising Horizons". www.birmingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  28. "The Geological Society of London - Raising Horizons Photography Exhibition". www.geolsoc.org.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  29. "Raising Horizons: women in science reframed : A view From the Bridge". blogs.nature.com. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
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