Fiona B. Marshall
Washington University in St. Louis
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Primary Section: 51, Anthropology Secondary Section: 64, Human Environmental Sciences Membership Type:
Member
(elected 2017)
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Biosketch
Fiona B Marshall is an archaeologist recognized for her work on animal domestication and the spread of food production in Africa. She is known particularly for her studies of less social domesticates, donkeys and cats, and for her research on the development and spread of pastoralism in Africa. She grew up in Nairobi, Kenya and received her BA in 1977 from Reading University in the United Kingdom. Marshall graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a PhD in Anthropology in 1987. She joined the faculty of Washington University in St Louis in 1987. Marshall is a fellow of the American Association of Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Research Interests
As an anthropologist and archaeologist, Marshall’s research focuses on animal domestication and the spread of food production. Gene flow and domestication of donkeys, and interactions of cats and humans in ancient settlements are current research foci. Her research also investigates the origins of agriculture in Africa, changing hunter-gatherer societies, and development of mobile pastoral responses to climatic uncertainty. Marshall studies pastoral diets and the long-term effects of cattle and sheep and goat pastoralism on African savannas. Her research contributes to understanding human-animal relations globally, complex interactions among ancient societies in Africa, the history and resilience of livestock and herding ways of life, and the sustainability of use of African grasslands.
