Patrick Roberts received a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology, an MSc in Archaeological Science, and DPhil in Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford. Between 2016 and 2022 he was Group Leader and then W2 Scientist of the Department of Archaeology at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Since 2022 he was the W2 Independent Research Group Leader of the isoTROPIC Research Group at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and Lead Scientist of the Department of Archaeology. He also holds an Honorary Professorship at the Australian National University and Visiting Professorship at the University of the Philippines.
As Director of the Department of Coevolution of Land Use and Urbanisation (since January 2025), Patrick is committed to pioneering and applying multidisciplinary approaches to studying long-term relationships of our species and the Earth system. In particular, he focuses on developing new methodologies and datasets which can be used to study how urban dynamics, trajectories, and networks (and their alternatives) have interacted with land use changes and, in turn, different parts of the Earth system across space and time. This includes combining state-of-the-art approaches in field- and lab-based archaeological science, remote sensing, palaeoecology, history, computational archaeology, and land use modelling.
Patrick is committed to ensuring that his research makes contributions to local stakeholders in the regions where he works and engages closely with Indigenous communities, being awarded the Humanitarian Award of the Veddah Indigenous Community of Sri Lanka in 2023. He also seeks to engage with policy makers and is a member of the iHOPE network and has served onUNESCO panels relating to natural and cultural heritage designations. As part of his aims to make his work accessible to the public, Patrick also wrote the popular book ‘Jungle: How Tropical Forests Shaped the World and Us’ published by Penguin/Viking Random House in 2021.
Stokes, F. J.; Kaye, A.; Roberts, P.: The role of capitalism and colonialism in the deforestation of early modern Europe: Notes for historical land use models. Anthropocene 55, 100566 (2026)
Chim, E.; Fernandes, H. L. A.; Viana, S. A.; Straioto, H.; Mayer, E.; Hüsges, S.; Scott, E.; Mendes, D. T.; Zardo, D. R.; Stríkis, N. M.et al.; Henriques, G.; de Souza, R. L.; Correia, M. A.; Nicolau, L. C.; Rocha, E. d. S.; Koole, E.; Rodrigues, J. C.; Lima, T.; Liryo, A.; Isnardis, A.; Bueno, L.; de S. Santos, J.; Etchevarne, C.; Alves, M. A.; Prous, A.; Steinhof, A.; da Júnior, C.; William, F.; Ilgner, J.; Fernandes, R.; Roberts, P.; Strauss, A.: Maize-based polyculture, not monoculture, sustained precolonial societies in the Brazilian Cerrado. Science Advances 12 (29), eaef7066 (2026)
Carleton, W. C.; Klassen, S.; Murphy, J. T.; Roberts, P.: comparative spatial analysis reveals important structural similarities between ancient Angkor and late Anglo-saxon Hampshire. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 33 (4), 69 (2026)
Du, T.; Ma, T.; Yang, K.; Wei, J.; Roberts, P.; Zheng, Z.: A new pollen record from tropical China extends the known LGM range of Glyptostrobus. Quaternary Science Reviews 389, 110105 (2026)
García-Escárzaga, A.; Gutiérrez-Zugasti, I.; Marín, A.; Zapata, J.; Moreno-Márquez, A.; Clarke, L. J.; Milano, S.; Nehrke, G.; Castellón-Vargas, R.; Roberts, P.et al.; Zilhão, J.; Colonese, A. C.: Seasonal shellfish exploitation by Neanderthals 115,000 years ago. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 123 (22), e2531880123, pp. 1 - 7 (2026)
Caruso, A.; Huesges, S.; Scott, E.; Cocozza, C.; Ilgner, J.; Nikita, E.; Roberts, P.: Age and sex-related differences in diet in hellenistic-early roman sicily: stable isotope evidence (δ13Ccollagen, δ13Ccarbonate, δ15N) from the settlement of Menainon. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 18 (6), 151, pp. 1 - 17 (2026)
Roberts, P.: Die Wurzeln des Menschen: wie der Dschungel die Erde formte, das menschliche Leben hervorbrachte und unsere Zukunft bestimmt. dtv Verlagsgesellschaft, München (2021), 495 pp.
Heberle Viegas, D.; Stokes, F. J.; Relly, E.; Roberts, P.: After pristine nature: exploring approaches to the urban in South America in the Anthropocene. In: Contesting the Anthropocene: Latin American perspectives beyond coloniality and capitalism, 11, 1st edition Ed., pp. 164 - 181 (Eds. Kaltmeier, O.; Ellermeier, L. R.; McNeill Rummelhoff, E.; Cháves, O. S.; Volmer, A.-K.). Routledge, New York (2026)
Wollmann, F.; Ilgner, J.; Roberts, P.; Paust, E.: Using isotope analysis to explore the diets of Thuringian academics between the 17th and 18th Century. In: Untersuchungen zur Gruft der Fürsten von Sachsen-Jena in der Stadtkirche St. Michael, pp. 325 - 331 (Ed. Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena). Voepelius, Jena (2026)
Huber, B.; Hausleiter, A.; Dinies, M.; Al-Najem, M. H.; Alonazi, M. T.F.; Säumel, I.; Giddings Vassão, D.; Fernandes, R.; Boivin, N. L.; Roberts, P.et al.; Pham, T. L. H.: Exploring the aromatic diversity of incense materials at the ancient oasis of Taymāʾ using metabolic profiling. In: Scents of Arabia: interdisciplinary approaches to ancient olfactory worlds ; papers from a special session of the Fifty-fifth Meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, held in Berlin on 6th August 2022, pp. 61 - 86 (Eds. Hausleiter, A.; Huber, B.). Archaeopress, Oxfordshire (2025)
Roberts, P.; Lucas, M.: Stable isotope analysis of diets in late Roman and medieval Firenze. In: A dramatic event in late Roman Florence: the anomalous burial site discovered beneath the Uffizi Gallery, Chapter 10, pp. 121 - 131 (Ed. Pacciani, E.). Archaeopress Archaeology, Oxfordshire (2025)
Tolla, M.; Roberts, P.; Lucas, M.; Bonatz, D.; Posth, C.: Late Holocene human diets in the lowlands of West New Guinea: the isotopic evidence. In: West New Guinea: social, biological, and material histories, Ch. 10, pp. 217 - 238 (Eds. Gaffney, D.; Tolla, M.). ANU Press, Cranberra (2025)
van Dalen, B.; Roberts, P.: Prehistoric human development and sustainability. In: The Palgrave handbook of global sustainability, 1st edition Ed., pp. 2195 - 2234 (Ed. Brinkmann, R.). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham (2023)
Patalano, R.; Roberts, P.: Climate Proxies. In: The encyclopedia of ancient history: Asia and Africa, eahaa00609 (Eds. Potts, D. T.; Harkness, E.; Neelis, J.; McIntosh, R.) (2021)
