I am a Lecturer in Archaeological and Geographical Geomatics in the Archaeology section of the School of Humanities.

My Bachelor and Research Masters were completed at Leiden University, focussing on the interaction between hominins and their environment. I have worked on the small mammals and large mammals from Schoeningen and the lithics from Happisburgh Site 1 and Site 3. My PhD at Bournemouth University (supervised by John Stewart, Amanda Korstjens and Philippa Gillingham) took the interest in the hominins and associated fauna further, and was titled: Faunal and human biogeography of the Terminal Pleistocene.

At the University of Winchester I teach on BA, BSc, MA and MRes programmes in Archaeology and Geography. I lecture on GIS, Geomatics, archaeological field techniques, Palaeolithic archaeology and Archaeological Science. I am also a postdoc on the PREPARE project (see Research Interests).

Current projects: 

PREPARE: Predicting Palaeolithic Archaeology in England (PrePArE).

This is an Historic England-funded initiative which seeks to enhance resources available to English planning authorities in their consideration of the Palaeolithic. The product will be an England-wide online GIS tool comprising the British Geological Survey’s superficial geology polygons (Pleistocene units only) with appended Palaeolithic archaeological potentials, while the resource will be made available in 2020 via a British Geological Survey portal. I am a postdoctoral researcher on this project, working alongside Prof. Keith Wilkinson and Dr Jenni Sherriff.

PAGES: Pleistocene Archaeology, Geochronology and Environment of the Southern Caucasus

This project aims to build an geochronological and palaeoenvironmental framework for this important region. Specifically, the PAGES project is focused on the Hrazdan and Debed gorges in Armenia, which are formed of volcanic deposits and intercalated sediment sequences, many of which have yielded archaeological remains.

Working alongside Prof. Keith Wilkinson and Dr Jenni Sherriff, I am a field/lab assistant working on the geomorphology and sedimentology of the Hrazdan river gorge including the Palaeolithic site of Nor Geghi. I am also taking environmental sample columns in several Palaeolithic sites in the search for small mammals. Finally I am part of the total station survey team undertake part of photogrammetric modelling of several sites and sections as well. 

Environmental reconstructions: microfauna at Trou Al'Wesse, Kalavan II

I am part of the scientific teams of Trou Al'Wesse in Belgium and Kalavan II in Armenia, both Late Pleistocene sites and both projects aim to reconstruct the environment using small mammals as a proxy.

• Pleistocene small and large mammals
• Palaeolithic archaeology
• GIS
• Remote sensing
• Geophysical survey techniques
• Ecological Niche Modelling

Lord, E., Feinauer, I. S., Soares, A. E. R., Lagerholm, V. K., Näsvall, K., Ersmark, E., Olsen, R. A., Prost, S., Kuzmina, E. A., Smirnov, N. G., Stewart, J. R., Knul, M. V., Noiret, P., Germonpré, M., Ehrich, D., Pokrovsky, I., Fedorov, V. B., Goropashnaya, A. V., Dalén, L. & Díez-Del-Molino, D., 2025, Genome analyses suggest recent speciation and postglacial isolation in the Norwegian lemming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 122, 28

Wilkinson, K. & Knul, M. V., 2024, Mapping the Palaeolithic in England: The English Palaeolithic: archaeology with a difference. Historic England, 16.

Sherriff, J. E., Petrosyan, A., Rogall, D., Nora, D., Frahm, E., Lauer, T., Karambaglidis, T., Knul, M. V., Vettese, D., Arakelyan, D., Gur-Arieh, S., Vidal-Matutano, P., Morales, J., Fewlass, H., Blockley, S. P. E., Timms, R., Adigyozalyan, A., Haydosyan, H., Glauberman, P., Gasparyan, B., Malinsky-Buller, A. 2023, Palaeoenvironmental and chronological context of hominin occupations of the Armenian Highlands during MIS 3: Evidence from Ararat-1 cave. Quaternary Science Advances 13

Hogue, J., Wilkinson, K., Allison, E., Hill, T., Knul, M. V., Law, M., Perez-Fernandez, M., Russ, H., Schreve, D., Sherriff, J., Toms, P., Young, D., Westcott-Wilkins, L. & Wilkins, B., 2023, Pleistocene environments, climate, and human activity in Britain during Marine Isotope Stage 7: insights from Oak Tree Fields, Cerney Wick, Gloucestershire. Journal of Quaternary Science 38, 6, 840-865

Baca, M., Popović, D., Agadzhanyan, A. K., Baca, K., Conard, N. J., Fewlass, H., Filek, T., Golubiński, M., Horáček, I., Knul, M. V., Krajcarz, M., Krokhaleva, M., Lebreton, L., Lemanik, A., Maul, L. C., Nagel, D., Noiret, P., Primault, J., Rekovets, L., Rhodes, S. E., & 8 others, 2023, Ancient DNA of narrow-headed vole reveal common features of the Late Pleistocene population dynamics in cold-adapted small mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 290, 1993

Ochando, J., Carrión, J. S., Rodríguez-Vidal, J., Jiménez-Arenas, J. M., Fernández, S., Amorós, G., Munuera, M., Scott, L., Stewart, J. R., Knul, M., Toro-Moyano, I., Ponce de León, M. & Zollikofer, C., 2020, Palynology and chronology of hyaena coprolites from the Piñar karstic Caves Las Ventanas and Carihuela, southern Spain. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

Malinsky-Buller, A., Glauberman, P., Ollivier, V., Lauer, T., Timms, R., Frahm, E., Brittingham, A., Triller, B., Kindler, L., Knul, M., Krakovsky, M., Joannin, S., Hren, M. T., Bellier, O., Clark, A. A., Blockley, S. P. E., Arakelyan, D., Marreiros, J., Paixaco, E., Calandra, I., & 6 others, 2021, Short-Term occupations at high elevation during the Middle Paleolithic at Kalavan 2 (Republic of Armenia). PLoS ONE 16

Baca, M., Popović, D., Baca, K., Lemanik, A., Doan, K., Horáček, I., López-García, J. M., Bañuls-Cardona, S., Pazonyi, P., Desclaux, E., Crégut-Bonnoure, E., Berto, C., Lenardić, J. M., Miękina, B., Murelaga, X., Cuenca-Bescós, G., Krajcarz, M., Marković, Z., Petculescu, A., Wilczyński, J., Knul, M., Stewart, J. R. & Nadachowski, A., 2020, Diverse responses of common vole (Microtus arvalis) populations to Late Glacial and Early Holocene climate changes – Evidence from ancient DNA. Quaternary Science Reviews 233, 106239

Ochando, J., Carrión, J. S., Rodríguez-Vidal, J., Jiménez-Arenas, J. M., Fernández, S., Amorós, G., Munuera, M., Scott, L., Stewart, J. R., Knul, M., Toro-Moyano, I., Ponce de León, M. & Zollikofer, C., 2020, Palynology and chronology of hyaena coprolites from the Piñar karstic Caves Las Ventanas and Carihuela, southern Spain. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

Lewis, S., Ashton, N., Field, M., Hoare, P., Kamermans, H., Knul, M. V., Mücher, H., Parfitt, S., Roebroeks, W. & Sier, M.,  2019, Human occupation of northern Europe in MIS 13: Happisburgh Site 1 (Norfolk, UK) and its European context. Quaternary Science Reviews 211, 34-58 

Stewart, J., García Rodríguez, O., Knul, M. V., Sewell, L. C., Montgomery, H., M.G., T. & Diekmann, Y.,2019, Palaeoecological and genetic evidence for Neanderthal power locomotion as an adaptation to a woodland environment. Quaternary Science Reviews 217, 310-315

Slon, V., Hopfe, C., Weiß, C. L., Mafessoni, F., De La Rasilla, M., Lalueza-Fox, C., Rosas, A., Soressi, M., Knul, M. V., Miller, R., Stewart, J. R., Derevianko, A. P., Jacobs, Z., Li, B., Roberts, R. G., Shunkov, M. V., De Lumley, H., Perrenoud, C., Gušić, I., Kućan, Ž., & 11 others, 2017, Neandertal and Denisovan DNA from Pleistocene sediments. Science 356, 6338, 605-608

Joordens, J. C. A., Dupont-Nivet, G., Feibel, C. S., Spoor, F., Sier, M. J., van der Lubbe, J. H. J. L., Nielsen, T. K., Knul, M. V., Davies, G. R. & Vonhof, H. B., 2013, Improved age control on early Homo fossils from the upper Burgi Member at Koobi Fora, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 65, 6, 731-745

van Kolfschoten, T., Knul, M., Buhrs, E. & Gielen, M., 2012, Butchered large bovids (Bos primigenius and Bison priscus) from the Palaeolithic throwing spear site Schöningen 13 II-4 (Germany). A Bouquet of Archaeozoological Studies. Barkhuis, 33-46 (Groningen Archaeological Studies).

Memberships:

European Society for the study of Human Evolution