As an archaeological scientist, Magdalena’s existing research contributes strategic findings leading to precise dating and modelling of archaeological and environmental events. These events help us understand how island and coastal societies in the Holocene (the past 11,700 years) have adapted and built resilience toward rapid climate change. She has worked on (1) improving 14C chronologies of island colonisation, including the utilisation of charcoal samples and marine shell dates, (2) building robust Bayesian chronologies of socio-economic events and (3) linking socio-economic events with population and climate.

Magdalena joined JCU in 2022, having previously worked at a dozen other national and international universities. Magdalena is based within the College of Arts, Science and  Education (CASS) and collaborates with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritageresearch teams. As part of her current postdoctoral fellowship, she is investigating the spread of the Lapita people into northeast Australia, the Torres Strait Islands, Papua New Guinea, and the Western Pacific in the late Holocene.

Interests

Research

• Radiocarbon dating
• Bayesian statistics
• Frequency statistics
• Human responses to climate change
• Island and Coastal Archaeology
• Archaeology of the Pacific Islands
• Holocene chronology
• Climate change archaeology

Teaching

• Viking age archaeology
• Archaeological and environmental chronologies

Experience

• 2022 to present - Postdoctoral Research fellow, James Cook University (Cairns)
• 2019 to 2022 - Postdoctoral Research fellow, Kiel University (Kiel)
• 2011 to 2018 - PhD Candidate, University of Iceland (Reykjavik)
• 2013 to 2014 - Seasonal Lecturer, University of Iceland (Reykjavik)

Research Disciplines

• Archaeology (4301)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Understanding past societies (1307)
• Pacific Peoples heritage and culture (2112)

Fellowships

• 2018 - Research fellow, University of Wollongong
• 2016 to 2018 - Research fellow, University of Edinburgh
• 2016 - Research fellow, Tokyo Metropolitan University
• 2015 to 2016 - Research fellow, Australian National University
• 2015 - Research fellow, University of Washington
• 2014 - Research fellow, University of Edinburgh

Memberships

• 2015 - Society for American Archaeology
• 2013 - North Atlantic Biocultural Organisation (NABO)
• 2013 - European Association of Archaeologists

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Bunbury M, Petchey F and Bickler S (2022) A new chronology for the M?ori settlement of Aotearoa (NZ) and the potential role of climate change in demographic developments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119 (46).
• Leppard T, Cochrane E, Gaffney D, Hofman C, Laffoon J, Bunbury M and Broodbank C (2022) Global Patterns in Island Colonization during the Holocene. Journal of World Prehistory, 35. pp. 161-232
• Petchey F, Bickler S, Hughes L and Bunbury M (2022) The Aotearoa/New Zealand Radiocarbon Database Upgrade. Archaeology in New Zealand, 65. pp. 32-40
• Petchey F and Schmid M (2020) Vital evidence: change in the marine ¹⁴C reservoir around New Zealand (Aotearoa) and implications for the timing of Polynesian settlement. Scientific Reports, 10.
• Schmid M, Wood R, Newton A, Vésteinsson O and Dugmore A (2019) Enhancing radiocarbon chronologies of colonization: Chronometric hygiene revisited. Radiocarbon, 61 (2). pp. 629-647
• Schmid M, Dugmore A, Foresta L, Newton A and Vésteinsson O (2018) How 14C dates on charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: the examples of Iceland and Polynesia. Quaternary Geochronology, 48. pp. 64-71
• Schmid M, Zori D, Erlendsson E, Batt C, Damiata B and Byock J (2018) A Bayesian approach for linking archaeological, paleoenvironmental and documentary datasets relating to the settlement of Iceland (Landnám). Holocene, 28 (1). pp. 19-33
• Schmid M, Dugmore A, Vésteinsson O and Newton A (2017) Tephra isochrons and chronologies of colonization. Quaternary Geochronology, 40. pp. 56-66
• Batt C, Schmid M and Vésteinsson O (2015) Constructing chronologies in Viking age Iceland: Increasing dating resolution using Bayesian approaches. Journal of Archaeological Science, 62. pp. 161-174

Book Chapters

• Schmid M, Dugmore A, Newton A and Vésteinsson O (2021) Multidisciplinary data from Iceland indicate a Viking age settlement flood, rather than a flow or tickle. In: The Archaeology of Island Colonization: global approaches to initial human settlement. Society and Ecology in Island and Coastal Archaeology. University Press of Florida, pp. 132-179

Conference Papers

• Schmid M, Dugmore A and Newton A (2020) From sites to regional synthesis: collective chronologies of late Viking and early Christian activities in Iceland. Viking Encounters: proceedings of the eighteenth Viking Congress. 6-12 August 2017, Aarhus, Denmark

Other research outputs

• Kulkarni C, Jara I, Chevalier M, Benito X and pSESyNTH participants (2023) pSESYNTH project: Community mobilization for a multi-disciplinary paleo database of the Global South. PAGES magazines, 31 (1). pp. 30-31

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 13+ research outputs authored by Dr Magdalena Bunbury from 2015 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.