Leonor Peña Chocarro

Leonor Peña Chocarro

Most used object in her work:

Opium seed

ERC Project (ADV): “Agriwestmed”:

This project focuses on the origins and the propagation of agriculture.
The proposal covers the study of the arrival of agriculture in the western Mediterranean by exploring different areas of inter-related research, applying different techniques: analysis of carbonised plants, microfossils of pollen and non-pollen, phytolites, analysis of micro-wear, isotopes, micromorphology of the soil, genetics and ethnoarchaeology, that will help define the emergence and propagation of agriculture in the area, its probable place of origin, its main technological attributes, and the crop-growing practices.

Bio

I was born on a local holiday in Madrid, back in the seventies, to a Navarran mother and an Aragonese father, and this mixture doubtlessly had a certain effect on my character.

When I turned 13 years old, my mother gave me an archaeology atlas (that I still own) with a blue cover, bound with a white spiral, that made me incredibly interested in the past. Little by little through reading and travelling, I developed an extensive interest in traditional practices and ways of life in rural societies.

With these interests, I studied prehistory and archaeology at the Madrid Autonomous University and as soon as I graduated, I took myself off to London. There, I discovered other worlds, other ways of teaching and learning and new disciplines that I barely knew existed. I got hooked on archeobotanics encouraged by my teacher Gordon Hillman (recently deceased), who was capable of putting across great passion and enthusiasm for research like no other. He led me into the fascinating kingdom of seeds and fruit, and the possibilities that they offer to reconstruct subsistence and use of plant resources by past societies. I learnt about the importance of detailed knowledge on traditional practices and I immersed myself in finding out about wheat, barley, forgotten pulses, I explored farmers’ ways of life and work in marginal zones of the Mediterranean and I analysed plant remains from many sites. In London, I wrote my doctoral dissertation and continued my pilgrimage throughout Italy by participating in projects in wonderful places, and so over 20 years went by.

Finally, in the early 21st century, I came back to Madrid, joining the CSIC Institute of History, where I now do my research. In this period, I obtained my ERC project on the origins of agriculture in the Western Mediterranean.

More about Leonor Peña Chocarro

Bio

I was born on a local holiday in Madrid, back in the seventies, to a Navarran mother and an Aragonese father, and this mixture doubtlessly had a certain effect on my character.

When I turned 13 years old, my mother gave me an archaeology atlas (that I still own) with a blue cover, bound with a white spiral, that made me incredibly interested in the past. Little by little through reading and travelling, I developed an extensive interest in traditional practices and ways of life in rural societies.

With these interests, I studied prehistory and archaeology at the Madrid Autonomous University and as soon as I graduated, I took myself off to London. There, I discovered other worlds, other ways of teaching and learning and new disciplines that I barely knew existed. I got hooked on archeobotanics encouraged by my teacher Gordon Hillman (recently deceased), who was capable of putting across great passion and enthusiasm for research like no other. He led me into the fascinating kingdom of seeds and fruit, and the possibilities that they offer to reconstruct subsistence and use of plant resources by past societies. I learnt about the importance of detailed knowledge on traditional practices and I immersed myself in finding out about wheat, barley, forgotten pulses, I explored farmers’ ways of life and work in marginal zones of the Mediterranean and I analysed plant remains from many sites. In London, I wrote my doctoral dissertation and continued my pilgrimage throughout Italy by participating in projects in wonderful places, and so over 20 years went by.

Finally, in the early 21st century, I came back to Madrid, joining the CSIC Institute of History, where I now do my research. In this period, I obtained my ERC project on the origins of agriculture in the Western Mediterranean.

Most used object in her work:

Opium seed

ERC Project (ADV): “Agriwestmed”:

This project focuses on the origins and the propagation of agriculture.

The proposal covers the study of the arrival of agriculture in the western Mediterranean by exploring different areas of inter-related research, applying different techniques: analysis of carbonised plants, microfossils of pollen and non-pollen, phytolites, analysis of micro-wear, isotopes, micromorphology of the soil, genetics and ethnoarchaeology, that will help define the emergence and propagation of agriculture in the area, its probable place of origin, its main technological attributes, and the crop-growing practices.

More about Leonor Peña Chocarro