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Dr Lua Valenzuela-Suau
(she/her)
Teams and roles for Lua Valenzuela-Suau
Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow
School of Global Humanities
Overview
I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at Cardiff University, specialising in zooarchaeology and the archaeology of Mediterranean island societies. My research explores human–animal relationships, livestock management, mobility, diet and past landscapes, combining archaeological, biometrical and biomolecular approaches.
My expertise includes zooarchaeological analysis, animal bone identification and quantification, biometrics, dental microwear analysis, and strontium, oxygen and carbon isotope analysis. I have extensive fieldwork and laboratory experience and have contributed to more tan 30 archaeological research projects across different periods and regions.
I have led and co-led competitive research projects, including archaeological excavations and interdisciplinary research projects in the Balearic Islands, and have developed collaborations with research teams and institutions in the UK, Spain, France, Germany and Italy. I also have experience in university teaching, archaeological field training, public engagement and heritage dissemination.
For more information:
Publication
2026
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2026. Herd management and animal catchment areas at the taula enclosure of Binissafullet site (Menorca, Spain): A multi-isotopic approach. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 70 105640. (10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105640)
2025
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2025. Bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr variability and Bronze and Iron Ages caprine mobility on the Balearic Islands (Spain). Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 20 (2), pp.496-523. (10.1080/15564894.2023.2272128)
2023
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2023. Tracing Mobility Patterns of Buried Species of the Late Iron Age Funerary Staggered Turriform of Son Ferrer (Calvià, Spain). Open Archaeology 9 (1) 20220302. (10.1515/opar-2022-0302)
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. , Ramis Bernad, D. and Valenzuela-Lamas, S. 2023. New contributions to understand animal size fluctuations in the western mediterranean: The bronze age Balearic Islands. Quaternary International 662-66 , pp.117-129. (10.1016/j.quaint.2023.04.009)
2022
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2022. Caprine mobility on the Balearic Islands during the Middle and Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600-850 BC): first results based on strontium isotopes (87sr/86sr). Environmental Archaeology: The Journal of Human Palaeoecology 27 (5), pp.484-495. (10.1080/14614103.2021.1921675)
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2022. Caprine dental microwear reveals livestock management and exploitation of landscape during the Middle and Late Bronze Age of the Balearic Islands (ca. 1500-850 cal. BC). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 14 37. (10.1007/s12520-021-01487-x)
2018
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. , Picornell-Gelabert, L. and Servera-Vives, G. 2018. Dinámicas socioambientales y gestión de los recursos bióticos en las Baleares durante la Prehistoria. Quaderni del Lapars , pp.25-47.
2017
- Valenzuela-Lamas, S. et al., 2017. Consum carni i artesanat en os als afores del Puig de Sant Andreu: el jaciment ibèric del Camp d'en Gou-Gorg d'en Batlle (Ullastret, Baix Empordà). Empúries 57 , pp.7-26.
2014
- Valenzuela-Lamas, S. et al., 2014. Shechita and Kashrut: identifying Jewish populations through zooarchaeology and taphonomy. Two examples from Medieval Catalonia (North-Eastern Spain). Quaternary International 330 , pp.109-117. (10.1016/j.quaint.2013.12.035)
2013
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. and Valenzuela-Lamas, S. 2013. La fauna del navetiforme I de els Closos de Ca’n Gaià (Mallorca). Arqueología y Territorio 10 , pp.13-26.
2012
- Valenzuela-Lamas, S. and Valenzuela-Suau, L. 2012. La fauna recuperada al carrer de la Font 7-9. Testimoni de l'alimentació al call jueu de Tàrrega (L'Urgell). URTX: revista cultural de l'Urgell 26 , pp.51-68.
2009
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2009. Projecte Closos: el vessant didàctic. Mayurqa 33 , pp.283-292.
Articles
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2026. Herd management and animal catchment areas at the taula enclosure of Binissafullet site (Menorca, Spain): A multi-isotopic approach. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 70 105640. (10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105640)
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2025. Bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr variability and Bronze and Iron Ages caprine mobility on the Balearic Islands (Spain). Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 20 (2), pp.496-523. (10.1080/15564894.2023.2272128)
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2023. Tracing Mobility Patterns of Buried Species of the Late Iron Age Funerary Staggered Turriform of Son Ferrer (Calvià, Spain). Open Archaeology 9 (1) 20220302. (10.1515/opar-2022-0302)
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. , Ramis Bernad, D. and Valenzuela-Lamas, S. 2023. New contributions to understand animal size fluctuations in the western mediterranean: The bronze age Balearic Islands. Quaternary International 662-66 , pp.117-129. (10.1016/j.quaint.2023.04.009)
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2022. Caprine mobility on the Balearic Islands during the Middle and Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600-850 BC): first results based on strontium isotopes (87sr/86sr). Environmental Archaeology: The Journal of Human Palaeoecology 27 (5), pp.484-495. (10.1080/14614103.2021.1921675)
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2022. Caprine dental microwear reveals livestock management and exploitation of landscape during the Middle and Late Bronze Age of the Balearic Islands (ca. 1500-850 cal. BC). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 14 37. (10.1007/s12520-021-01487-x)
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. , Picornell-Gelabert, L. and Servera-Vives, G. 2018. Dinámicas socioambientales y gestión de los recursos bióticos en las Baleares durante la Prehistoria. Quaderni del Lapars , pp.25-47.
- Valenzuela-Lamas, S. et al., 2017. Consum carni i artesanat en os als afores del Puig de Sant Andreu: el jaciment ibèric del Camp d'en Gou-Gorg d'en Batlle (Ullastret, Baix Empordà). Empúries 57 , pp.7-26.
- Valenzuela-Lamas, S. et al., 2014. Shechita and Kashrut: identifying Jewish populations through zooarchaeology and taphonomy. Two examples from Medieval Catalonia (North-Eastern Spain). Quaternary International 330 , pp.109-117. (10.1016/j.quaint.2013.12.035)
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. and Valenzuela-Lamas, S. 2013. La fauna del navetiforme I de els Closos de Ca’n Gaià (Mallorca). Arqueología y Territorio 10 , pp.13-26.
- Valenzuela-Lamas, S. and Valenzuela-Suau, L. 2012. La fauna recuperada al carrer de la Font 7-9. Testimoni de l'alimentació al call jueu de Tàrrega (L'Urgell). URTX: revista cultural de l'Urgell 26 , pp.51-68.
- Valenzuela-Suau, L. et al. 2009. Projecte Closos: el vessant didàctic. Mayurqa 33 , pp.283-292.
Research
OVIS: Origins of variability in island systems. Unraveling livestock diet and mobility across the Bronze-Iron Age in the Western Mediterranean. Funded by European Union (£239k, 2026-2028)
Between 1200 and 800 BCE, the socio-economic and political systems of the Bronze Age collapsed, and island communities in the Western Mediterranean, such as those in Mallorca, Menorca, and Sardinia experienced similar transformations. These changes included the development of more complex social hierarchies and architectural shifts aimed at better managing natural resources. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the OVIS project will investigate animal diets and mobility on these islands to reconstruct economic and landscape practices during the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. It will gather essential data on climate events and their impacts over this period using advanced zooarchaeological techniques, while generating paleoclimatic data to understand how island populations adapted to climate change.
Contact Details
Research themes
Specialisms
- Zooarchaeology
- isotopes
- Bronze Age
- Iron Age
- Islands