Professor Neil Roberts
Profiles

Professor Neil Roberts

Emeritus Professor

Faculty of Science and Engineering

Biography

Biography

1980-81      Post-doctoral Research Associate, Oxford University, School of Geography.

1981-98      Loughborough University, Lecturer then Reader in Physical Geography

1998-2018    University of Plymouth, Professor of Physical Geography; Head of School of Geography, 2003-2006.

2018-        University of Plymouth, Emeritus Professor of Physical Geography

2018-        Visiting senior research fellow, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford

Qualifications

B.A., Geography, Oxford, 1975

Ph.D., London (UCL), 1980

Honorary Doctorate, Ankara University, Turkey, 2018

Professional membership

Fellow of Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)

British Society for Geomorphology

History and Philosophy of Geography Study Group

Quaternary Research Association (Honorary Life Membership)

American Quaternary Association (AMQUA)

British Institute at Ankara

American Geophysical Union

Roles on external bodies

Editor in Chief: Journal of Quaternary Science (Wiley) on behalf of the Quaternary Research Association

Research

Research

Research interests

Holocene environmental change, palaeolimnology, diatom and stable isotope analyses, environmental archaeology, Mediterranean and Africa

Research degrees awarded to supervised students

Matthew Jones, Ph.D. 2004, "High-resolution records of climate change from lacustrine stable isotopes through the last two millennia in western Turkey’.
Amy Burgess. Ph.D. 2004, "The development of diatom-nutrient palaeolimnological inference models for UK lowland reservoirs".
Rebecca Turner, Ph.D. 2007 ‘Late Quaternary fire histories in the East Mediterranean region’.
Jessie Woodbridge, Ph.D. 2009 'Late-Holocene lake diatom-inferred palaeoclimate from central Turkey'
Zuzanna Stroynowski, Ph.D. 2009 A high-resolution climatic study of the Norwegian and Iberian shelves during the Late Holocene: a diatom perspective' 
Samantha Allcock, Ph.D. 2013 ‘Holocene climate variability and socio-evolutionary trajectories, central Turkey’

Emma Rice, PhD 2017, “Tracking Holocene changes in the southern hemisphere westerly wind belt from lakes and bogs in Tierra del Fuego”, NERC funded, co-supervised with T Daley.

Grants & contracts

recent grants

2006-2007        Blaustein Visiting fellowship, Stanford University

2009-10  $22,000 from National Geographic Society, Committee for Research and Exploration ‘5000 years of climatic and cultural change in Cappadocia, central Turkey’. [grant no. 8632-09]

2010-11   British Institute at Ankara, “5000 years of climatic and cultural change in Cappadocia, central Turkey”, £13,500

2011-2015  £146,741 from Leverhulme Trust on “Deforesting Europe: a pollen-based reconstruction of Holocene land cover change”, with Dr R Fyfe and Dr J Woodbridge

2012-2013    £46,291 from NERC on “Climate change and the Plague of Justinian”; with Warren Eastwood (Birmingham), Matt Jones (Nottingham) and NIGL.

2015-18 £298,065; £160,168 to Plymouth, from Leverhulme on “Changing the face ofthe Mediterranean: land cover and population since the advent of farming”, withRalph Fyfe and Jessie Woodbridge, along with UCL colleagues

2022-2024 £13,100 from Leverhulme; 2-year Emeritus Fellowship on “The Mediterranean environment after the fall of Rome”; Ref: EM-2020-091\6

 

 

 

 

Publications

Publications

Key publications

Key publications are highlighted

Journals
Articles
Holmes JA, Tindall J, Jones M, Holloway M, Roberts N & Feeser I (2023) 'Climate and atmospheric circulation during the Early and Mid‐Holocene inferred from lake‐carbonate oxygen‐isotope records from western Ireland' Journal of Quaternary Science 39, (1) 24-36 , DOI
Roberts N (2022) 'Quaternary Science in the time of Covid‐19' Journal of Quaternary Science 38, (1) 1-1 , DOI
Palmisano A, Bevan A, Kabelindde A, Roberts N & Shennan S (2021) 'Long-Term Demographic Trends in Prehistoric Italy: Climate Impacts and Regionalised Socio-Ecological Trajectories' Journal of World Prehistory 34, (3) 381-432 , DOI
Jouffroy-Bapicot I, Pedrotta T, Debret M, Field S, Sulpizio R, Zanchetta G, Sabatier P, Roberts N, Tinner W & Walsh K (2021) 'Olive groves around the lake. A ten-thousand-year history of a Cretan landscape (Greece) reveals the dominant role of humans in making this Mediterranean ecosystem' Quaternary Science Reviews 267, 107072-107072 , DOI
Wynants M, Patrick A, Munishi L, Mtei K, Bodé S, Taylor A, Millward G, Roberts N, Gilvear D & Ndakidemi P (2021) 'Soil erosion and sediment transport in Tanzania: Part II – sedimentological evidence of phased land degradation' Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 46, (15) 3112-3126 , DOI Open access
Gürbüz A, Kazanci N, Hakyemez HY, Leroy SAG, Roberts N, Saraç G, Ergun Z, Boyraz-Arslan S, Gürbüz E & Koç K (2021) 'Geological evolution of a tectonic and climatic transition zone: the Beyşehir-Suğla basin, lake district of Turkey' International Journal of Earth Sciences 110, (3) 1077-1107 , DOI
Jardine PE, Fraser WT, Gosling WD, Roberts CN, Eastwood WJ & Lomax BH (2019) 'Proxy reconstruction of ultraviolet-B irradiance at the Earth’s surface, and its relationship with solar activity and ozone thickness' The Holocene 30, (1) 155-161 , DOI
Roberts N (2019) 'How humans changed the face of Earth' Science 365, (6456) 865-866 , DOI
Wynants M, Kelly C, Mtei K, Munishi L, Patrick A, Rabinovich A, Nasseri M, Gilvear D, Roberts CN & Boeckx P (2019) 'Drivers of increased soil erosion in East Africa’s agro-pastoral systems: changing interactions between the social, economic and natural domains' Regional Environmental Change , DOI Open access
Roberts CN, Woodbridge-Fisher J, Palmisano A, Bevan A, Fyfe RM & Shennan S (2019) 'Mediterranean landscape change during the Holocene: synthesis, comparison and regional trends in population, land cover and climate' Holocene , DOI Open access
Berger J-F, Shennan S, Woodbridge-Fisher J, Palmisano A, Mazier F, Nuninger L, Guillon S, Doyen E, Begeot C & Andrieu-Ponel V (2019) 'Holocene land cover and population dynamics in southern France' Holocene , DOI Open access
Walsh K, Berger J-F, Roberts CN, Vanniere B, Ghilardi M, Brown AG, Woodbridge J, Lespez L, Estrany J & Glais A (2019) 'Holocene demographic fluctuations, climate and erosion in the Mediterranean: A meta data-analysis' The Holocene 29, (5) 864-885 , DOI Open access
Finné M, Woodbridge J, Labuhn I & Roberts CN (2019) 'Holocene hydro-climatic variability in the Mediterranean: A synthetic multi-proxy reconstruction' The Holocene 29, (5) 847-863 , DOI Open access
Langgut D, Cheddadi R, Carrión JS, Cavanagh M, Colombaroli D, Eastwood WJ, Greenberg R, Litt T, Mercuri AM & Miebach A (2019) 'The origin and spread of olive cultivation in the Mediterranean Basin: The fossil pollen evidence' The Holocene 29, (5) 902-922 , DOI Open access
Cheddadi R, Palmisano A, López-Sáez JA, Nourelbait M, Zielhofer C, Tabel J, Rhoujjati A, Khater C, Woodbridge J & Lucarini G (2019) 'Human demography changes in Morocco and environmental imprint during the Holocene' The Holocene 29, (5) 816-829 , DOI Open access
Woodbridge-Fisher J, Roberts CN & Fyfe R (2019) 'Pollen-inferred regional vegetation patterns and demographic change in Southern Anatolia through the Holocene' The Holocene Open access
Stoddart S, Woodbridge-Fisher J, Palmisano A, Mercuri AM, Mensing S, Colombaroli D, Sadori L, Magri L, di Rita F & Giardini M (2019) 'Tyrrhenian central Italy: Holocene population and landscape ecology' Holocene , DOI Open access
Roffet-Salque M, Marciniak A, Valdes PJ, Roberts CN, Pawlowska K, Pyzel J, Czerniak L, Krüger M, Pitter S & Evershed RP (2019) 'Reply to Wainwright and Ayala: Synchronicity of climate and cultural proxies around 8.2 kyBP at Çatalhöyük' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, (9) 3345-3346 , DOI
Jones MD, Abu-Jaber N, AlShdaifat A, Baird D, Cook BI, Cuthbert MO, Dean JR, Djamali M, Eastwood W & Fleitmann D (2019) '20,000 years of societal vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in southwest Asia' WIREs Water 6, (2) , DOI Open access
Bevan A, Palmisano A, Woodbridge-Fisher J, Fyfe RM, Roberts CN & Shennan S (2019) 'The changing face of the Mediterranean: land cover, demography, and environmental change' Holocene , DOI Open access
Palmisano A, Woodbridge-Fisher J, Roberts CN, Bevan A, Fyfe RM, Shennan S, Cheddadi R, Greenberg R, Kaniewski D & Langgut D (2019) 'Holocene Landscape Dynamics and Long-term Population Trends in the Levant' The Holocene , DOI Open access
Fyfe RM, Woodbridge-Fisher J, Palmisano A, Bevan A, Shennan S, Burjachs F, Leggaro Herrero B, Garcia Puchol O, Carrion JS & Revelles J (2019) 'Prehistoric palaeodemographics and regional land cover change in eastern Iberia' The Holocene , DOI Open access
Weiberg E, Bevan A, Kouli K, Katsianis M, Woodbridge-Fisher J, Bonnier A, Engel M, Finne M, Fyfe RM & Maniatis Y (2019) 'Long-term trends of land use and demography in Greece: a comparative study' Holocene , DOI Open access
Blake WH, Rabinovich A, Wynants M, Kelly C, Nasseri M, Ngondya I, Patrick A, Mtei K, Munishi L & Boeckx P (2018) 'Soil erosion in East Africa: an interdisciplinary approach to realising pastoral land management change' Environmental Research Letters 13, (12) 0-0 Author Site , DOI Open access
Eastwood WJ, Fairbairn A, Stroud E, Roberts N, Lamb H, Yigitbasioglu H, Senkul Ç, Moss A, Turner R & Boyer P (2018) 'Comparing pollen and archaeobotanical data for Chalcolithic cereal agriculture at Çatalhöyük, Turkey' Quaternary Science Reviews 202, 4-18 , DOI Open access
Roberts N, Allcock SL, Barnett H, Mather A, Eastwood WJ, Jones M, Primmer N, Yigitba?ioglu H & Vannière B (2018) 'Cause-and-effect in Mediterranean erosion: The role of humans and climate upon Holocene sediment flux into a central Anatolian lake catchment' Geomorphology , DOI Open access
Roffet-Salque M, Marciniak A, Valdes PJ, Pawlowska K, Pyzel J, Czerniak L, Krüger M, Roberts CN, Pitter S & Evershed RP (2018) 'Evidence for the impact of the 8.2-kyBP climate event on Near Eastern early farmers' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, (35) 8705-8709 , DOI Open access
Woodbridge-Fisher J, Roberts CN & Fyfe RM (2018) 'Pan-Mediterranean Holocene vegetation and land-cover dynamics from synthesised pollen data' Journal of Biogeography 45, (9) , DOI Open access
Haldon J, Mordechai L, Newfield TP, Chase AF, Izdebski A, Guzowski P, Labuhn I & Roberts N (2018) 'Historymeets palaeoscience: Consilience and collaboration in studying past societal responses to environmental change' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 115, (13) 3210-3218 Author Site , DOI
Roberts N, Cassis M, Doonan O, Eastwood W, Elton H, Haldon J, Izdebski A & Newhard J (2018) 'Not the End of the World? Post-Classical Decline and Recovery in Rural Anatolia' Human Ecology , DOI Open access
Roberts N, Fyfe RM, Woodbridge J, Gaillard M-J, Davis BAS, Kaplan JO, Marquer L, Mazier F, Nielsen AB & Sugita S (2018) 'Europe's lost forests: a pollen-based synthesis for the last 11,000 years' SCIENTIFIC REPORTS 8, Author Site , DOI Open access
Fyfe RM, Woodbridge J & Roberts CN (2017) 'Trajectories of change in Mediterranean Holocene vegetation through classification of pollen data' Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 27, 351-364 , DOI Open access
Roberts N, Woodbridge J, Bevan A, Palmisano A, Shennan S & Asouti E (2017) 'Human responses and non-responses to climatic variations during the last Glacial-Interglacial transition in the eastern Mediterranean' Quaternary Science Reviews , DOI Open access
Dean JR, Jones MD, Leng MJ, Metcalfe SE, Sloane HJ, Eastwood WJ & Roberts CN (2017) 'Seasonality of Holocene hydroclimate in the Eastern Mediterranean reconstructed using the oxygen isotope composition of carbonates and diatoms from Lake Nar, central Turkey' The Holocene 28, (2) 267-276 , DOI
Roberts N (2016) 'Review of Harald Meller , Helge Wolfgang Arz , Reinhard Jung & Roberto Risch (ed.). 2200 BC—Ein Klimasturz als Ursache für den Zerfall der Alten Welt? 2200 BC—A climatic breakdown as a cause for the collapse of the Old World? 7. Mitteldeutscher Archäologentag vom 23. bis 26. Oktober 2014 in Halle (Saale). 7th Archaeological Conference of Central Germany October 23–26, 2014 in Halle (Saale) (2 volumes). 2015. 861 pages, numerous colour and b&w illustrations, and tables. Halle (Saale): Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte. 978-3-944507-29-3 hardback €109' Antiquity 90, (351) 819-821 , DOI Open access
Roberts N, Allcock SL, Arnaud F, Dean JR, Eastwood WJ, Jones MD, Leng MJ, Metcalfe SE, Malet E & Woodbridge J (2016) 'A tale of two lakes: a multi-proxy comparison of Lateglacial and Holocene environmental change in Cappadocia, Turkey' JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE 31, (4) 348-362 Author Site , DOI Open access
Izdebski A, Pickett J, Roberts N & Waliszewski T (2016) 'The environmental, archaeological and historical evidence for regional climatic changes and their societal impacts in the Eastern Mediterranean in Late Antiquity' Quaternary Science Reviews 136, 189-208 , DOI
Ruddiman WF, Fuller DQ, Kutzbach JE, Tzedakis PC, Kaplan JO, Ellis EC, Vavrus SJ, Roberts CN, Fyfe R & He F (2016) 'Late Holocene climate: Natural or anthropogenic?' Reviews of Geophysics 54, (1) 93-118 , DOI Open access
Luterbacher J, Werner JP, Smerdon JE, Fernández-Donado L, González-Rouco FJ, Barriopedro D, Ljungqvist FC, Büntgen U, Zorita E & Wagner S (2016) 'European summer temperatures since Roman times' Environmental Research Letters 11, (2) 0-0 , DOI Open access
Holmes JA, Tindall J, Roberts N, Marshall W, Marshall JD, Bingham A, Feeser I, O'Connell M, Atkinson T & Jourdan A-L (2016) 'Lake isotope records of the 8200-year cooling event in western Ireland: Comparison with model simulations' Quaternary Science Reviews 131, 341-349 Author Site , DOI Open access
Dean JR, Eastwood WJ, Roberts N, Jones MD, Yigitbasioglu H, Allcock SL, Woodbridge J, Metcalfe SE & Leng MJ (2015) 'Tracking the hydro-climatic signal from lake to sediment: A field study from central Turkey' Journal of Hydrology 529, 608-621 , DOI
Dean JR, Jones MD, Leng MJ, Noble SR, Metcalfe SE, Sloane HJ, Sahy D, Eastwood WJ & Roberts CN (2015) 'Eastern Mediterranean hydroclimate over the late glacial and Holocene, reconstructed from the sediments of Nar lake, central Turkey, using stable isotopes and carbonate mineralogy' Quaternary Science Reviews 124, 162-174 , DOI Open access
Fyfe RM, Woodbridge J & Roberts N (2015) 'From forest to farmland: pollen-inferred land cover change across Europe using the pseudobiomization approach' Glob Chang Biol 21, (3) 1197-1212 Author Site , DOI
Hall T, Toms P, McGuinness M, Parker C & Roberts N (2015) 'Where's the Geography department? The changing administrative place of Geography in UK higher education' AREA 47, (1) 56-64 , DOI
Woodbridge J, Fyfe RM & Roberts N (2014) 'A comparison of remotely sensed and pollen-based approaches to mapping Europe's land cover' JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY 41, (11) 2080-2092 , DOI
Woodbridge J, Fyfe RM, Roberts N, Downey S, Edinborough K & Shennan S (2014) 'The impact of the Neolithic agricultural transition in Britain: a comparison of pollen-based land-cover and archaeological <SUP>14</SUP>C date-inferred population change' JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE 51, 216-224 , DOI
Lechterbeck J, Edinborough K, Kerig T, Fyfe R, Roberts N & Shennan S (2014) 'Is Neolithic land use correlated with demography? An evaluation of pollen-derived land cover and radiocarbon-inferred demographic change from Central Europe' HOLOCENE 24, (10) 1297-1307 , DOI Open access
Allcock SL & Roberts N (2014) 'Changes in regional settlement patterns in Cappadocia (central Turkey) since the Neolithic: a combined site survey perspective' Anatolian Studies 64, 33-58 , DOI
Haldon J, Roberts N, Izdebski A, Fleitmann D, McCormick M, Cassis M, Doonan O, Eastwood W, Elton H & Ladstätter S (2014) 'The climate and environment of Byzantine Anatolia: integrating science, history and archaeology' Journal of Interdisciplinary History 45, (2) 113-161 , DOI
Sadori L, Bertini A, Combourieu-Nebout N, Kouli K, Mariotti Lippi M, Roberts N & Mercuri A-M (2013) 'Palynology and Mediterranean vegetation history' Flora Mediterranea 23, , DOI
Dean JR, Jones MD, Leng MJ, Sloane HJ, Roberts CN, Woodbridge J, Swann GEA, Metcalfe SE, Eastwood WJ & Yigitbasioglu H (2013) 'Palaeo-seasonality of the last two millennia reconstructed from the oxygen isotope composition of carbonates and diatom silica from Nar Golu, central Turkey' QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS 66, 35-44 , DOI
Roberts CN (2012) 'Climate change and the Justinianic Plague: an intercomparison of high-resolution lake sediment and documentary records' Quaternary International 279-280, 407-407 , DOI
Roberts CN (2012) 'Quantifying Holocene hydro-climatic variability from groundwater-fed crater lake sediment records' Quaternary International 279-280, 406-407 , DOI
Fyfe RM, Roberts N, Woodbridge J, Downey S, Edinborough K & Shennan S (2012) '138 A pseudo-biomisation approach to anthropogenic land cover change' 日本花粉学会会誌 58, (Special) , DOI
Sadori & Laura (2012) 'Climate changes at Lake Shkodra (Albania): the last 4500 years' Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana (Vol. 18) 35-38 , DOI
Zanchetta G, Van Welden A, Baneschi I, Drysdale R, Sadori L, Roberts N, Giardini M, Beck C, Pascucci V & Sulpizio R (2012) 'Multiproxy record for the last 4500 years from Lake Shkodra (Albania/Montenegro)' JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE 27, (8) 780-789 , DOI
Daniau A-L, Bartlein PJ, Harrison SP, Prentice IC, Brewer S, Friedlingstein P, Harrison-Prentice TI, Inoue J, Izumi K & Marlon JR (2012) 'Predictability of biomass burning in response to climate changes' GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES 26, , DOI
Roberts N, Moreno A, Valero-Garces BL, Pablo Corella J, Jones M, Allcock S, Woodbridge J, Morellon M, Luterbacher J & Xoplaki E (2012) 'Palaeolimnological evidence for an east-west climate see-saw in the Mediterranean since AD 900' GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE 84-85, 23-34 , DOI Open access
Daley TJ, Thomas ER, Holmes JA, Street-Perrott FA, Chapman MR, Tindall JC, Valdes PJ, Loader NJ, Marshall JD & Wolff EW (2011) 'The 8200 yr BP cold event in stable isotope records from the North Atlantic region' GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE 79, (3-4) 288-302 , DOI
Woodbridge J & Roberts N (2011) 'Late Holocene climate of the Eastern Mediterranean inferred from diatom analysis of annually-laminated lake sediments' QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS 30, (23-24) 3381-3392 , DOI
Vanniere B, Power MJ, Roberts N, Tinner W, Carrion J, Magny M, Bartlein P, Colombaroli D, Daniau AL & Finsinger W (2011) 'Circum-Mediterranean fire activity and climate changes during the mid-Holocene environmental transition (8500-2500 cal. BP)' HOLOCENE 21, (1) 53-73 , DOI
Roberts N, Eastwood WJ, Kuzucuoglu C, Fiorentino G & Caracuta V (2011) 'Climatic, vegetation and cultural change in the eastern Mediterranean during the mid-Holocene environmental transition' HOLOCENE 21, (1) 147-162 , DOI
Zanchetta G, Sulpizio R, Roberts N, Cioni R, Eastwood WJ, Siani G, Caron B, Paterne M & Santacroce R (2011) 'Tephrostratigraphy, chronology and climatic events of the Mediterranean basin during the Holocene: An overview' HOLOCENE 21, (1) 33-52 , DOI
Roberts N, Brayshaw D, Kuzucuoglu C, Perez R & Sadori L (2011) 'The mid-Holocene climatic transition in the Mediterranean: Causes and consequences' HOLOCENE 21, (1) 3-13 , DOI
Fyfe R, Roberts N & Woodbridge J (2010) 'A pollen-based pseudobiomisation approach to anthropogenic land-cover change' HOLOCENE 20, (7) 1165-1171 , DOI
Woodbridge J & Roberts N (2010) 'Linking neo- and palaeolimnology: a case study using crater lake diatoms from central Turkey' JOURNAL OF PALEOLIMNOLOGY 44, (3) 855-871 , DOI
Djamali M, Akhani H, Andrieu-Ponel V, Braconnot P, Brewer S, de Beaulieu J-L, Fleitmann D, Fleury J, Gasse F & Guibal F (2010) 'Indian Summer Monsoon variations could have affected the early-Holocene woodland expansion in the Near East' HOLOCENE 20, (5) 813-820 , DOI
Hoelzmann P, Schwalb A, Roberts N, Cooper P & Burgess A (2010) 'Hydrological response of an east-Saharan palaeolake (NW Sudan) to early-Holocene climate' HOLOCENE 20, (4) 537-549 , DOI
Woodbridge J, Roberts N & Cox EJ (2010) 'MORPHOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF A NEW CENTRIC DIATOM FROM CAPPADOCIA (CENTRAL TURKEY)' DIATOM RESEARCH 25, (1) 195-212
Leng MJ, Jones MD, Frogley MR, Eastwood WJ, Kendrick CP & Roberts CN (2010) 'Detrital carbonate influences on bulk oxygen and carbon isotope composition of lacustrine sediments from the Mediterranean' GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE 71, (3-4) 175-182 , DOI
Roberts CN, Zanchetta G & Jones MD (2010) 'Oxygen isotopes as tracers of Mediterranean climate variability: An introduction' GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE 71, (3-4) 135-140 , DOI
Turner R, Roberts N, Eastwood WJ, Jenkins E & Rosen A (2010) 'Fire, climate and the origins of agriculture: micro-charcoal records of biomass burning during the last glacial-interglacial transition in Southwest Asia' JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE 25, (3) 371-386 , DOI
Roberts N & Rosen A (2009) 'Diversity and Complexity in Early Farming Communities of Southwest Asia: New Insights into the Economic and Environmental Basis of Neolithic Catalhoyuk' CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 50, (3) 393-402 , DOI
England A, Eastwood WJ, Roberts CN, Turner R & Haldon JF (2008) 'Historical landscape change in Cappadocia (central Turkey): a palaeoecological investigation of annually laminated sediments from Nar lake' HOLOCENE 18, (8) 1229-1245 , DOI
Turner R, Roberts N & Jones MD (2008) 'Climatic pacing of Mediterranean fire histories from lake sedimentary microcharcoal' GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE 63, (4) 317-324 , DOI
Jones MD & Roberts CN (2008) 'Interpreting lake isotope records of Holocene environmental change in the Eastern Mediterranean' QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL 181, 32-38 , DOI
Eastwood WJ, Leng MJ, Roberts N & Davis B (2007) 'Holocene climate change in the eastern Mediterranean region: a comparison of stable isotope and pollen data from Lake Golhisar, southwest Turkey' Journal of Quaternary Science 22, (4) 327-341
Jones MD, Roberts CN & Leng MJ (2007) 'Quantifying climatic change through the last glacial-interglacial transition based on lake isotope palaeohydrology from central Turkey' Quaternary Research 67, (3) 463-473
Jones MD, Leng MJ & Roberts CN (2007) 'Quantifying climatic change through the LGIT based on lake isotope palaeohydrology from central Turkey' Quaternary Research 67, (3) 463-473
Jones M, Roberts N, Leng MJ & Turkes M (2006) 'A high-resolution late Holocene lake isotope record fromTurkey and links to North Atlantic and monsoon climate' Geology 34 (5), 361-364 , DOI
Boyer P, Roberts N & Baird D (2006) 'Holocene environment and settlement on the Carsamba alluvial fan, south-central Turkey: Integrating geoarchaeology and archaeological field survey' Geoarchaeology-An International Journal 21, (7) 675-698
Jones MD, Leng MJ, Roberts CN, Turkes M & Moyeed R (2005) 'A coupled calibration and modelling approach to the understanding of dry-land lake oxygen isotope records' Journal of Paleolimnology 34, (3) 391-411
Roberts N (2002) 'Did prehistoric landscape management retard the post-glacial spread of woodland in Southwest Asia?' Antiquity 76, (294) 1002-1010
Eastwood WJ, Tibby J, Roberts N, Birks HJB & Lamb HF (2002) 'The environmental impact of the Minoan eruption of Santorini (Thera): statistical analysis of palaeoecological data from Golhisar, southwest Turkey' Holocene 12, (4) 431-444
Leng M, Barker P, Greenwood P, Roberts N & Reed J (2001) 'Oxygen isotope analysis of diatom silica and authigenic calcite from Lake Pinarbasi, Turkey' Journal of Paleolimnology 25, (3) 343-349
Roberts N, Meadows ME & Dodson JR (2001) 'The history of mediterranean-type environments: climate, culture and landscape' Holocene 11, (6) 631-634
Meadows ME, Dodson JR & Roberts CN (2001) 'The Holocene history of mediterranean-type environments in the Eastern Hemisphere' The Holocene 11, (6) 631-768
Roberts N, Reed JM, Leng MJ, Kuzucuoglu C, Fontugne M, Bertaux J, Woldring H, Bottema S, Black S & Hunt E (2001) 'The tempo of Holocene climatic change in the eastern Mediterranean region: new high-resolution crater-lake sediment data from central Turkey' Holocene 11, (6) 721-736
Sayer CD & Roberts N (2001) 'Establishing realistic restoration targets for nutrient-enriched shallow lakes: linking diatom ecology and palaeoecology at the Attenborough Ponds, UK' Hydrobiologia 448, (1-3) 117-142
Roberts N, Meadows ME & Dodson JR (2001) 'The history of mediteranean-type environments: climate, culture and landscapes' The Holocene 11, 631-634
Roberts N (2000) 'Review of Ecology, climate and empire: Colonialism and global environmental history, 1400-1940 by Grove, R' JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 26, (1) 131-132 Author Site , DOI
Verschuren D, Tibby J, Sabbe K & Roberts N (2000) 'EFFECTS OF DEPTH, SALINITY, AND SUBSTRATE ON THE INVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY OF A FLUCTUATING TROPICAL LAKE' Ecology 81, (1) 164-182 , DOI
Roberts N (1999) 'Book Review: Noah's Flood. The new scientific discoveries about the event that changed history' The Holocene 9, (5) 639-639 , DOI
Verschuren D, Cocquyt C, Tibby J, Roberts CN & Leavitt PR (1999) 'Long‐term dynamics of algal and invertebrate communities in a small, fluctuating tropical soda lake' Limnology and Oceanography 44, (5) 1216-1231 , DOI
Reed JM, Roberts N & Leng MJ (1999) 'An evaluation of the diatom response to Late Quaternary environmental change in two lakes in the Konya Basin, Turkey, by comparison with stable isotope data' Quaternary Science Reviews 18, (4-5) 631-646 , DOI
Eastwood WJ, Roberts N, Lamb HF & Tibby JC (1999) 'Holocene environmental change in southwest Turkey: a palaeoecological record of lake and catchment-related changes' Quaternary Science Reviews 18, (4-5) 671-695 , DOI
Verschuren D, Tibby J, Leavitt PR & Roberts CN (1999) 'The environmental history of a climate-sensitive lake in the former 'White Highlands' of central Kenya' AMBIO 28, (6) 494-501
Eastwood WJ, Pearce NJG, Westgate JA, Perkins WT, Lamb HF & Roberts N (1999) 'Geochemistry of Santorini tephra in lake sediments from Southwest Turkey' GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE 21, (1-3) 17-29 , DOI
Roberts N, Black S, Boyer P, Eastwood WJ, Griffiths HI, Lamb HF, Leng MJ, Parish R, Reed JM & Twigg D (1999) 'Chronology and stratigraphy of Late Quaternary sediments in the Konya Basin, Turkey: Results from the KOPAL Project' QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS 18, (4-5) 611-630 , DOI
Lamb H, Roberts N, Leng M, Barker P, Benkaddour A & van der Kaars S (1999) 'Lake evolution in a semi-arid montane environment: response to catchment change and hydroclimatic variation' Journal of Paleolimnology 21, (3) 325-343 , DOI
Leng MJ, Roberts N, Reed JM & Sloane HJ (1999) 'Late Quaternary palaeohydrology of the Konya Basin, Turkey based on isotope studies of modern hydrology and lacustrine carbonates' Journal of Paleolimnology 22, (2) 187-204 , DOI
Roberts N, Kuzucuoglu C & Karabiyikoglu M (1999) 'The Late Quaternary in the Eastern Mediterranean region: an introduction' QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS 18, (4-5) 497-499
Sayer C, Roberts N, Sadler J, David C & Wade PM (1999) 'Biodiversity changes in a shallow lake ecosystem: a multi‐proxy palaeolimnological analysis' Journal of Biogeography 26, (1) 97-114 , DOI
Eastwood WJ, Roberts N & Lamb HF (1998) 'Palaeoecological and archaeological evidence for human occupance in southwest Turkey: the Beyşehir occupation phase' Anatolian Studies 48, 69-86 , DOI
David C, Dearing J & Roberts N (1998) 'Land-use history and sediment flux in a lowland lake catchment: Groby Pool, Leicestershire, UK' The Holocene 8, (4) 383-394 , DOI
Roberts N, Karabiyikoglu M, Kuzucuoglu C & Skelton P (1997) 'Report Inter-INQUA Congress, Ankara Turkey' Episodes 20, (1) 40-42
Roberts N (1996) 'The human transformation of the Earth's surface' International Social Science Journal 48, (150) 493-510 , DOI
Lamb HF, Gasse F, Benkaddour A, El Hamouti N, van der Kaars S, Perkins WT, Pearce NJ & Roberts CN (1995) 'Relation between century-scale Holocene arid intervals in tropical and temperate zones' Nature 373, (6510) 134-137 , DOI
Barker PA, Roberts N, Lamb HF, van der Kaars S & Benkaddour A (1994) 'Interpretation of Holocene lake-level change from diatom assemblages in Lake Sidi Ali, Middle Atlas, Morocco' Journal of Paleolimnology 12, (3) 223-234 , DOI
Roberts N, Taieb M, Barker P, Damnati B, Icole M & Williamson D (1993) 'Timing of the Younger Dryas event in East Africa from lake-level changes' Nature 366, (6451) 146-148 , DOI
Roberts N (1993) 'Sub-Milankovitch palaeoclimatic events: Their recognition and correlation' Climatic Change 24, (3) 175-178 , DOI
Barker P, Gasse FO, Roberts N & Taieb M (1991) 'Taphonomy and diagenesis in diatom assemblages; a Late Pleistocene palaeoecological study from Lake Magadi, Kenya' Hydrobiologia 214, (1) 267-272 , DOI
David C & Roberts N (1991) 'Vegetation change and pollen recruitment in a lowland lake catchment: Groby Pool, Leics (England)' Hydrobiologia 214, (1) 305-310 , DOI
Roberts N (1991) 'Late quaternary geomorphological change and the origins of agriculture in south central Turkey' Geoarchaeology 6, (1) 1-26 , DOI
Bell M & Roberts N (1991) 'The Political Ecology of Dambo Soil and Water Resources in Zimbabwe' Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 16, (3) 301-301 , DOI
Roberts N (1990) 'Ups and downs of African lakes' Nature 346, (6280) 107-107 , DOI
Lambert RA, Hotchkiss PF, Roberts N, Faulkner RD, Bell M & Windram A (1990) 'The use of wetlands (dambos) for micro-scale irrigation in Zimbabwe' Irrigation and Drainage Systems 4, (1) 17-28 , DOI
COHMAP members (1988) 'Climatic Changes of the Last 18,000 Years: Observations and Model Simulations' Science 241, (4869) 1043-1052 , DOI
Roberts N (1988) 'Dambos in Development: Management of a Fragile Ecological Resource' Journal of Biogeography 15, (1) 141-141 , DOI
Bell M & Roberts N (1986) 'Development theory and practice in human and physical geography' Area 18, (1) 3-8
Roberts N (1984) 'Lakes record climatic change' Geographical Magazine (October) 515-520
Roberts N (1984) 'Reply to Comments by Ann P. El-Moslim' Quaternary Research 21, (1) 117-120 , DOI
Vita-Finzi C & Roberts N (1984) 'Selective Leaching of Shells for <sup>14</sup>C Dating' Radiocarbon 26, (1) 54-58 , DOI
Roberts N (1983) 'Age, Palaeoenvironments, and Climatic Significance of Late Pleistocene Konya Lake, Turkey' Quaternary Research 19, (2) 154-171 , DOI
Roberts N (1982) 'A note on the geomorphological environment of Çatal Hüyük, Turkey' Journal of Archaeological Science 9, (4) 341-348 , DOI
Roberts N, Street-Perrott A & Perrott A (1981) 'The ' late-glacial' in the tropics' Quaternary Newsletter 35, 1-5
Roberts N, Erol O, de Meester T & Uerpmann H-P (1979) 'Radiocarbon chronology of late Pleistocene Konya lake, Turkey' Nature 281, (5733) 662-664 , DOI
Reviews
Roberts N, Jones MD, Benkaddour A, Eastwood WJ, Filippi ML, Frogley MR, Lamb HF, Leng MJ, Reed JM & Stein M (2008) 'Stable isotope records of Late Quaternary climate and hydrology from Mediterranean lakes: the ISOMED synthesis' QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS 27, (25-26) 2426-2441 , DOI
Books
Roberts N (2014) The Holocene, 3rd ed. Oxford Wiley-Blackwell
National Research Council (2006) National Research Council STR Committee 2006 Surface temperature reconstructions for the past 2,000 years. National Academies Press, Washington DC.
Chapters
Roberts N (2023) 'Holocene Climate Changes and Human Consequences' Wiley 321-337 , DOI
Roberts N (2022) 'Çatalhöyük' Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology Springer International Publishing 1-4 , DOI
Labuhn I, Finné M, Izdebski A, Roberts N & Woodbridge J (2019) 'Climatic Changes and Their Impacts in the Mediterranean during the First Millennium AD' Environment and Society in the Long Late Antiquity BRILL 247-270 , DOI
Roberts N (2019) 'Revisiting the Beyşehir Occupation Phase: Land-Cover Change and the Rural Economy in the Eastern Mediterranean during the First Millennium AD' Environment and Society in the Long Late Antiquity BRILL 53-68 , DOI
Woodbridge J, Roberts N & Fyfe R (2019) 'Vegetation and Land-Use Change in Northern Europe during Late Antiquity: A Regional-Scale Pollen-Based Reconstruction' Environment and Society in the Long Late Antiquity BRILL 105-118 , DOI
Roberts CN & Kazanci N (2019) 'The lake basins of southwest Anatolia' in Kuzucuoğlu C; Kazancı N; Çiner A Geomorphological Landscapes of Turkey Springer 325-329
Roberts CN (2018) 'Re-visiting the Beyşehir Occupation phase: land-cover change and the rural economy in the eastern Mediterranean during the first millennium AD' in Izdebski A; Mulryan M Environment and Society in the Long Late Antiquity (Late Antique Archaeology 12) Leiden Brill 65-88
Roberts N (2018) 'The land of the Hittites: airs, waters and places' in Ullmann L; Weedon M The Geography and Landscape of the Hittites Brill 7-17
Labuhn I, Finné M, Izdebski A, Roberts CN & Woodbridge J (2016) 'Climatic changes and their impacts in the Mediterranean during the first millennium CE' in Izdebski A; Mulryan M Environment and Society in the Long Late Antiquity (Late Antique Archaeology 12) Leiden Brill 65-88
Roberts N (2016) 'Çatalhöyük' Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology Springer Netherlands 105-108 , DOI
Woodbridge-Fisher J, Fyfe R & Roberts CN (2015) 'VEGETATION AND LAND-USE CHANGE IN NORTHERN EUROPE DURING LATE ANTIQUITY: A REGIONAL-SCALE POLLEN-BASED RECONSTRUCTION' in Mulryan M Late Antique Archaeology Open access
Roberts CN (2015) 'Holocene climate change and archaeological implications, with particular reference to the East Mediterranean region' in Kerner S; Dann RJ; Bansgaard P Climate and Ancient Societies Copenhagen Museum Tusculanum Press 27-39
Luterbacher J, García-Herrera R, Akcer-On S, Allan R, Alvarez-Castro MC, Benito G, Booth J, Büntgen U, Cagatay N & Colombaroli D (2012) 'A Review of 2000 Years of Paleoclimatic Evidence in the Mediterranean' The Climate of the Mediterranean Region: From the Past to the Future 87-185 , DOI
Luterbacher J, García-Herrera R, Akcer-On S, Allan R, Alvarez-Castro M-C, Benito G, Booth J, Büntgen U, Cagatay N & Colombaroli D (2012) 'A Review of 2000 Years of Paleoclimatic Evidence in the Mediterranean' The Climate of the Mediterranean Region Elsevier 87-185 , DOI
Roberts N (2011) 'The Idea of Evolution in Geographical Thought' in Agnew J; Livingstone D The SAGE Handbook of Geographical Knowledge SAGE Publications Ltd 441-451 , DOI
Eastwood WJ, Boyer P & Roberts CN (2007) 'Pollen analysis at Çatalhöyük' in Hodder I Excavating Çatalhöyük. South, North and KOPAL Area reports from the 1995-99 seasons. Çatalhöyük Research Project volume 3, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research / British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara Monograph 573-580
Boyer P, Merrick J & Roberts CN (2007) 'The KOPAL on-site and off-site excavations at Çatalhöyük 1996-2001' in Hodder I Excavating Çatalhöyük. South, North and KOPAL Area reports from the 1995-99 seasons Çatalhöyük Research Project volume 3, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research / British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara Monograph 553-572
Rosen A & Roberts CN (2006) 'The Nature of Çatalhöyük: People and their Changing Environments on the Konya Plain' in Hodder I Çatalhöyük perspectives: themes from the 1995-1999 seasons. Çatalhöyük Research Project volume 6, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research / British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara Monograph 39-53
Roberts N (2005) 'Holocene epoch' Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series
Roberts N, Stevenson AC, Davis B, Cheddadi R, Brewer S & Rosen A (2004) 'Holocene climate, environment and cultural change in the circum-Mediterranean region' in Battarbee RW; Gasse F; Stickley C Past climate variability through Europe and Africa Dordrecht Kluwere 343-362
Gasse F & Roberts CN (2004) 'Late Quaternary hydrologic changes in the arid and semiarid belt of northern Africa: implications for past atmospheric circulation' in Diaz HF; Bradley RS The Hadley Circulation: Present Past & Future Kluwer, Dordrecht 313-345
Gasse F & Roberts CN (2004) 'Late Quaternary Hydrologic Changes in the Arid and Semiarid Belt of Northern Africa' Advances in Global Change Research Springer Netherlands 313-345 , DOI
Roberts N, Eastwood WJ, Lamb HF & Tibby JC (1997) 'The Age and Causes of Mid-Late Holocene Environmental Change in Southwest Turkey' Third Millennium BC Climate Change and Old World Collapse Springer Berlin Heidelberg 409-429 , DOI
Roberts N (1995) 'Climatic forcing of alluvial fan regimes during the late Quaternary in the Konya Basin, south central Turkey' in Woodward J; Lewin J; Macklin M Mediterranean Quaternary river environments 207-217
Roberts N & Barker P (1993) 'Landscape stability and biogeomorphic response to past and future climatic shifts in intertropical Africa' in Thomas D; Allison R Landscape sensitivity J Wiley 65-82
Roberts N & Lambert R (1990) 'Degradation of Dambo soils and peasant agriculture in Zimbabwe' in Boardman J; Dearing JE; Foster IDL Soil erosion on agricultural land J Wiley 537-558
Bell M & Roberts N (1990) 'The politics and culture of dambo irrigation in Zimbabwe' in Cosgrove DE; Petts G Water, Engineering and Landscape Belhaven Press 129-143
Barker P, Gasse F, Roberts N & Taieb M (1990) 'Taphonomy and diagenesis in diatom assemblages; a Late Pleistocene palaeoecological study from Lake Magadi, Kenya' Environmental History and Palaeolimnology Springer Netherlands 267-272 , DOI
David C & Roberts N (1990) 'Vegetation change and pollen recruitment in a lowland lake catchment: Groby Pool, Leics (England)' Environmental History and Palaeolimnology Springer Netherlands 305-310 , DOI
Street-Perrott FA, Roberts N & Metcalfe S (1985) 'Geomorphic implications of late Quaternary hydrological and climatic changes in the Northern Hemisphere tropics' in Douglas I; Spencer T Environmental change and tropical Geomorphology Allen and Unwin 165-183
Harrison SP, Metcalfe SE, Street-Perrott FA, Pittock AB, Roberts CN & Salinger MJ (1984) 'A climatic model of the Last Glacial/ Interglacial transition based on palaeotemperature and palaeohydrological evidence' in Vogel JC Late Cainozoic Palaeoclimates of the Southern Hemisphere Rotterdam AA Balkema 21-34
Street-Perrott FA & Roberts N (1983) 'Fluctuations in closed-basin lakes as an indicator of past atmospheric circulation patterns' in Street-Perrott FA; Beran M; Ratcliffe RAS Variations in the global water budget Dordrecht Kluwer 331-345
Verschuren D, Briffa KR, Hoelzmann P, Barber K, Barker PA, Scott L, Snowball I, Roberts N & Battarbee RW 'Climate Variability in Europe and Africa: a PAGES-PEP III Time Stream I Synthesis' Past Climate Variability through Europe and Africa Springer Netherlands 567-582 , DOI
Roberts N 'Holocene Climates' Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series Springer Netherlands 438-442 , DOI
Roberts N 'Holocene Epoch' Encyclopedia of World Climatology Springer Netherlands 405-405 , DOI
Conference Papers
Windram A, Faulkner R, Bell M, Roberts N, Hotchkiss P & Lambert R (1985) 'The use of dambos in small scale rural development' 114-117
Personal

Personal

Conferences organised

Association of Environmental Archaeology annual conference, Plymouth, November 2014 co-convened with R Fyfe and N Whitehouse   

Links

Leverhulme-funded "Deforesting Europe" project web-site
http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=35232


Leverhulme-funded "Mediterranean landscapes" project web-site