Rate My Professor Emma Brooks

Emma Brooks serves as Senior Co-ordinator Publications in Creative Services within the External Engagement division at the University of Otago. Previously, she was a Research Fellow, SPAR Senior Archaeologist, and Research Manager in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Otago, where she directed fieldwork, managed archaeological research projects, and trained students for professional careers in archaeology. She held faculty member status in Anthropology and Archaeology. Additionally, Brooks is a Senior Heritage Advisor and Consultant at the New Zealand Department of Conservation in Wellington.

Her research focuses on New Zealand archaeology, environmental archaeology, prehistoric archaeology, landscape archaeology, zooarchaeology, excavation, archaeological theory, and bone analysis. Brooks has contributed to major excavations at sites including Cook's Cove in Tolaga Bay, Kahukura (G47/128) in Murihiku, Wairau Bar, Karamea on the West Coast, Omaio in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, and the Tokanui River Mouth. These efforts have illuminated Polynesian settlement, patterns of diet and mobility, specialized shellfish harvesting in marginal environments, whale bone technology, and precise chronologies through isotope analysis and ancient DNA. In 2016, she led a pre-construction archaeological investigation for the University of Otago Dental School redevelopment, revealing 19th-century cobblestone floors, timber posts, drains, and artifacts such as leather boots, clay pipes, bottles, and ceramics. Key publications include 'Excavations at Kahukura (G47/128), Murihiku' (2018), 'Critical Review of Brown and Thomas "The First New Zealanders? An Alternative Interpretation of the Stable Isotope Data from Wairau Bar"' (2015), 'Prehistoric Whale Bone Technology in Southern New Zealand' (2014), 'High-precision dating and ancient DNA profiling of moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) eggshell documents a complex feature at Wairau Bar and refines the chronology of New Zealand settlement by Polynesians' (2014), 'The First New Zealanders: Patterns of Diet and Mobility Revealed through Isotope Analysis' (2013), 'Excavations at Cook's Cove, Tolaga Bay, New Zealand' (2011), and 'Living on Pipi (Paphies australis): Specialised Shellfish Harvest in a Marginal Environment at Karamea, West Coast, New Zealand' (2010).