Dr Kirsty Squires

Associate Professor

Health, Education, Policing and Sciences

I am an Associate Professor of Bioarchaeology and MSc Forensic Science course leader, teaching primarily in the areas of biological anthropology, archaeology, DVI, and forensic humanitarianism. Since finishing my doctoral research at the University of Sheffield in 2012, I have worked in commercial archaeology as both a field worker and an osteoarchaeologist. During this period, I worked on a number of field schools that involved teaching students how to excavate and record archaeological skeletal remains. Alongside my work in the field, I acted as a temporary Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Nottingham from 2013-2014.

I currently hold the roles of Membership Secretary and Trustee for the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology, Secretary of CIfA's Human Osteoarchaeology SIG, and Committee Member of CIfA's Heritage Crime SIG. I am a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA). I am also a Responder for Kenyon Emergency Services and a team member of CRICC.

Professional memberships and activities
  • Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
  • Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute
  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Associate of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists
  • Member of The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences
  • Member of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology
  • Member of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists
  • Member of the Paleopathology Association
  • Member of the Society for the Study of Childhood in the Past
  • Research Associate of the Observatory for the Mummified Heritage of Sicily

Academic qualifications
  • PhD Archaeology: ‘An osteological analysis and social investigation of the cremation rite at the cemeteries of Elsham and Cleatham, North Lincolnshire’ – University of Sheffield (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council)
  • MA Education (distinction) – University of Staffordshire
  • MSc Human Osteology and Funerary Archaeology (distinction) – University of Sheffield (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council)
  • BSc (Hons) Archaeology (1st class) – University of Nottingham

Expertise
  • Bioarchaeology
  • Forensic Anthropology
  • DVI

Research interests
  • Cremation studies (analysis and interpretation of cremated human bone)
  • Mummy studies
  • Juvenile bioanthropology
  • Archaeology of childhood
  • Ethics in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology
  • Dark tourism
  • Heritage crime

Grants

The health, development and social identity of children afforded mummification in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily (AHRC Funded Project: AH/V014331/1). https://juvenilemummyproject.wixsite.com/palermo

Teaching

Undergraduate

  • Introduction to Forensic Biology
  • Introduction to Forensic Scientific Techniques
  • Crime Scene Processing
  • Forensic Anthropology in the 21st Century (module leader)
  • Forensic Research Project
  • Practical Forensic Scientific Techniques
  • Techniques in the Identification of Human Remains (module leader)

Postgraduate (Taught)

  • Contemporary Issues in Forensic Science
  • Independent Research Project (module leader)

Postgraduate supervision

Current PhD students

  • Jessica Gill: The Detection of Decomposition Volatile Organic Compounds from Porcine Remains Encased in Concrete
  • Emily Wales-Ferguson: A Biological Study of the Late Roman/Early Medieval (302-800 CE) Cemetery of Sant’Agata, Sicily

Publications

Most recent publications

Squires, K., McKinley, J., Roberts, C.A. and Biers, T. 2025. Cremated bone in archaeology: ethical considerations in the excavation, analysis, storage, and display of cremated bone in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology e3382. doi: 10.1002/oa.3382.

Piombino-Mascali, D., Squires, K. and Zink, A. 2024. Ethical challenges in the bioanthropological and biomedical investigation of Sicilian mummies: past experience and future pathways. American Journal of Biological Anthropology. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.24946.

Piombino-Mascali, D., Winter, J.J., Gill-Frerking, H. and Squires, K. 2024. Ethical considerations for working with human remains in Sicily: case studies and professional approaches, 150-161. In: Campanacho, V. and Alves Cardoso, F. (eds.) Coming of Age: Ethics and Biological Anthropology in the 21st Century. Oxford: Archaeopress.

Squires, K. 2024. The bioarchaeology of early medieval cremations in England, 173-183. In: Williams, H. and Lippok, F. (eds.) Cremation in the Early Middle Ages: Death, Fire and Identity in North-West Europe. Leiden: Sidestone Press.

Squires, K., Davidson, A., Cooper, S., Viner, M., Hoban, W., Loynes, R., Zesch, S., Rosendahl, W. Lindauer, S., Greco, C. and Piombino-Mascali, D. 2024. A multidisciplinary investigation of a mummified Egyptian head and analysis of its associated resinous material from the Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo (Sicily). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 55: 104525. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104525.

Squires, K., Davidson, A. and Piombino-Mascali, D. 2024. Public attitudes towards the display of juvenile mummies in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily. International Journal of Heritage Studies 30 (8): 888-904.

Squires, K. and Snelleksz, F. 2024 A cut above the rest? The value of post-mortem examinations in undergraduate forensic science education. Science & Justice 64 (6): 637-641.

Squires, K., Viner, M., Hoban, W., Loynes, R., Van Shaik, K. and Piombino-Mascali, D. 2024 The “angioletti” of Palermo: the health and development of mummified non-adults in Late Modern Palermo, Sicily (1787-1880 CE). Frontiers in Medicine (Pathology) 11. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1443291.

Squires, K. and Piombino-Mascali, D. 2024. Striking a balance: preserving, curating, and investigating human remains from the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily, 51-64. In: Biers, T. and Stringer Clary, K. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Heritage, and Death: New Ways of Examining Mortality in the Modern World. London: Routledge.

Squires, K., Hookway, E. and Márquez-Grant, N. 2023. Don’t forget the children! The consequences of natural disasters and epidemics on childhood health and mortality in the past. Childhood in the Past: An International Journal 16 (1): 57-78.

Wisniewski, K. D., Doyle, P., Hunter, R. J. S., Pringle, J. K., Stimpson, I. G., Wright, D., Squires, K., Sutherland, Z., Cassella, J. P., Graham, F. C. and Ottey, P. 2023. A multidisciplinary scientific investigation of the 1916 Hawthorn Mine Crater, Beaumont Hamel, Somme, Northern France. Journal of Conflict Archaeology 18 (2-3), 125-156.

Squires, K., Roberts, C.A. and Márquez-Grant, N. 2022. Ethical considerations and publishing in human bioarcheology. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 177 (4): 615-619.

Squires, K., Roberts, C.A., Sardi, M.L. and Márquez-Grant, N. 2022. Ética, Bioarqueología y Publicaciones Científicas: Un Estudio de Caso. RUNA, Archivo Para Las Ciencias Del Hombre 43 (2): 245-263.

Squires, K. and Garcia-Mancuso, R. 2021. Desafíos éticos asociados al estudio y tratamiento de restos humanos en las ciencias antropológicas en el siglo XXI. Revista Argentina de Antropologia Biologica 23 (2): 1-22.

Squires, K. and Piombino-Mascali, D. 2021. Ethical considerations associated with the display and analysis of juvenile mummies from the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily. Public Archaeology 20 (1-4): 66-84.

External profiles

for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

for Facilities

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

for Social Inclusion

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

Four Star Rating

QS Star Ratings 2021