Dr. Tessi Loeffelmann

I graduated with a MA Joint Honours degree in Archaeology and History from Glasgow University in 2013 and subsequently completed an MSc in Palaeopathology at Durham University. After this, I worked in commercial archaeology for two years until 2016 when I started my co-tutelle PhD part-time. One year into the PhD, I was lucky enough to receive funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Northern Bridge), and later I received additional support from the VUB strategic research fund. In my thesis, I investigated mobility in early medieval Britain (c. AD 400-1000) with a focus on cremated human remains. My supervisory team consisted of Profs Janet Montgomery (Durham University), Sarah Semple (Durham University), Christophe Snoeck (VUB), and Philippe Claeys (VUB).

I am currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at VUB, but my projects reach beyond the Channel.

Background

MA (Joint Honours) Archaeology and History, Glasgow University, UK (2013)
MSc Palaeopathology, Durham University, UK (2014)
PhD in Archaeology, Durham University, UK (2023)
PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies: Sciences and Archaeology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, BE (2023)

Key Research Interests

Bioarchaeology
Isotope analyses
Early medieval archaeology
Cremation
Mobility
Interdisciplinary archaeology

Main Publications

Löffelmann, T., Snoeck, C., Richards, J. D., Johnson, L. J., Claeys, P., & Montgomery, J. (2023). Sr analyses from only known Scandinavian cremation cemetery in Britain illuminate early Viking journey with horse and dog across the North Sea. Plos One, 18 (2), e0280589.
Holst, M., Keefe, K., Newman, S., & Löffelmann, T. (2019). Chapter 6: Human Remains. In G. Speed & M. Holst (Eds.), Death, Burial and Identity: 3000 Years of Death in the Vale of Mowbray (pp. 372-465). Northern Archaeological Associates Ltd.
Frère, A., Löffelmann, T., Veselka, B., Stamataki, E., Sengeløv, A., James, H. F., de Mulder, G., Claes, B., De Backer, F., Snoeck, C. (2025). Reconstructing life histories: New insights into cremation practices, mobility, and food consumption patterns through isotope and infrared analyses on petrous parts and teeth. American Journal of Biological Anthropology.

Veselka, B., Löffelmann, T., James, H. F., Brattinga, J., Louwen, A., Mulder, G. d., Meurkens, L., Sabaux, C., Eynde, G. v. d., & Snoeck, C. (2025). Lively landscapes: Sex- and age-related differences in diet and land use characterising a Late Bronze-Early Iron Age community from Tilburg, the Netherlands. Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports.

Spros, R., Snoeck, C., Löffelmann, T., Stamataki, E., Jackson, V., Veselka, B., James, H. F., Sengeløv, A., Haneca, K., De Groote, K., Ervynck, A., Provyn, S., Snoeck, T., Claeys, P., & Lambert, B. (2025). Mobility in a medieval industrial city: an isotopic study of skeletal evidence from 13th -14th century Ypres (Belgium). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 17(3), 50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-025-02169-8

Löffelmann, T. (2024). ‘Isotopes and Halls of Marrow: Investigating the Viking Age Cremations at Heath Wood, Ingleby’. In H. Williams & F. Lippok (Eds.), Cremation in the Early Middle Ages - Death, fire and identity in North-West Europe (pp. 213 - 228). Sidestone Press. https://doi.org/10.59641/e3h9b0c1d2

Hlad, M., Löffelmann, T., Griffith, J. I., James, H. F., Vercauteren, M., Snoeck, C., & Veselka, B. (2024). Practitioner preferences in the analysis of cremation deposits in archaeology and biological anthropology: An overview of current osteoarchaeological practices with a focus on sex estimation. Plos One, 19(12), e0310380. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310380

Löffelmann, T., Snoeck, C., Richards, J. D., Johnson, L. J., Claeys, P., and Montgomery, J. (2023). Sr analyses from only known Scandinavian cremation cemetery in Britain illuminate early Viking journey with horse and dog across the North Sea. Plos One, 18 (2), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280589.

tessi.loeffelmann@vub.be