Dr Linus Girdland Flink
School of Biological and Environmental Sciences

Faculty: Faculty of Science
Email address: E.L.GirdlandFlink@ljmu.ac.uk
Telephone: 0151 231 2614
I am a palaeogeneticist specialising in extracting and analysing DNA from ancient bones, teeth, soils and sediments.
My primary research interests are animal domestication and the Neolithic transition in West Eurasia (including human migration and its role in shaping the cultural landscape of prehistoric Europe).
TEACHING
Module leader: 6021NATSCI Forensic and Anthropological Genetics
Module leader: 7102NATSCI Bones, teeth, and genes
4207NATSCI Evolution and Inheritance
5104FSBMOL Molecular Forensics
5311NATSCI World Archaeology
5313NATSCI Forensic Human Identification
6000NATSCI Research Project
7100NATSCI Dissertation
7106NATSCI Human Identification and Forensic DNA
7107NATSCI Research Methods
7112NATSCI Contemporary Methods in Primatology
Languages
Swedish
Degrees
Durham University, United Kingdom, PhD
Gotland University, Sweden, MA
Academic appointments
Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Archaeological Research Laboratory (Arkeologiska Forskningslaboratoriet, AFL), Stockholm University, 2015 - 2016
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Archaeology & Centre for Genome-Enabled Biology and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, 2013 - 2016
Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, 2012 - 2013
Highlighted publications
Ledger PM, Girdland-Flink L, Forbes V. 2019. New horizons at L’Anse aux Meadows Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 :15341-15343 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Sánchez-Quinto F, Malmström H, Fraser M, Girdland Flink L, Svensson EM, Simões LG, George R, Hollfelder N, Burenhult G, Noble G, Britton K, Talamo S, Curtis N, Brzobohata H, Sumberovai R, Götherström A, Storå J, Jakobsson M. 2019. Megalithic tombs in western and northern Neolithic Europe were linked to a kindred society Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 :9469-9474 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Rodríguez-Varela R, Günther T, Krzewińska M, Storå J, Gillingwater TH, MacCallum M, Arsuaga JL, Dobney K, Valdiosera C, Jakobsson M, Götherström A, Girdland-Flink L. 2017. Genomic Analyses of Pre-European Conquest Human Remains from the Canary Islands Reveal Close Affinity to Modern North Africans Current Biology, 27 :3396-3402 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
De Groote I. 2016. New genetic and morphological evidence suggests a single hoaxer created ‘Piltdown man’ Royal Society Open Science, DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url
Flink LG, Allen R, Barnett R, Malmström H, Peters J, Eriksson J, Andersson L, Dobney K, Larson G. 2014. Establishing the validity of domestication genes using DNA from ancient chickens Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111 :6184-6189 DOI Author Url Publisher Url
Journal article
Irish JD, Morez A, Girdland Flink EL, Phillips E, Scott GR. 2020. Do dental nonmetric traits actually work as proxies for neutral genomic data? Some answers from continental- and global-level analyses American Journal of Physical Anthropology, DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url
Morrison J, McColl S, Louhelainen J, Sheppard K, May A, Girdland Flink EL, Watts G, Dawnay N. 2020. Assessing the performance of quantity and quality metrics using the QIAGEN Investigator® Quantiplex® Pro RGQ kit Science and Justice, 60 :388-397 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url
Frantz LAF, Haile J, Lin AT, Scheu A, Geörg C, Benecke N, Alexander M, Linderholm A, Mullin VE, Daly KG, Battista VM, Price M, Gron KJ, Alexandri P, Arbogast R-M, Arbuckle B, Bӑlӑşescu A, Barnett R, Bartosiewicz L, Baryshnikov G, Bonsall C, Borić D, Boroneanţ A, Bulatović J, Çakirlar C, Carretero J-M, Chapman J, Church M, Crooijmans R, De Cupere B, Detry C, Dimitrijevic V, Dumitraşcu V, du Plessis L, Edwards CJ, Erek CM, Erim-Özdoğan A, Ervynck A, Fulgione D, Gligor M, Götherström A, Gourichon L, Groenen MAM, Helmer D, Hongo H, Horwitz LK, Irving-Pease EK, Lebrasseur O, Lesur J, Malone C, Manaseryan N, Marciniak A, Martlew H, Mashkour M, Matthews R, Matuzeviciute GM, Maziar S, Meijaard E, McGovern T, Megens H-J, Miller R, Mohaseb AF, Orschiedt J, Orton D, Papathanasiou A, Pearson MP, Pinhasi R, Radmanović D, Ricaut F-X, Richards M, Sabin R, Sarti L, Schier W, Sheikhi S, Stephan E, Stewart JR, Stoddart S, Tagliacozzo A, Tasić N, Trantalidou K, Tresset A, Valdiosera C, van den Hurk Y, Van Poucke S, Vigne J-D, Yanevich A, Zeeb-Lanz A, Triantafyllidis A, Gilbert MTP, Schibler J, Rowley-Conwy P, Zeder M, Peters J, Cucchi T, Bradley DG, Dobney K, Burger J, Evin A, Girdland-Flink EL, Larson G. 2019. Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url
Ledger PM, Girdland-Flink L, Forbes V. 2019. New horizons at L’Anse aux Meadows Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 :15341-15343 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Sánchez-Quinto F, Malmström H, Fraser M, Girdland Flink L, Svensson EM, Simões LG, George R, Hollfelder N, Burenhult G, Noble G, Britton K, Talamo S, Curtis N, Brzobohata H, Sumberovai R, Götherström A, Storå J, Jakobsson M. 2019. Megalithic tombs in western and northern Neolithic Europe were linked to a kindred society Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 :9469-9474 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Krzewińska M, Kjellström A, Bäckström Y, Ingvarsson A, Kashuba N, Rodriguez-Varela R, Girdland Flink EL, Götherström A. 2018. Elucidating recent history by tracing genetic affinity of three 16th century miners from Sweden. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 19 :651-657 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Girdland Flink EL, Albayrak E, Lister A. 2018. Genetic insight into an extinct population of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the Near East Open Quaternary, 4 :1-9 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Rodríguez-Varela R, Günther T, Krzewińska M, Storå J, Gillingwater TH, MacCallum M, Arsuaga JL, Dobney K, Valdiosera C, Jakobsson M, Götherström A, Girdland-Flink L. 2017. Genomic Analyses of Pre-European Conquest Human Remains from the Canary Islands Reveal Close Affinity to Modern North Africans Current Biology, 27 :3396-3402 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
De Groote I. 2016. New genetic and morphological evidence suggests a single hoaxer created ‘Piltdown man’ Royal Society Open Science, DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url
Evin A, Flink LG, Bălăşescu A, Popovici D, Andreescu R, Bailey D, Mirea P, Lazăr C, Boroneanţ A, Bonsall C, Vidarsdottir US, Brehard S, Tresset A, Cucchi T, Larson G, Dobney K. 2015. Unravelling the complexity of domestication: A case study using morphometrics and ancient DNA analyses of archaeological pigs from Romania Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370 DOI Author Url Publisher Url
Evin A, Girdland Flink L, Krause-Kyora B, Makarewicz C, Hartz S, Schreiber S, von Wurmb-Schwark N, Nebel A, von Carnap-Bornheim C, Larson G, Dobney K. 2014. Exploring the complexity of domestication: a response to Rowley-Conwy and Zeder World Archaeology, 46 :825-834 DOI Publisher Url
Flink LG, Allen R, Barnett R, Malmström H, Peters J, Eriksson J, Andersson L, Dobney K, Larson G. 2014. Establishing the validity of domestication genes using DNA from ancient chickens Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111 :6184-6189 DOI Author Url Publisher Url
Thomson VA, Lebrasseur O, Austin JJ, Hunt TL, Burney DA, Denham T, Rawlence NJ, Wood JR, Gongora J, Flink LG, Linderholm A, Dobney K, Larson G, Cooper A. 2014. Using ancient DNA to study the origins and dispersal of ancestral Polynesian chickens across the Pacific PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 111 :4826-4831 DOI Author Url Publisher Url
Krause-Kyora B, Makarewicz C, Evin A, Flink LG, Dobney K, Larson G, Hartz S, Schreiber S, Von Carnap-Bornheim C, Wurmb-Schwark N, Nebel A. 2013. Use of domesticated pigs by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in northwestern Europe Nature Communications, 4 DOI Author Url Publisher Url
Dee M, Wengrow D, Shortland A, Stevenson A, Brock F, Flink LG, Ramsey CB. 2013. An absolute chronology for early Egypt using radiocarbon dating and Bayesian statistical modelling Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 469 DOI Publisher Url
Ottoni C, Girdland Flink L, Evin A, Geörg C, De Cupere B, Van Neer W, Bartosiewicz L, Linderholm A, Barnett R, Peters J, Decorte R, Waelkens M, Vanderheyden N, Ricaut F-X, Çakırlar C, Çevik Ö, Hoelzel AR, Mashkour M, Mohaseb Karimlu AF, Sheikhi Seno S, Daujat J, Brock F, Pinhasi R, Hongo H, Perez-Enciso M, Rasmussen M, Frantz L, Megens H-J, Crooijmans R, Groenen M, Arbuckle B, Benecke N, Strand Vidarsdottir U, Burger J, Cucchi T, Dobney K, Larson G. 2013. Pig Domestication and Human-Mediated Dispersal in Western Eurasia Revealed through Ancient DNA and Geometric Morphometrics Molecular Biology and Evolution, 30 :824-832 DOI Publisher Url
Other
Ledger PM, Girdland-Flink L, Forbes V. 2019. Reply to Dee and Kuitems: Our model is an expression of the uncertainties inherent in the radiocarbon data Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 :22908-22908 DOI Publisher Url
Evin A, Flink LG, Bălăşescu A, Popovici D, Andreescu R, Bailey D, Mirea P, Lazăr C, Boroneanţ A, Bonsall C, Strand Vidarsdottir U, Brehard S, Tresset A, Cucchi T, Larson G, Dobney K. 2015. Correction to ‘Unravelling the complexity of domestication: a case study using morphometrics and ancient DNA analyses of archaeological pigs from Romania’ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370 :20150018-20150018 DOI Publisher Url
Thomson VA, Lebrasseur O, Austin JJ, Hunt TL, Burney DA, Denham T, Rawlence NJ, Wood JR, Gongora J, Flink LG, Linderholm A, Dobney K, Larson G, Cooper A. 2014. Reply to Beavan, Bryant, and Storey and Matisoo-Smith: Ancestral Polynesian "D" haplotypes reflect authentic Pacific chicken lineages PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 111 :E3585-E3586 DOI Author Url Publisher Url
Chapters
Girdland Flink L. 2013. The domestic pig (Sus scrofa f. domestica Linnaeus, 1758 or Sus domesticus, Erxleben 1777). Smith C. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology :5938-5941 Springer 9781441904263
Girdland Flink L, Larson G. 2013. Archaeological, Morphological and Genetic Approaches to Pig Domestication. Origins and Spread of Domestic Animals in Southwest Asia and Europe 59 :27-35 Left Coast Press 9781611323221
Bartosiewicz L, Gillis R, Girdland Flink EL, Evin A, Chucci T, Hoelzel R, Vidarsdottir U, Dobney K, Larson G. 2013. Chalcolithic pig remains from Çamlıbel Tarlası, Central Anatolia De Cupere B, Linseele V, Hamilton-Dyer S. Archaeozoology of the Near East X. Proceedings of the Tenth International Symposium on the Archaeozoology of South-Western Asia and adjacent areas :101-120 Leuven: Peeters
Public engagement:
https://openquaternary.wordpress.com/2018/03/21/ancient-elephants-in-the-near-east/, Blog post - OpenQuaternary, Online publication, Wider public & professionals, Main author, https://openquaternary.wordpress.com/2018/03/21/ancient-elephants-in-the-near-east/. 2018
South Wirral High School, Aspire to Higher Programme, Lecture, Year 11 students, 32, Invited speaker, https://twitter.com/SouthWirral/status/925747675286441985. 2017
Victoria Gallery and Museum, Pets, Pests & People - an evening of science and wine, discovering what animals did for us., Public lecture and discussion, Public, academic, 100+, Co-organiser, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/public-lecture-pets-pests-people-tickets-38071963267#. 2017
Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, Presentation on Ancient DNA to academic as well as public audience, Lecture, Academic, student, public, 500+, Invited speaker. 2017
Conference organisation:
The 7th meeting of the ICAZ Archaeozoology, Genetics and Morphometrics Working Group (AGM), Co-organiser, https://icazagm2017.wordpress.com/. 2017
Fellowships:
Collaborative Research Fellowship, Liverpool John Moores University. 2016
Media Coverage:
In relation to our paper on the aboriginals of the Canary Islands
www.sci-news.com
www.nationalgeographic.com.es
news.cision.com