[1][2] Tarlow's research focuses on the historical archaeology of Great Britain and Northern Europe.
She has published several books, journals and edited anthologies on the archaeology of death and burial, including the Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial (Oxford Handbooks).
[2] From 2011 to 2016, Tarlow directed the large-scale research project, Harnessing the Power of the Criminal Corpse, funded by the Wellcome Trust.
The project's overall goal was an examination and discussion of the "changing ideas of self and person as they relate to the body".
[2][3] Tarlow is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the archaeology journal Antiquity.