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I am an archaeologist working on the Paleolithic of the Old World. My interest center on the transition from archaic Homo sapiens to anatomically modern humans and on subsequent behavioral changes through the end of the Pleistocene. Topics of interest and research include the study of modern hunter/gatherers, ethnoarchaeology and zooarchaeology. Hunter/gatherer ethnoarchaeology offers us avenues for interpreting the behavior of our prehistoric ancestors. We need to understand the broad range of adaptive possibilities in widely varying or fluctuating environments before we can begin to try to model past subsistence and social systems. The patterning in content and configuration of modern remains may allow us to read certain signature patterns in prehistoric remains. Archaeologically, this is most clearly manifest in faunal remains, which can give direct information about subsistence.

My interests in zooarchaeology include taphonomic consideration of modifications and transformations of faunal material going into the archaeological and paleontological record, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, human hunting and butchering patterns, and human social organization as it is manifested in the treatment of faunal remains. I am currently working on material from the Magdalenian sites of Pincevent and Verberie, in northern France. These are both short-term seasonal campsite, targeting the fall reindeer migration as a source for stored food to be consumed through the winter. I am also co-directing excavations of Mousterian levels of the Grotte du Bison at Arcy-sur-Cure, a late Neanderthal occupation of a cave entrance, in collaboration with Francine David of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Research Interests

• Archaeology
• Hunter-Gatherers
• Zooarchaeology
• Ethnoarchaeology
• Old World Paleolithic
• Europe

Courses Taught

• ANTH:1201 - Introduction to Prehistory
• ANTH:1301 - Human Origins
• ANTH:2205 - Method and Theory in Archaeology
• ANTH:2290 - Laboratory Methods in Archaeology
• ANTH:3107 - Literature and Anthropology: Images of the Other – Views of our Ancestors
• ANTH:3207 - Animal Bones in Archaeology
• ANTH:3275 - Advanced Field Research in Archaeology
• ANTH:5201 - Seminar: Archaeological Method and Theory
• ANTH:6205 - Seminar: Hunter/Gatherer Ethnoarchaeology
• ANTH:6230 - Seminar: Zooarchaeology
• ANTH:6505 - Seminar: Paleoanthropology

Affiliations and Links

• Archaeological Field School