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CHES Faculty & Full Members

CHES Faculty & Full Members

  • Robert Scott
  • Robert Scott
  • Associate Professor, Anthropology
  • Focus Area: Paleoanthropology
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  • External Link: Visit Website
  • ACADEMIC BIOGRAPHY:

    Rob Scott received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004. His research is united by an interest in environmental influences on hominid evolution. Previous work includes a strong quantitative and analytic program in evolutionary morphology and paleoanthropology including museum studies of fossil species, a record of fieldwork as part of international collaborations in Turkey, Hungary, and China, finite element modeling of the human tibia, and extensive work reconstructing ancient environments relevant to the evolution of the human lineage. Scott is the co-developer of a new repeatable method for quantifying primate and hominid dental microwear in three dimensions. This method has provided new insights into the diet of South African early hominins suggesting the importance of fallback food exploitation and was published in the journal Nature in 2005. Scott has a strong focus on late Miocene hominid paleoenvironments in Western Eurasia and is a leading expert in the application of the ecomorphology of fossil bovids and equids in the reconstruction of ancient environments.
  • RESEARCH INTERESTS:

    My research program involves questions about the influence of diet and dietary change in human evolution. These questions can be divided into three intersecting areas: 1) the influence of habitat and ecology on diet and selection pressures in human evolution, 2) dietary reconstructions in human evolution, and 3) adaptation related to diet. These areas are all fundamental to the discipline of anthropology – exploring both the characteristics of our own species and our close fossil relatives as well as issues of human variation. The central theme of my research (past and future) then is the evolution of hominid diet, which I consider the second most important topic in human evolution (sex is arguably more important).

 

  • Susan Cachel
  • Susan Cachel
  • Professor, Anthropology
  • Focus Area: Paleoanthropology
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  • CURRENT PROJECTS:

    I was recently elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for "incisive contributions to hominization theory, the role of nutritional fat in human occupation of high latitudes, and primate evolution." I was the Advisor on Human Evolution, Editorial Board, The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, 2nd ed., 2012. I am currently investigating problems of niche structure and competition in fossil primates with my advisee, Rene Studer-Halbach, who has an internship studying stable isotopes in the enamel of fossil teeth at the Research Laboratory of Archaeology and Art History, Oxford University.

     
  • RESEARCH INTERESTS:

    2015. Fossil Primates. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    2006. Primate and Human Evolution. Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology. 488 pp. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

    Other Publications
    In press a. "Evolutionary processes and interpretation of the archaeological record," In: Apocalypse Then and Now, D. Fernandez et al., eds. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.

    In press b. "Natural history intelligence and hominid tool behavior," In: Tools-of-the-Trade: Methods, Techniques and Innovative Approaches in Archaeology, J. Wilkins & K. Anderson, eds., pp. 13-29. Calgary: University of Calgary Press: http://creativecommons.org/licenmses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

    2016.  "Burial law impedes scientific discovery" Science 352:1526

    2013a. "The paleobiology of Homo erectus: Implications for understanding the adaptive zone of this species." In Companion to Human Evolution, S. McBrearty, ed. San Diego, CA: Cognella, Inc. (S. Cachel & J.W.K. Harris).

    2013b. Review of Early Miocene Paleobiology in Patagonia. High-Latitude Paleocommunities of the Santa Cruz Formation. S.F. Vizcaíno, R.F. Kay, and M.S. Bargo, eds. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. PaleoAnthropology 2013. www.paleoanthro.org/journal

    2012a. "Human Evolution, Theories of: The Origins of Human Behavior," in The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, 2nd edition, N.A. Silberman, Editor-in Chief, vol. 2, pp. 34-36. New York: Oxford University Press.

    2012b. "Humans, Modern: Peopling of the Globe," in The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, 2nd edition, N.A. Silberman, Editor-in-Chief, vol. 2, pp. 47-51. New York: Oxford University Press.

    2012c. Human tool behavior is species-specific and remains unique. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 35(4):20 doi: 10.1017/50140525X11001981.

    2011. Anthropology: It can be interdisciplinary. Reply to Kuper and Marks commentary: Anthropologists unite! Nature 471:448 (with 29 co-authors). DOI: 10.1038/471448b

    2009a. "Using sexual dimorphism and development to reconstruct mating systems in ancient primates," In: Primatology: Theories, Methods and Research, E. Potocki and J. Krasiński, eds., pp. 75-93. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

    2009b. Arboreal origins of hominid bipedalism. Abstracts of the 9th North American Paleontological Convention, p. 105 (abstract). Cincinnati Museum Center. Scientific Contributions no. 3.

    2009c. "Natural history intelligence and hominid tool behavior," In: Tools-of-the-Trade: Methods, Techniques and Innovative Approaches in Archaeology, J. Wilkins & K. Anderson, eds., pp. 13-29. Calgary: University of Calgary Press

    2008. Does hominid bipedalism arise from arboreal locomotion on flexible branches? American Journal of Physical Anthropology S46:75. (abstract). (S. Cachel & M. Crisfield)

    2007. Novelty transmittal and innovative species. Solicited commentary on "Animal innovation defined and operationalized." Behavior and Brain Sciences 30(5):407-408. DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X07002385.

    2006a. Use of modern Arctic peoples in modeling past behaviors. American Journal of Physical Anthropology Supplement 42:72 (abstract).

    2006b. "The behavioural ecology of early Pleistocene hominids in the Koobi Fora region, East Turkana Basin, northern Kenya," In: Space and Spatial Analysis in Archaeology, E.C. Robertson, J.D. Seibert, D.C. Fernandez, & M.U. Zender, eds., pp. 49-59. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. (S. Cachel & J.W.K. Harris)

    2006c. Review of Debating Humankind’s Place in Nature, 1860-2000: The Nature of Paleoanthropology. R.G. Delisle, Pearson Prentice Hall (2006). American Journal of Human Biology 18:867-869.

    2005a. Review of The Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest. Behavioural Ecology and Evolution, C. Boesch and H. Boesch-Achermann. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. PaleoAnthropology (August 2005):21-25. 2005b. Inter-matrilineal feeding competition in Taiwanese macaques (Macaca cyclopis) at Fushan, Taiwan. American Journal of Primatology 66(supplement 1):113-114. (H.-H. Su, L. Lee, & S. Cachel).

    2005c. Review of Evolution, 3rd ed., M. Ridley. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, Ltd., 2004. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 128:493-494 [Online DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20144].

    2004a. The paleobiology of Homo erectus and early hominid dispersal. [solicited article] Special issue on Homo erectus in Athena Review vol. 4(1):23-31.

    2004b. Review of From Biped to Strider: The Emergence of Modern Human Walking, Running, and Resource Transport, D.J. Meldrum and C.E. Hilton, eds., New York: Kluwer Academic, 2004. PaleoAnthropology (July 2004):6-9. www.paleoanthro.org/journal.

    2004c. Early Pleistocene behavioral adaptations in the Koobi Fora region, East of Lake Turkana, northern Kenya. In: Acts of the XIth Congress of the Panafrican Association for Prehistory and Related Fields, K. Sangogo, T. Togola, D. Keïta, and M. N’Daou, eds., pp. 20-35. Bamako, Mali. (M.J. Rogers, J.W.K. Harris, S.M. Cachel, S. Merritt, B.L. Pobiner, & D.R. Braun)

    2003. "Hominidae II. Humans." [commissioned article] In: Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., vol. 14 (Mammals III):241-253.

    Papers Delivered
    "Changing hominid foraging strategies in the Plio-Pleistocene: Implications for understanding human brain evolution in the Lake Turkana Basin," Paper presented at the symposium "The Human Brain Evolving: Papers in Honor of Ralph L. Holloway," Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, Paper presented at the symposium "The Human Brain Evolving: Papers in Honor of Ralph L. Holloway," Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, April 28, 2007 (J.W.K. Harris, S. Cachel, J. McCoy, M. Kibunjia, E. Mbua, D. Olago, D. Braun, & M. Bamford).

    "The first emergence 'Out of Africa': Niche structure of the earliest hominids to colonize Eurasia," INQUA workshop on Understanding Palaeoenvironments during the first "Out of Africa", Nairobi, Kenya, July 24-27, 2006 (S. Cachel & J.W.K. Harris).

    "Use of modern Arctic peoples in modeling past behaviors," invited paper at the symposium "From the Arctic to Arizona," Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Anchorage, Alaska, March 9, 2006. "Natural history intelligence and hominid tool behavior," invited paper at the symposium "The Origins of Technology," University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, November 10, 2005.

    "Inter-matrilineal feeding competition in Taiwanese macaques (Macaca cyclopis) at Fushan, Taiwan," annual meeting of the American Society of Primatologists, Portland, Oregon, August, 19, 2005. (H.-H. Su, L.-L. Lee, & S. Cachel)

    "Behavioral ecology of early Pleistocene hominids in the Koobi Fora region, East Turkana Basin, Kenya," in the symposium "Hominin Evolution Across Environmental Change," 32nd International Geological Congress, Florence, Italy, August 21, 2004 (S. Cachel & J.W.K. Harris)

    "The acquisition of dominance rank in female Taiwanese macaques (Macaca cyclopis) at Fushan Experimental Forest, Taiwan." Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Tempe, AZ, April 24, 2003. [poster] (Hsiu-Hui Su & S. Cachel).
  • Craig Feibel
  • Craig Feibel
  • Professor, Earth & Planetary Sciences and Anthropology
  • Focus Area: Archaeology, Paleoanthropology
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  • CURRENT PROJECTS:

    Beginning in 2013 I will be leading a coring effort in West Turkana as part of the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP). This endeavor will recover some 350 meters of lacustrine sediments spanning the interval 2.3 - 1.4 Ma, and is intended to provide a high-resolution multi-proxy environmental dataset that can be directly linked to contiguous outcrops which have yielded important evidence for early human evolution and cultural development. My other active projects at the moment include studies of Pleistocene paleoenvironments along the Levantine Corridor in Israel, stratigraphy of Miocene lake deposits in Hungary and Croatia, and geology at the Hadar hominid site in Ethiopia.

    SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
    Feibel, C. S. 2013. Facies analysis and Plio-Pleistocene paleoecology. In: Sponheimer, M. Lee-Thorp, J. Reed, K. Ungar, P. (eds.) Early Hominin Paleoecology. University of Colorado Press. Boulder.

    Leakey, M. G., Spoor, F., Dean, M. C., Feibel, C. S., Antón, S. C., Kiarie, C. and Leakey, L. N. 2012. New fossils from Koobi Fora in northern Kenya confirm taxonomic diversity in early Homo. Nature 488: 201-204. doi: 10.1038/nature11322

    Feibel, C. S. 2011. A Geological History of the Turkana Basin. Evolutionary Anthropology 20(6): 206-216.

    Lepre, C. J., Roche, H., Kent, D. V., Harmand, S., Quinn, R. L., Brugal, J. -P., Lenoble, A., Texier, P. -J. and Feibel, C. S. 2011. An earlier origin for the Acheulean. Nature 477: 82-85.

    Feibel, C. S. 2011. Shades of the savannah. Nature 476: 39-40. doi: 10.1038/476039a

    Indriati, E., Swisher, C.C., Lepre, C., Quinn, R.L., Suriyanto, R.A., Hascaryo, A.T., Feibel, C.S., Pobiner, B.L. and Antón, S.C. 2011. Reassessing the age of the 20 meter Solo River Terrace, Central Java, Indonesia, and the survival of Late Homo erectus in Asia. PLoS One 6(6): e21562: 1-10. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021562

    Joordens, J. C.J., Vonhof , H. B., Feibel, C. S., Lourens, L. J., Dupont-Nivet, G., van der Lubbe, J. H. J. L., Sier, M. J., Davies, G. R. and Kroon, D. 2011. An astronomically-tuned climate framework for hominins in the Turkana Basin. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 307: 1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.05.005
  • RESEARCH INTERESTS:

    My research focuses on the investigation of the geological context for evolution in terrestrial ecosystems, particularly those related to hominin evolution and the later Cenozoic. My primary research area is the Turkana Basin of Kenya, where I've worked for over thirty years in association with the National Museums of Kenya and the Turkana Basin Institute. My work there involves stratigraphy, sedimentology and paleontology, to establish a geologic framework and an environmental backdrop to the evolutionary and archaeological record for which that region is so famous.
  • Ryne Palombit
  • Ryne Palombit
  • Professor, Anthropology
  • Focus Area: Primate Behavior and Ecology
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  • CURRENT PROJECTS:

    Prof. Ryne Palombit has published with his collaborators this year Evolution of Primate Societies (University of Chicago Press). Many years in the making, the new book complies 32 chapters by 44 leading authorities in the field. They provide an up‑to‑date synthesis of the current state of understanding of primate behavioral ecology, organized around four major adaptive problems primates face as they grow up in a difficult and dangerous world, find mates and rear offspring, negotiate complex social worlds, and employ cognitive strategies for coping with life's challenges. Chapters on human behavior at the end of each section is one novel aspect of the book that reminds us what we can learn about ourselves through cutting edge research on nonhuman primates.

    Project PAPIO: Comparative Study of Infanticide and Anti-Infanticide Strategies in Baboons
    Dr. Palombit is currently conducting a long-term comparative study of chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) in Botswana and olive baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis) in central Kenya.  The aim is to understand the evolution of male infanticide and female counter-strategies to infanticide. Of particular interest are the affiliative bonds between males and lactating females, known as "friendships."  His data suggest that this social relationship functions as a deterrent to sexually selected infanticide in chacma baboons, which accounts for at least 37% of infant mortality.  In East African olive baboons, however, male infanticide occurs rarely, and yet heterosexual friendships develop just as reliably.  This difference is just one of numerous social features distinguishing chacma baboons from their East African cousins (e.g., lack of male-male coalitions, apparently greater sexual monopolization of estrus females by high-ranking males, enhanced territoriality).  I am studying variation within and between both populations of baboons, collecting genetic, experimental, and observational data that will clarify the causal and functional bases of sexually selected infanticide and heterosexual bonds in a multi-male social setting.

    Collaborators in this project include Dr. Dorothy Cheney (Biology, University of Pennsylvania) and Dr. Robert Seyfarth (Psychology, University of Pennsylvania) for the Botswama component, and Dr. Clifford Jolly (Anthropology, New York University), Dr. Anthrony di Fiore (NYU) and Joseph Lorenz (Central Washington University) who are conducting genetic analyses. Dr. Palombit's research is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies, and Rutgers University.  The research is sponsored by the National Museums of Kenya and the Institute of Primate Research.

    SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
    Palombit, R.A. in press. Infanticide. In: Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality (P. Whelehan & A. Bolin, eds.), Wiley-Blackwell, New York.

    Danish, L.M. & Palombit, R.A. in press. "Following:" An alternative mating strategy used by male olive baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis): Quantitative behavioral and functional description. International Journal of Primatology.

    Danish, L.M. & Palombit, R.A. in press. Male olive baboon (Papio hamadryas anubis) "followers" incur time, but not energetic costs. Behaviorial Ecology & Sociobiology.

    Palombit, R.A.  in press. Olive baboon (Papio anubis).  In: All the World's Primates (N. Rowe, ed).  Charlestown, Rhode Island.  Pogonias Press.

    Mitani, J.C., Call, J., Kappeler, P.M., Palombit, R.A., and Silk, J.B., editors. 2012. Evolution of Primate Societies. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

    Palombit, R.A.  2010.  Conflict and bonding between the sexes in primates.  In: Mind the Gap: Tracing the Origin of Human Universals (P.M. Kappeler & J.B. Silk, editors), pp. 53-84.  Berlin, Springer.

    Palombit, R.A.  2009.  Friendships with males: A female counterstrategy to infanticide in the Okavango chacma baboons.  In: Sexual Coercion in Primates and Humans: An Evolutionary Perspective on Male Aggression Against Females, (M.N. Muller & R.W. Wrangham, eds.), pp. 377-409.  Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

    Palombit, R.A.  2013.  Papio anubis, Olive baboon (Anubis Baboon).  In: Mammals of Africa vol. II Primates, (T.M. Butynski, J. Kingdon & J. Kalina, eds.), pp. 233-239.  Bloomsbury, London.

    Lemasson, A., Palombit, R.A. & Jubin, R.  2008.  Friendships between males and lactating females in wild olive baboons: Observations and call playback experiments.  Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 67:1027-1035.  [pdf, 220KB]

    Palombit, R.A.  2008.  Primates.  International Encylopedia of the Social Sciences, 2nd edition, (W.A. Darity, ed), vol. 6, pp. 459-462.   Macmillan / Thomas Gale.

    Lemasson, A., Palombit, R.A. & Jubin, R.  2007.  Is friendship between adult males and lactating females a counter-strategy to infanticide?  Observations and playback experiments in Kenyan olive baboons.  Folia Primatologica, 78:202.

    Cheney, D.L., Seyfarth, R.M., Fischer, J., Beehner, J., Bergman, T., Johnson, S.E., Kitchen, D.M., Palombit, R.A., Rendall, D. & Silk, J.B.  2006.  Reproduction, mortality, and female reproductive success in chacma baboons of the Okavango Delta, Botswana.  In: Reproduction and Fitness in Baboons: Behavioral, Ecological, and Life History Perspectives, (L. Swedell & S.R. Leight, eds.), pp. 147-176.  Springer, New York.

    Cheney, D.L., Seyfarth, R.M.,  Fischer, J., Beehner, J., Bergman, Johnson, S.E., Kitchen, D., Palombit, R.A., Rendall, D., and Silk, J.B. 2004.  Factors affecting reproduction and mortality among baboons in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.  International Journal of Primatology, 25:401-428. [pdf] [216 KB]

    Palombit, R.A. 2003. Male infanticide in savanna baboons: Adaptive significance and intraspecific variation. In: Sexual Selection and Reproductive Competition in Primates: New Perspectives and Directions (C.B. Jones, ed.), pp.  367-412. American Society of Primatologists. [pdf, 884KB]

    Palombit, R.A. 2003. ‘Friendship’ behavior as a reproductive strategy in savanna baboons: Intraspecific variation.  American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 36:163-164.

    Palombit, R.A. 2001.  Why primates kill their young: Incidences of infanticide in monkey and ape species.  In: The Encyclopedia of Mammals, 2nd edition (D.W. MacDonald, editor), pp. 392-393.  Oxford University Press.  London.

    Palombit, R.A., Cheney, D.L., and Seyfarth, R.M.  2001. Female-female competition for male "friends" in wild chacma baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus).  Animal Behaviour, 61:1159-1171.  [pdf, 196 KB]

    Palombit, R.A.  2000.  Infanticide and the evolution of male-female bonds in animals. In: Infanticide by Males and Its Implications (C.P. van Schaik and C.R. Janson, eds.), pp. 239-268.  Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. [pdf, 292 KB]

    Palombit, R.A., Cheney, D.L., Fischer, J., Johnson, S., Rendall, D., Seyfarth, R.M, and Silk, J.B.  2000.  Male infanticide and infant defense in chacma baboons. In: Infanticide by Males and Its Implications (C.P. van Schaik and C.R. Janson, eds.), pp. 123-152.  Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. [pdf, 308 KB]

    Cohen, M., Parr, L., & Palombit, R.A.  2000.  Cracking the code: The contextual use of facial expressions by group-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and human children (Homo sapiens).  American Journal of Primatology, 51(S1):52.

    Palombit, R.A.  1999.  Infanticide and the evolution of pair bonds in nonhuman primates.  Evolutionary Anthropology, 7:117-129. [pdf, 128 KB]

    Palombit, R.A., Seyfarth, R.M., and Cheney, D.L.  1999.  Male grunts as mediators of interaction with females in wild chacma baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus).  Behaviour, 136:221-242. [pdf] [1.7 MB]

    Wich, S.A., Steenbeek, R., Sterck, E.H.M., Palombit, R.A., and Usman, S. 1999.  Tree mortality and recruitment in an Indonesian rain forest.  Tropical Biodiversity, 6:189-195.

    Palombit, R.A., Seyfarth, R.M., & D.L. Cheney.  1997.  The adaptive value of "friendships" to female baboons: Experimental and observational evidence.  Animal Behaviour, 54:599-614. [pdf] [195 KB]

    Palombit, R.A.  1997.  Inter- and intra-specific variation in the diets of sympatric siamang (Hylobates syndactylus) and white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar).  Folia Primatologica, 68:321-337. [pdf] [1.1 MB]

    Palombit, R.A.  1997.  Of neglect and negligence: Conservation, science, and the fate of the red ape.  American Journal of Primatology, 42:61-65. [pdf] [40 KB]

    Palombit, R.A.  1996.  Pair bonds in monogamous apes: A comparison of the siamang (Hylobates syndactylus) and the white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar). Behaviour, 133:321-356. [pdf] [2.3 MB]

    Palombit, R.A.  1996.  The Siamang and White-Handed Gibbon. In: Leuser: A Sumatran Sanctuary (C. P. van Schaik and J. Supriatna, eds.), pp. 269-280.  Yayasan Bina Sains Hayati Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia.

    Cheney, D.L., R.M. Seyfarth, & R.A. Palombit.  1996.  The function and underlying mechanisms of baboon 'contact' barks. Animal Behaviour, 52:507-518. [pdf] [262 KB]

    Palombit, R.A.  1995.  Longitudinal patterns of reproduction in wild female siamang (Hylobates syndactylus) and white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar).  International Journal of Primatology, 16:739-760.

    Palombit, R.A.  1994.  Dynamic pair bonds in hylobatids: Implications regarding monogamous social systems. Behaviour, 128:65-101.  [pdf] [2.4 MB]

    Palombit, R.A.  1994.  Extra-pair copulations in a monogamous ape. Animal Behaviour, 47:721-723. [pdf] [135 KB]

    Palombit, R.A.  1993.  Lethal territorial aggression in a monogamous primate. American Journal of Primatology, 31:311-318.

    Grether, G.F., R.A. Palombit, and P.S. Rodman.  1992.  Gibbon foraging decisions and the marginal value model. International Journal of Primatology, 13:1-18.

    Palombit, R.A.  1992.  A preliminary study of vocal communication in wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). I. Vocal repertoire and call emission. International Journal of Primatology, 13:143-182. [pdf] [3.6 MB]

    Palombit, R.A.  1992.  A preliminary study of vocal communication in wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). II. Potential of calls to regulate intragroup spacing. International Journal of Primatology, 13:183-207.  [pdf] [2.2 MB]

     
  • RESEARCH INTERESTS:

    Ryne Palombit's research focuses on the extraordinary diversity of social and mating strategies in animals (both human and nonhuman), and how those strategies have evolved.  His current interests focus on a feature of primate biology that largely differentiates these animals from most other mammals: cohesive social bonds between adult males and females persisting beyond estrus.  He uses the comparative approach and field experiments to understand the behavioral and ecological bases of variation in male-female social relationships.  He has studied monogamous pair bonds in wild white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) and siamang (H.syndactylus) in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, and conducted short-term research on titi monkeys (Callicebus moloch) and red-bearded saki monkeys (Pithecia aequatorialis) in the upper Amazon of Ecuador.   Currently, he directs "Project Papio, a study "friendships" in chacma baboons in Okavango Delta, Botswana and in olive baboons at his field site in Laikipia, Kenya.
  • Dan Cabanes
  • Dan Cabanes
  • Assistant Professor, Anthropology
  • Focus Area: Archaeology, Paleoanthropology
  • ACADEMIC BIOGRAPHY:

    University Rovira and Virgili (Tarragona), History degree, 2000 
    University Rovira and Virgili (Tarragona), History, MA, 2002 
    University Rovira and Virgili (Tarragona), Doctoral Thesis. 2009 Advisors: R.M. Albert and E. Carbonell. Title: The study of formation processes of archaeological sediments and paleosoils through the analysis of phytoilths, minerals and other microremains
  • CURRENT PROJECTS:


    Academic Appointments

    2015 – 2016: Plant Foods in Hominin Dietary Ecology Research Group, Department of Human Evolution. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany). Post-doctoral researcher.

    2012 – 2015: Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, Universitat de Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain). Juan de la Cierva Post-doctoral contract (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spanish government). 

    2010–2012: Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science (Rehovot, Israel). Beatriu de Pinós Post-doctoral fellowship (Agaur, Catalonian government).

    2009–2010: Institute of Archaeology, Tel-Aviv University (Tel-Aviv, Israel). Post-doctoral fellowship FP-7 CORDIS European Research Council. 

    2006–2009: Prehistory Department, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain). Atapuerca Fundation pre-doctoral fellowship. 

    2001–2005: Prehistory Department, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain). Pre-doctoral fellowship Ministry of Science and Education (Spanish government).



    Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals

    Esteban, I., De Vynck, J.C., Singels, E., Vlok, J., Marean, C.W., Cowling, R.M., Fisher, E.C., Cabanes, D., Albert, R.M. In press.  Modern soil phytolith assemblages used as proxies for Paleoscape reconstruction on the south coast of South Africa. Quaternary International.

    Vergès, J.M., Burguet-Coca, A., Allué, E., Expósito, I., Guardiola, M., Martín, P., Morales, J.I., Burjachs, F., Cabanes, D., Carrancho, Á., Vallverdú, J. In press. The Mas del Pepet experimental programme for the study of prehistoric livestock practices: Preliminary data from dung burning. Quaternary International. 

    Sanz, M., Daura, J., Égüez, N., Cabanes, D. In press. On the track of anthropogenic activity in carnivore dens: Altered combustion structures in Cova del Gegant (NE Iberian Peninsula). Quaternary International.

    Rodríguez, A., Cabanes, D. In press. Phytolith and FTIR studies applied to combustion structures: the case of the Middle Paleolithic site of El Salt (Alcoy, Alicante). Quaternary International.

    Asscher, Y., Cabanes, D., Hitchcok, L., Maeir, A.M., Weiner, S., Boaretto, E. 2015. Radiocarbon Dating Shows an Early Appearance of Philistine Material Culture in Tell es-Safi/Gath, Philistia. Radiocarbon, 57 (5), pp 825-850. 

    Balbo, A.L., Cabanes, D., García-Granero, J.J., Bonet, A., Ajithprasad, P., Terradas, X. 2015.  A microarchaeological approach for the study of pits. Environmental Archaeology, 20 (4), pp. 390-405. 

    Regev, L., Cabanes, D., Homsher, R., Kleiman, A., Weiner, S., Finkelstein, I., Shahack-Gross, R. In press. Geoarchaeological Investigations in a Domestic Iron Age Quarter, Tel Megiddo, Israel. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. BASOR 374, pp. 1–24. 

    Stutz, A.J., Shea, J.J., Rech, J.A., Pigate, J.S., Wilson, J., Belmaker, M., Albert, R.M., Aprin, T., Cabanes, D., Clark, J.L., Hartman, G., Hourani, F., White, C.E., Nilsson Stuttz, L. 2015. Early Upper Paleolihtic chronology in the Levant: New ABOx-SC accelerator mass spectrometry results from the Mughr el Hamamah Site, Jordan. Journal of Human Evolution, 85, pp. 157-173.

    Cabanes, D.; Shahack-Gross R. 2015. Understanding Fossil Phytolith Preservation: The Role of Partial Dissolution in Paleoecology and Archaeology. PLoS ONE 10(5): e0125532. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0125532.

    Ackermann, O., Greenbaum, N., Ayalon, A., Bar-Matthews, M., Boaretto, E., Bruins, H.J., Cabanes, D., Howkitz, L.K., Neumann, F.H., Porat, N., Weiss, E., Maeir, A.M. 2014 Using palaeo-environmental proxies to reconstruct natural and anthropogenic controls on sedimentation rates, Tell es-Safi/Gath, eastern Mediterranean. Anthropocene, 8, pp. 70-82. 

    Shahack-Gross, R., Boaretto, E., Cabanes, D., Katz, O, Finkelstein, I. 2014. Subsistence Economy in the Negev Highlands: The Iron Age and the Byzantine/Early Islamic Period. Levant, 46, 1, pp. 98-117.

    Mallol, C., Hernández, C., Cabanes, D., Machado, J., Sistiaga, A., Pérez, L., Galván, B., 2013. Human Actions Performed on Simple Combustion Structures: An Experimental Approach to the Study of Middle Paleolithic Fire. Quaternary International, 315, pp. 3-15.

    Mallol, C., Hernández, C.M., Cabanes, D., Sistiaga, A., Machado, J., Rodríguez, A., Pérez, L. Galván, B., 2013. The black layer of Middle Palaeolithic combustion structures, interpretation and archaeostratigraphic interpretations. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40, pp. 2515-2537. 

    Albert, R.M., Cau, M.Á., Cabanes, D., 2012. Editorial: The international workshop on site formation and post-depositional processes in archaeology (Barcelona, 2-4 June 2010). Quaternary International, 275, 1-3. 

    Cabanes, D., Gadot, Y., Cabanes, M., Finkelstein, I., Weiner, S., Shahack-Gross, R., 2012. Human impact around settlement sites: a phytolith and mineralogical study for assessing site boundaries, phytolith preservation, and implications for spatial reconstructions using plant remains. Journal of Archaeological Science, 39, 2607-2705. 

    Cabanes, D., Weiner, S., Shahack-Gross, R., 2011. Stability of phytoliths in the archaeological record: a dissolution study of modern and fossil phytoliths. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38, 2480-2490. 

    Namdar, D., Zukerman, A., Maeir, A.M., Katz, J.C., Cabanes, D., Trueman, C., Shahack-Gross, R., Weiner, S., 2011. The 9th century BCE destruction layer at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel: integrating macro- and microarchaeology. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38, 3471-3482.

    Cabanes, D., Albert, R.M., 2011. Microarchaeology of a collective burial: cova des Pas (Minorca). Journal of Archaeological Science, 38, 1119-1126. 

    Katz, O., Cabanes, D., Weiner, S., Maeir, A.M., Boaretto, E., Shahack-Gross, R., 2010. Rapid phytolith extraction for analysis of phytolith concentrations and assemblages during an excavation: an application at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science, 37, 1557-1563. 

    Cabanes, D., Mallol, C., Expósito, I., Baena, J., 2010. Phytolith evidence for hearths and beds in the late Mousterian occupations of Esquilleu cave (Cantabria, Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science, 37, 2947-2957. 

    Mallol, C., Cabanes, D., Baena, J., 2010. Microstratigraphy and diagenesis at the upper Pleistocene site of Esquilleu Cave (Cantabria, Spain). Quaternary International, 214, 70-81.

    Albert, R.M., Cabanes, D., 2009. Fire in prehistory: An experimental approach to combustion processes and phytolith remains. Israel Journal of Earth Sciences, 56, 175-189.

    Cabanes, D., Burjachs, F., Expósito, I., Rodríguez, A., Allué, E., Euba, I., Vergés, J.M., 2009. Formation processes through archaeobotanical remains: The case of the Bronze Age levels in El Mirador cave, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain.Quaternary International, 193, 160-173.

    Albert, R.M., Bamford, M.K., Cabanes, D., 2009. Palaeoecological significance of palms at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, based on phytolith remains. Quaternary International, 193, 41-48.

    Albert, R.M., Shahack-Gross, R., Cabanes, D., Gilboa, A., Portillo, M., Sharon, I., Boaretto, E., Weiner, S., 2008. Phytolith-rich layers from the Late Bronze and Iron Ages at Tel Dor (Israel): Mode of formation and archaeological significance. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35, 57-75. 

    Bamford, M.K., Albert, R.M., Cabanes, D., 2006. Plio-Pleistocene macroplant fossil remains and phytoliths from Lowermost Bed II in the eastern paleolake margin of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Quaternary International, 148, 95-112.

    Albert, R.M., Bamford, M.K., Cabanes, D., 2006. Taphonomy of phytoliths and macroplants in different soils from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) and the application to Plio-Pleistocene palaeoanthropological samples. Quaternary International, 148, 78-94.


    Edited Journal Special Issues

    Rosa Maria Albert, Miguel Ángel Cau and Dan Cabanes (Eds.) 2012. Site Formation and Postdepositional Processes in Archaeology (International Workshop, Barcelona, 2–4 June 2010). Quaternary International, 275, pp. 1-136.


    Book Chapters

    Allué, E., Cabanes, D., Solé, A., Sala, R. 2012. Hearth Functioning and Forest Resource Exploitation Based on the Archeobotanical Assemblage from Level J in: Carbonell E., (Ed.), High Resolution Archaeology and Neanderthal Behavior. Time and Space in level J of Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain). Springer Netherlands, Dordretch, pp. 373-385. 

    Cabanes, D., Allué, E., Vallverdú, J., Cáceres, I., Vaquero, M., Pastó, I., 2007. Hearth structure and function at level J (50kyr, bp) from Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain): phytolith, charcaoal, bones and stone-tools in: Madella, M., Zurro, D. (Eds.), Plant People and Places - Recent Studies in Phytolith Analysis  Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 98-106.


     

     
  • RESEARCH INTERESTS:

    Microarchaeology, Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition, Phytoliths, FTIR, Mineralogy, Fire Technology, Levantine Urban Centers, Paleodemography, Site Formation Processes, Human Evolution

    Cabanesinfieldscaled100As a microarchaeologist specialized in phytolith and FTIR analysis my capabilities lie halfway between Archaeobotany and Geoarcheology. My main research interest is the evolution of the anthropogenic impact in archaeological sediments as a proxy for biological, social, and economic changes. In other words, I try to understand how human activities had modified the microscopic sedimentary record, and what can this microscopic record tell us about site formation processes, human behavior, and adaptation strategies in the past. To investigate these questions, I focus on the minerals and micro-botanical remains preserved in the archaeological record. So far I studied three critical periods in human history: the emergence of the genus Homo in Africa, the transition from the Middle to Upper Paleolithic in Europe, and the evolution of the urban centers in the Levant. I also have lead ground-breaking research on phytolith preservation and collaborated in the development of a fast method for phytolith analyses.
  1. Ramenzoni, Victoria
  2. Bergey, Christina
  3. Cronk, Lee

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