Educational Background

I have attended three universities during my education and training in archaeology and anthropology.  My academic career began at SMSU, Springfield, MO., where I attended excavations in the Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina, with Dr. Burton Purrington.  After joining the Transarabia Expedition in Oman with Dr. Juris Zarins, I decided to pursue Old World archaeology, which brought me to the University of Tulsa under the tutelage of Dr. Donald Henry.  I began excavating at projects in the Levant during the two years it took to get an M.A. degree.  My final years as a graduate student were spent at Southern Methodist University under the guidance of Anthony Marks.  My research and fieldwork during this period extended to Portugal and Crimea, while maintaining ties to Levantine projects.  I have specialized in lithic analysis and Levantine Late Paleolithic/ Early Neolithic prehistory.  My dissertation addressed inter-assemblage variability within Paleolithic sites in Israel and Jordan.  For more detailed information about my education and research, please see my curriculum vitae.

Research Interests

I'm currently organizing a new project for excavations at Barmaki, an Epigravettian site in the Northern Ukraine.  Dr. Dmitrii Nuzhnyi and I are currently working on several publications involving Barmaki and related assemblages, and grant proposals have been submitted for excavations. 

Barmaki has been cursorily excavated by Dr. Nuzhnyi over the past few years, and it bears a striking resemblance in material culture to site of Mezin some 500 km to the east, which is most famous for its mammoth bone dwellings.  One dwelling without bones has been partially revealed at Barmaki, and our research will further expose this feature to determine the presence or absence of mammoth bone architecture, and test models of mobility and settlement patterns within the Epigravettian of this area.

Epigravettian lithics from Barmaki

I'm also continuing the research outlined in my dissertation, Examining the Boundaries of the Levantine Aurignacian (SMU, 2003).  This involves using data from 22 analyzed lithic assemblages in the Levantine Upper Paleolithic to address classificatory issues, time-sensitive technological change, and human responses to various levels of stress related to climate, resource distribution, and demography.

Nosed scraper from Aurignacian levels at Ksar Akil, Lebanon.

Also, I have been involved with ongoing excavations at Kfar HaHoresh, a Neolithic site in Israel, directed by Nigel Goring-Morris of the Hebrew University, Israel.  I have been the site architect here since 1999, drawing the site plans, profiles, and maintaining the grid system.  Kfar HaHoresh is a fascinating site of the PPNB period (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B), and the excavations have revealed that it served as a funerary/cult center for surrounding communities.

Stone structures and plaster surfaces at Kfar HaHoresh, 2000.

Courses Taught

Anthropology 2363 - Introductory Archaeology

Anthropology 2346 - Introduction to Cultural Diversity

Anthropology 2302 - Peoples of the Earth (World Prehistory)

Anthropology 3356 - Before Civilization (Old World Prehistory)

BHSC 6316 - Near Eastern Archaeology (Graduate Level Course)

Research Projects

1999 to present - Site Architect, Kfar HaHoresh, Israel; Director: Dr. Nigel Goring-Morris

2000 to present - Lab work involving artifact distribution and intrasite settlement organization at Galeria Pesada, Portugal; Director: Dr. Anthony Marks

1999 to 2002 - Archaeologist, Galeria Pesada, Portugal; Director: Dr. Anthony Marks

2000 - Archaeologist at Chukurcha Cave and supervisor of Little Salghir River Valley, Crimea, Ukraine; Director: Dr. Victor Chabai

1998 - Area Supervisor, Kfar HaHoresh, Israel; Director: Dr. Nigel Goring-Morris

1997 - Archaeologist, Wadi al-Hasa Prehistoric Project, Jordan; Directors: Dr. Nancy Coinman and Dr. Deborah Olszewski

1996 - Teaching Assistant/ Supervisor, Prehistoric Field School, Oklahoma; Director: Dr. Donald Henry

1994 - Teaching Assistant/ Supervisor, Prehistoric Field School, North Carolina; Director: Dr. Burton Purrington

1994 - Archaeologist, Transarabia Expedition, Dhofar Region, Oman; Director: Dr. Juris Zarins