STANLEY H. AMBROSE
Professor
My archaeological and paleoecological research in East Africa began in 1975, focusing on the transition to food production for my PhD at Berkeley (1984). I conducted post-doctoral research on stable isotope ecology and paleodiet at UCLA. I joined the Anthropology department at the University of Illinois in 1985, where I direct the Environmental Isotope Paleobiogeochemistry Laboratory.
I teach courses on Analysis of Lithic Technology, African Prehistory, Archaeology of Human Origins, Archaeology of Modern Human Origins, Human Evolutionary Ecology, Archaeometry, and Archaeological Method and Theory.
Research Interests:
African archaeology, lithic technology, hominid evolution, modern human origins, human ecology, human paleodemography, evolution of human diet, dietary and environmental reconstruction with stable isotopes, Africa
Current research projects include:
1. The archaeology of modern human origins in East Africa. We are investigating the chronology of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) by dating volcanic ashes in archaeological sites in the Kenya Rift Valley. Several sites document the Acheulean to MSA, and MSA to LSA transitions. We are studying the evolution of macro-regional exchange networks by obsidian artifact source chemistry.
2. Later Pleistocene Population History. Abrupt climate changes that followed the super-eruption of Toba, Sumatra, 71,000 years ago, may have caused a severe population bottleneck in humans, and promoted the evolutions of social cooperation that facilitate dispersals out of Africa. Evidence for this change in socio-territorial organization, which I call the Troop-to-Tribe Transition, is being obtained from our current fieldwork in Kenya.
3. Reconstructing Early Hominid Environments With Stable Isotopes. We are using carbon and oxygen isotopes of fossil soils and herbivore tooth enamel to reconstruct terminal Miocene, Pleistocene and recent hominid habitats in the Middle Awash Valley and Konso Gardula, Ethiopia, and in Kenya. We are testing models of the relationship between the appearance of grasslands and the evolution of bipedalism, and patterns of seasonal variation in diet and climate to test variability selection models in human evolution.
4. Stable Isotope Ecology and Paleobiogeochemistry Laboratory. The laboratory is equipped for preparing bones, teeth, soft tissues, plants, carbonized potsherd residues, soils and shells for carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotopic analysis. Our Finnegan MAT 252 mass spectrometer permits automated analyses of sub-milligram samples of organic matter, and carbonates, and analysis of incremental growth structures.
EDUCATION:
Ph.D., University of California Berkeley, 1984
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Essays & Articles:
| 2003 | "Did the super-eruption of Toba cause a human population bottleneck? Reply to Gathorne-Hardy and Harcourt-Smith." Journal of Human Evolution 45: 231-237. |
| 2003 | "Lemudong'o: A New 6 Myr Paleontological Site in Narok, Kenya." (with Hlusko, L.A., Kyule, M.D., Deino, A. and Williams, M.A.J.) Journal of Human Evolution 44: 737-742. |
| 2003 | "Gender and status differences in diet at Mound 72, Cahokia, revealed by isotopic analysis of bone." (with Buikstra, J. and Krueger, H.W.) Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 22 (3): 217-228. |
| 2002 | "The seasonal mobility model for prehistoric herders in the Southwestern Cape, South Africa assessed by isotopic analysis of bovid tooth enamel." (with Balasse, M., Smith, A.B. and Price, T.D.) Journal of Archaeological Science 29: 917-932. |
| 2002 | "Small things remembered: Origins of early microlithic industries in Subsaharan Africa." In R. Elston and S. Kuhn (eds), Thinking Small: Global Perspectives on Microlithic Technologies. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association. No. 12, pp. 9-29. |
| 2002 | "Geology and paleontology of the late Miocene Middle Awash Valley, Afar Rift, Ethiopia." (with WoldeGabriel, G., Haile-Selassie, Y., Renne, P.R., Hart, W.K., Asfaw, B., Heiken, G. and White, T.) Nature 412: 175-178. |
| 2001 | "Paleolithic technology and human evolution." Science 291: 1748-1753. |
| 2001 | "Middle and Later Stone Age settlement patterns in the central Rift Valley, Kenya: Comparisons and contrasts." In N. Conard (ed.), Settlement Dynamics of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age. Kerns Verlag, Tübingen, pp. 21-43. |
| 2000 | "Controlled diet and climate experiments on nitrogen isotope ratios of rat bone collagen, hair and muscle." In S.H. Ambrose and M.A. Katzenberg (eds), Biogeochemical Approaches to Paleodietary Analysis. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York, pp. 243-259. |
| 1998 | "Late Pleistocene human population bottlenecks, volcanic winter, and the differentiation of modern humans." Journal of Human Evolution 34: 623-651. |
| 1998 | "Chronology of the Later Stone Age and food production in East Africa." Journal of Archaeological Science 25: 377-392. |
COURSES TAUGHT:
| ANTH 348 | AFRICAN PREHISTORY |
| ANTH 352 | ANALYSIS OF LITHIC TECHNOLOGY |