Ames, Christopher Dr.
Associate Research Fellow
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Postdoctoral Fellow - University of California, Berkeley 2013 - 2015
Overview
Overview
I am an archaeologist specializing in the application of geospatial and earth science techniques to questions about prehistoric human-environmental dynamics and human origins.
Research Overview
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My research focuses on prehistoric hunter-gatherer adaptations to changing environments. In particular, I study the ways in which this human-environment dynamic informs our understanding of how and why our species successfully covered the globe. I approach this research from a multi-scalar landscape perspective rooted in evolutionary and ecological theory, and my technical specialties include GIS, geoarchaeology, and stone artefact analysis. My work is highly interdisciplinary and centres on three interconnected themes: 1) the impact of environmental change on hunter-gatherer ecology and mobility patterns; 2) regional and global patterns of hominin dispersal; and, 3) how past landscape change has affected the visibility and distribution of the archaeological record. I am currently pursuing these themes with projects in Jordan and South Africa.
Geographic Focus
- Jordan Country
- Middle East Geographic Region
- South Africa Country
Affiliation
Member Of
Supervision
Advisees
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Graduate Advising Relationship
Degree Research Title Advisee Doctor of Philosophy Landscape-scale organisation of lithic technology through the late Pleistocene in the Doring River (South Africa): implications for the evolution of human behaviour Shaw, Matthew
Background
Education And Training
- Ph.D., McGill University, Department of Anthropology 2009 - 2014
- M.A., McGill University, Department of Anthropology 2007 - 2009
- B.A., University of British Columbia, Department of Anthropology 2001 - 2006
Overview
Research Areas
Research Overview
-
My research focuses on prehistoric hunter-gatherer adaptations to changing environments. In particular, I study the ways in which this human-environment dynamic informs our understanding of how and why our species successfully covered the globe. I approach this research from a multi-scalar landscape perspective rooted in evolutionary and ecological theory, and my technical specialties include GIS, geoarchaeology, and stone artefact analysis. My work is highly interdisciplinary and centres on three interconnected themes: 1) the impact of environmental change on hunter-gatherer ecology and mobility patterns; 2) regional and global patterns of hominin dispersal; and, 3) how past landscape change has affected the visibility and distribution of the archaeological record. I am currently pursuing these themes with projects in Jordan and South Africa.
Geographic Focus
- Jordan Country
- Middle East Geographic Region
- South Africa Country
Affiliation
Member Of
Supervision
Advisees
-
Graduate Advising Relationship
Degree Research Title Advisee Doctor of Philosophy Landscape-scale organisation of lithic technology through the late Pleistocene in the Doring River (South Africa): implications for the evolution of human behaviour Shaw, Matthew
Background
Education And Training
- Ph.D., McGill University, Department of Anthropology 2009 - 2014
- M.A., McGill University, Department of Anthropology 2007 - 2009
- B.A., University of British Columbia, Department of Anthropology 2001 - 2006
