Christopher E Miller
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 102289 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Christopher E Miller |
| NOMBRES | Christopher E |
| APELLIDO | Miller |
| FIRMA | MILLER C E |
| AFILIACIONES | University of Tübingen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8428-8392 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 54 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 1138 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 54 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 1995 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 14 |
Microstratigraphy and Site Formation Processes at Quebrada Jaguay 280 (Peru)
This study presents a microanalytical, geoarchaeological study of Quebrada Jaguay (QJ)‐280, a Terminal Pleistocene–Holocene coastal site in southern Peru. Combining micromorphology, μXRF and μFTIR, we develop a site formation model that also reassesses site use and forager behaviour. Micro‐contextual data provide new insights into sedimentation, taphonomy and human activity, revealing short‐term, seasonal occupations with evidence of spatial shif…
Assembling the puzzle pieces
This study offers an integrated analysis of pottery and firing installations, used to investigate ancient pyrotechnology. Such combined approaches remain rare in archaeology, as kilns and other firing structures are often overlooked compared to the ceramics they produced. This limits insights into technological practices, resource management, and production systems. The Dinka Settlement Complex (DSC), recently discovered in the Peshdar Plain (Sul…
The Upper Sedimentary Sequence of Grotta di Fumane, Northern Italy
Fumane Cave contains a sequence of natural and anthropogenic deposits documenting key transitions in the Paleolithic of Northern Italy. Open questions remain concerning the stratigraphic integrity, the formation processes, postdepositional alterations, and paleoclimatic implications of the sedimentary record. We examine these aspects through an extensive investigation based on field descriptions and micromorphological analysis of thin sections sa…
Reconstructing formation processes at the Canary Islands indigenous site of Belmaco Cave (La Palma, Spain) through a multiproxy geoarchaeological approach
The indigenous populations of La Palma (Canary Islands), who arrived on the island from Northwest Africa ca. 2000 years B.P., were predominantly pastoralists. Yet, many aspects of their subsistence economy such as the procurement, management, and use of wild plant resources remain largely unknown. To explore this, we studied the 600–1100‐year‐old archaeological site of Belmaco Cave, which comprises a stratified sedimentary deposit representative …
An interdisciplinary approach to the study of kiln firing
Pottery kilns are a common feature in the archaeological record of different periods. However, these pyrotechnological installations are still seldom the target of interdisciplinary investigations. To fill this gap in our knowledge, an updraft kiln firing experiment was run at the Campus Galli open-air museum (southern Germany) by a team consisting of experimental archaeologists, material scientists, geoarchaeologists, and palaeobotanists. The en…
Fire among Neanderthals
Using Formation Processes to Explore Low-Density Sites and Settlement Patterns
Paleolithic archaeologists often rely on cave and rockshelter sites with rich occupation levels to explore hominin behavior and settlement patterns. However, a closer look into regional occupation data may reveal an uneven distribution of sites and the presence of occupational hiatuses or low-density occupation horizons that often remain understudied. In contrast to this trend, this paper focuses on low-density occupation data to explore regional…
The Cultural and Chronostratigraphic Context of a New Leaf Point from Hohle Fels Cave in the Ach Valley of Southwestern Germany
During the summer of 2020 the excavation team at Hohle Fels Cave in the Ach Valley of southwestern Germany recovered a leaf point (in German Blattspitze) made from gray Jurassic chert. The find is well-preserved and remarkable for a number of reasons. First this is the only leaf point recovered by a modern excavation in the Swabian Jura, and is the first leaf point discovered in situ since 1936, when Gustav Riek’s crew recovered two well-preserve…
A micro-geoarchaeological view on stratigraphy and site formation processes in the Middle, Upper and Epi-Paleolithic layers of Sefunim Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel
This paper presents a micro-geoarchaeological study carried out on the sedimentary sequence exposed at the entrance of Sefunim Cave, Israel, a sequence that spans from the Middle Paleolithic to the early Epipaleolithic periods. Using FTIR and micromorphological techniques, we investigated the stratigraphic sequence to reconstruct patterns of site use and archaeological formation processes. We identified formation processes that are common among P…
The effect of formation processes on the frequency of palaeolithic cave sites in semiarid zones
Central Asian caves with Palaeolithic deposits are few, but they provide a rich record of human fossils and cultural assemblages that has been used to model Late Pleistocene hominin dispersals. However, previous research has not yet systematically evaluated the formation processes that influence the frequency of Palaeolithic cave sites in the region. To address this deficiency, we combined field survey and micromorphological analyses in the piedm…
Burning, dumping, and site use during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic at Hohle Fels Cave, SW Germany
Dumped deposits are a valuable source of information for inferring past behaviour. They provide insights into site maintenance, social organization and settlement dynamics. Hohle Fels Cave in SW Germany offers a unique opportunity to investigate the importance of dumping and site maintenance during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of the Swabian Jura. In this paper, we analyse anthropogenic deposits at Hohle Fels employing micromorphology and fa…
Geoarchaeological investigation of occupation deposits in Blombos Cave in South Africa indicate changes in site use and settlement dynamics in the southern Cape during MIS 5b-4
The archaeological assemblage recovered from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) levels in Blombos Cave, South Africa, is central to our understanding of the development of early modern humans. Here, we demonstrate that the cultural and technological innovations inferred from the Blombos Cave MSA record also correlate with significant shifts in site use and occupational intensity. Through a comprehensive geoarchaeological investigation of three MSA occupa…
The southern rural health and mortality penalty
A site formation model for Cuncaicha rock shelter
We report results from geoarchaeological investigations at Cuncaicha rock shelter (4480 m above sea level) in the high Andes of southern Peru. Using field observations, geomorphological, micromorphological, micro‐Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Bayesian modeling of radiocarbon ages, and archaeological data, we analyzed the entire stratigraphic sequence to determine depositional and postdepositional processes and agents to assess the impa…
Interpreting gaps
Unlike other Upper Paleolithic industries, Gravettian assemblages from the Swabian Jura are documented solely in the Ach Valley (35-30 Kcal BP). On the other hand, traces of contemporaneous occupations in the nearby Lone Valley are sparse. It is debated whether this gap is due to a phase of human depopulation, or taphonomic issues related with landscape changes. In this paper we present ERT, EC-logging and GPR data showing that in both Ach and Lo…
Neanderthal settlement of the Central Balkans during MIS 5
Luminescence dating estimates for the coastal MSA sequence of Hoedjiespunt 1 (South Africa)
Issues of theory and method in the analysis of Paleolithic mortuary behavior
Mortuary behavior (activities concerning dead conspecifics) is one of many traits that were previously widely considered to have been uniquely human, but on which perspectives have changed markedly in recent years. Theoretical approaches to hominin mortuary activity and its evolution have undergone major revision, and advances in diverse archeological and paleoanthropological methods have brought new ways of identifying behaviors such as intentio…
In search of a Paleolithic Silk Road in Kazakhstan
The micromorphology of loess‐paleosol sequences in central Alaska
The middle Tanana Valley of central Alaska contains a well‐preserved record of human occupation and paleoenvironmental change since the Late Glacial period (c. 16,000 cal yr BP) and is a critical region for understanding human dispersal into the Americas. Micromorphology analysis of soils and sediments from six archaeological sites yields valuable information about soil formation processes and landscape evolution during the Late Glacial and into …
In search of a Paleolithic Silk Road in Kazakhstan
Paleoanthropological data suggest that the Late Pleistocene was a time of population contact and possibly dispersal in Central Asia. Geographic and paleoclimatic data suggest that a natural corridor through Kazakhstan linked areas to the north and east (Siberia, China) to those further to the west and south (Uzbekistan), much akin to a Paleolithic Silk Road. We review the known Pleistocene archaeology and paleoclimatic setting of this region and …
Experimentation preceding innovation in a MIS5 Pre-Still Bay layer from Diepkloof Rock Shelter (South Africa)
In southern Africa, key technologies and symbolic behaviors develop as early as the later Middle Stone Age in MIS5. These innovations arise independently in various places, contexts and forms, until their full expression during the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort. The Middle Stone Age sequence from Diepkloof Rock Shelter, on the West Coast of the region, preserves archaeological proxies that help unravelling the cultural processes at work. This…
Hidden in plain sight
A complete Middle Stone Age ochre piece was unintentionally collected and fully preserved within a micromorphological block sample intended to characterise a 74 ± 3 ka occupation horizon at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Previously recovered ochre pieces from the same stratigraphic context (Still Bay) have displayed intricate modification patterns with significant behavioural implications. Yet, in the case of the trapped ochre, a direct visual asses…
Fire as an Artifact—Advances in Paleolithic Combustion Structure Studies
Hearths present sedimentary features, artifacts, and direct evidence for maintained and controlled fire in the past. The use of hearths reflects regular access to fire and its diverse benefits. Among these benefits are cooked food, protection from the cold and from predators, and fire’s transformative power regarding raw materials. Hearths may have also served as focal points of activity at Paleolithic campsites and triggered changes in social st…
Chronology of the Pleistocene deposits at Elands Bay Cave (South Africa) based on charcoals, burnt lithics, and sedimentary quartz and feldspar grains
Bedding, hearths, and site maintenance in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Micromorphological analysis of sediments from the Middle Stone Age site of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, provides a high-resolution sequence and evidence of site formation processes of predominantly anthropogenic deposits. This methodology allows for a detailed interpretation of individual anthropogenic activities, including the construction of hearths and bedding and the maintenance of occupational surfaces through the sweep out of h…
Heat treatment in the South African Middle Stone Age
Geoarchaeological investigations at Diepkloof Rock Shelter, Western Cape, South Africa
The MSA sequence of Diepkloof and the history of southern African Late Pleistocene populations
Dumping, Sweeping and Trampling
Six experimental fireplaces were constructed to investigate the ability of micromorphology to identify anthropogenic reworking of combustion features and to build a reference base of experimentally-derived conditions to calibrate micromorphological conditions. After burning, the fireplaces were either swept out, swept out and the material dumped, trampled, or a combination of these three. Micromorphological examination showed that these processes…
On the evidence for human use and control of fire at Schöningen
Excavations at Schöningen and paradigm shifts in human evolution
Recognizing Fire in the Paleolithic Archaeological Record
Everyone agrees that fire has played an important part in the history of the genus Homo. However, because of the sometimes ephemeral and ambiguous nature of the evidence for fire in the Paleolithic record, establishing when and how hominins actively interacted with fire has been difficult. Over the past several decades, multiple techniques have been developed and employed in the search for the origins of human use of fire. Because fire is a natur…
A previously undescribed organic residue sheds light on heat treatment in the Middle Stone Age
The earliest evidence for Upper Paleolithic occupation in the Armenian Highlands at Aghitu-3 Cave
The depositional environments of Schöningen 13 II-4 and their archaeological implications
An experimental micromorphological investigation of bedding construction in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu, South Africa
Buried in ashes
Approaches to Middle Stone Age landscape archaeology in tropical Africa
The Southern Montane Forest-Grassland mosaic ecosystem in the humid subtropics southern Rift Valley of Africa comprised the environmental context for a large area in which modern human evolution and dispersal occurred. Variable climatic conditions during the Late Pleistocene have ranged between humid and hyperarid, changing the character of the ecosystem and transforming it at different points in time into a barrier, a refuge, and a corridor betw…
Burning, dumping, and site use during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic at Hohle Fels Cave, SW Germany
Dumped deposits are a valuable source of information for inferring past behaviour. They provide insights into site maintenance, social organization and settlement dynamics. Hohle Fels Cave in SW Germany offers a unique opportunity to investigate the importance of dumping and site maintenance during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of the Swabian Jura. In this paper, we analyse anthropogenic deposits at Hohle Fels employing micromorphology and fa…
Understanding the evolution of the windlass mechanism of the human foot from comparative anatomy
Humans stand alone from other primates in that we propel our bodies forward on a relatively stiff and arched foot and do so by employing an anatomical arrangement of bones and ligaments in the foot that can operate like a “windlass.” This is a significant evolutionary innovation, but it is currently unknown when during hominin evolution this mechanism developed and within what genera or species it originated. The presence of recently discovered f…
Fire as an Artifact—Advances in Paleolithic Combustion Structure Studies
Hearths present sedimentary features, artifacts, and direct evidence for maintained and controlled fire in the past. The use of hearths reflects regular access to fire and its diverse benefits. Among these benefits are cooked food, protection from the cold and from predators, and fire’s transformative power regarding raw materials. Hearths may have also served as focal points of activity at Paleolithic campsites and triggered changes in social st…
Heat-induced alteration of glauconitic minerals in the Middle Stone Age levels of Blombos Cave, South Africa
In this paper we conduct geochemical and colourimetric measurements of glauconite grains in micromorphological thin sections from the Middle Stone Age site of Blombos Cave, South Africa, to investigate the formation, internal structure and reworking of heat-exposed cave deposits that are related to prehistoric burning events. Controlled heating experiments were first carried out on glauconite-rich loose sediments and block samples, both of which …
Chronology of the Pleistocene deposits at Elands Bay Cave (South Africa) based on charcoals, burnt lithics, and sedimentary quartz and feldspar grains
The micromorphology of loess‐paleosol sequences in central Alaska
The middle Tanana Valley of central Alaska contains a well‐preserved record of human occupation and paleoenvironmental change since the Late Glacial period (c. 16,000 cal yr BP) and is a critical region for understanding human dispersal into the Americas. Micromorphology analysis of soils and sediments from six archaeological sites yields valuable information about soil formation processes and landscape evolution during the Late Glacial and into …
Lumbar vertebral morphology of flying, gliding, and suspensory mammals
The effect of formation processes on the frequency of palaeolithic cave sites in semiarid zones
Central Asian caves with Palaeolithic deposits are few, but they provide a rich record of human fossils and cultural assemblages that has been used to model Late Pleistocene hominin dispersals. However, previous research has not yet systematically evaluated the formation processes that influence the frequency of Palaeolithic cave sites in the region. To address this deficiency, we combined field survey and micromorphological analyses in the piedm…
Luminescence dating estimates for the coastal MSA sequence of Hoedjiespunt 1 (South Africa)
Experimentation preceding innovation in a MIS5 Pre-Still Bay layer from Diepkloof Rock Shelter (South Africa)
In southern Africa, key technologies and symbolic behaviors develop as early as the later Middle Stone Age in MIS5. These innovations arise independently in various places, contexts and forms, until their full expression during the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort. The Middle Stone Age sequence from Diepkloof Rock Shelter, on the West Coast of the region, preserves archaeological proxies that help unravelling the cultural processes at work. This…
Accurate Radiocarbon Dating of Archaeological Ash Using Pyrogenic Aragonite
Obtaining accurate age determinations from minerals in archaeological ash is a major unsolved issue in radiocarbon ( 14 C) dating. This is because the original 14 C content of calcite, the main component of ash, is altered by isotopic exchange. Pyrogenic aragonite, another mineral phase recently discovered in ash, might preserve its 14 C signature through time. Using a new method based on density separation and step combustion, we were able to is…
Environmental Rights
Living on the eastern seaboard of a vast and sparsely populated continent replete with natural resources, it is unlikely that the draughtsmen of the Constitution of the United States of America gave any thought to environmental constraints which might prejudice the enjoyment of the rights to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'. It was the familiar Old World threats corrupt jurists, dogmatic clerics, autocratic kings to these human rights…
Bedding, hearths, and site maintenance in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Micromorphological analysis of sediments from the Middle Stone Age site of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, provides a high-resolution sequence and evidence of site formation processes of predominantly anthropogenic deposits. This methodology allows for a detailed interpretation of individual anthropogenic activities, including the construction of hearths and bedding and the maintenance of occupational surfaces through the sweep out of h…
Analyse micromorphologique de structures de combustion expérimentales anthropiquement remaniées
Six foyers expérimentaux ont été construits pour évaluer la capacité de la micromorphologie à identifier un remaniement anthropique de structures de combustion et à établir une base de référence de conditions expérimentales pour calibrer les conditions micromorphologiques. Après utilisation, les foyers ont été soit balayés, soit balayés et le matériel jeté, soit piétinés, ou une combinaison des trois. Un examen micromorphologique a montré que ces…
Dumping, Sweeping and Trampling
Six experimental fireplaces were constructed to investigate the ability of micromorphology to identify anthropogenic reworking of combustion features and to build a reference base of experimentally-derived conditions to calibrate micromorphological conditions. After burning, the fireplaces were either swept out, swept out and the material dumped, trampled, or a combination of these three. Micromorphological examination showed that these processes…
An experimental micromorphological investigation of bedding construction in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu, South Africa
Heat treatment in the South African Middle Stone Age
Neandertals made the first specialized bone tools in Europe
Modern humans replaced Neandertals ∼40,000 y ago. Close to the time of replacement, Neandertals show behaviors similar to those of the modern humans arriving into Europe, including the use of specialized bone tools, body ornaments, and small blades. It is highly debated whether these modern behaviors developed before or as a result of contact with modern humans. Here we report the identification of a type of specialized bone tool, lissoir , previ…
Geoarchaeological investigations at Diepkloof Rock Shelter, Western Cape, South Africa
The MSA sequence of Diepkloof and the history of southern African Late Pleistocene populations
Paleoindian settlement of the high-altitude Peruvian Andes
Mountain dwellers of the Pleistocene Humans colonized the inhospitable high Andes at least 11.5 thousand years ago. Rademaker et al. unearthed evidence of hunter-gatherer occupation at heights of almost 4500 m in Peru in two open-air sites. The sites contained more than 750 tools, including likely spearheads and scrapers. A nearby rockshelter with sooted ceilings and floor detritus may have been a campsite. The sites were probably used seasonally…
Late pre‐Islamic burials at Mleiha, Emirate of Sharjah ( UAE )
The history of two monumental grave buildings (nos. 4 and 5), excavated in area P of the late pre‐Islamic city of Mleiha, has been studied in detail. Like all other tombs excavated up to the present day in Mleiha, their chambers had been emptied in ancient times. They were found devoid of human remains and grave‐goods. In the upper parts of the grave fills, however, skeletal remains were encountered. One of the skeletons was radiocarbon dated to …
Lumbar vertebral morphology of flying, gliding, and suspensory mammals
Why biodiversity declines as protected areas increase
Understanding the evolution of the windlass mechanism of the human foot from comparative anatomy
Humans stand alone from other primates in that we propel our bodies forward on a relatively stiff and arched foot and do so by employing an anatomical arrangement of bones and ligaments in the foot that can operate like a “windlass.” This is a significant evolutionary innovation, but it is currently unknown when during hominin evolution this mechanism developed and within what genera or species it originated. The presence of recently discovered f…
Excavations at Schöningen and paradigm shifts in human evolution
A previously undescribed organic residue sheds light on heat treatment in the Middle Stone Age
On the evidence for human use and control of fire at Schöningen
The depositional environments of Schöningen 13 II-4 and their archaeological implications
The Human Fossil Record of Bulgaria and the Formulation of Biogeographic Hypotheses
Approaches to Middle Stone Age landscape archaeology in tropical Africa
The Southern Montane Forest-Grassland mosaic ecosystem in the humid subtropics southern Rift Valley of Africa comprised the environmental context for a large area in which modern human evolution and dispersal occurred. Variable climatic conditions during the Late Pleistocene have ranged between humid and hyperarid, changing the character of the ecosystem and transforming it at different points in time into a barrier, a refuge, and a corridor betw…
Buried in ashes
Investigating mobility and highland occupation strategies during the Early Holocene at the Cuncaicha rock shelter through strontium and oxygen isotopes
Heat-induced alteration of glauconitic minerals in the Middle Stone Age levels of Blombos Cave, South Africa
In this paper we conduct geochemical and colourimetric measurements of glauconite grains in micromorphological thin sections from the Middle Stone Age site of Blombos Cave, South Africa, to investigate the formation, internal structure and reworking of heat-exposed cave deposits that are related to prehistoric burning events. Controlled heating experiments were first carried out on glauconite-rich loose sediments and block samples, both of which …
Accurate Radiocarbon Dating of Archaeological Ash Using Pyrogenic Aragonite
Obtaining accurate age determinations from minerals in archaeological ash is a major unsolved issue in radiocarbon ( 14 C) dating. This is because the original 14 C content of calcite, the main component of ash, is altered by isotopic exchange. Pyrogenic aragonite, another mineral phase recently discovered in ash, might preserve its 14 C signature through time. Using a new method based on density separation and step combustion, we were able to is…
The earliest evidence for Upper Paleolithic occupation in the Armenian Highlands at Aghitu-3 Cave
Geography (42 obras) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (42 obras) · Archaeology (41 obras) · Geology (37 obras) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (30 obras) · Paleontology (26 obras) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (19 obras) · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (18 obras) · Pleistocene (17 obras) · Cave (15 obras)