Current Research Interests

My research interests are centred in two of the major subfields of anthropology, biological anthropology and archaeology.In the field of biological anthropology my research focus is human evolution.In the field of archaeology my research focus is the study of human remains from ancient cultures.

My work in human evolution involves the detailed analysis of morphological and metric traits of the bones of the skeleton of primates, fossil hominids and modern humans. My recent research has focussed on growth and development in fossil hominids, particularly Neandertals.  I am also interested in the reconstruction of body size in extinct hominids, and how body size has changed over the course of our evolution.

My archaeological research is based on the North Coast of Peru.  Between 1995 and 1997 I was the codirector, with colleagues from the United States (California State University Northridge) and Peru (Pontifica Universidad Catolica del Peru), of a field project at the site of San Jose de Moro in the Jequetepeque Valley.  My component of the project involved the excavation and analysis of rich burials representing the "upper middle" class of this society. This analysis, when combined with other work on higher and lower status cemeteries, is providing a great deal of information regarding the structure of this society and the distribution of resources within it. Since 1998 I have been working on the excavated material from San Jose de Moro, as well as from several other sites in the Jequetepeque Valley.  The objective of this work is to obtain an understanding of the interactions of biology and culture within and between cultural horizons.

This kind of work is very important in this part of the world, as looting and the destruction of the country's cultural patrimony is a chronic problem. Such cooperative international ventures help preserve archaeological data for the enrichment of the understanding of Peruvian prehistory in particular and human cultural variability and evolution in general. This work has been generously funded by the SSHRC and  the G.L. Bruno Foundation.  In addition, support has been provided by KODAK Canada (Health Sciences Division), Victorinox, Novack's (London) and Aeroperu.

Finally, I am involved in local archaeological and forensic projects. I function as a consultant to local contract archaeology firms, and to the London Police Services, when there is a need for expertise in human osteology and skeletal analysis.
 
 
 

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