Alumni kudos!
Kudos to… recent U-M Biological Anthropology graduate Alexandra Norwood (MSP18, now a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Utah) and UMMAA curator Brian Stewart for publishing an article in Quaternary Science Reviews!
The article presents a novel application of generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) to carbon isotopes of faunal tooth enamel to better resolve the climate dynamics associated with the transition from the Middle to Later Stone Age in southern Africa. A marked cooling trend in their data beginning 33,000 years ago suggests the MSA disappearance was partially climate-driven and occurred first at higher elevations. They suggest that fragmented final MSA social networks made space for local pools of enhanced innovation. Out of this, a widespread and cohesive LSA tradition emerged and spread through processes of renewed social coalescence. Check it out here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379125005906?dgcid=rss_sd_all
