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Anthropology/Expert Profile
Expertise
Questions about Old World prehistoric archaeology (especially Stone Age) of Europe, Africa, and Western Asia, prehistoric human and hominid behavior, primitive technology, origin of modern humans, extinction of the Neandertals.
Publications
Journal of Field Archaeology, Journal of Archaeological Science, Lithic Technology, Evolutionary Anthropology, Current Anthropology, Mitekufat HaEven (Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society), Paléorient, Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, American Anthropologist, Geoarchaeology.
Education/Credentials
Ph.D (Anthropology) Harvard University, 1991.
BA (Archaeology) Boston University, 1982.
What do you like about this subject?
I like that it puts our current problems into longer-term evolutionary perspective. It also give me an opportunity to explore the lives of Ice Age humans. Many of the cultural and biological resources we have available to solve our own problems reflect these earlier humans' adaptive strategies.
What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field?
I hope to learn more about the range of human behavioral variability. A lot of anthropologists stereotype earlier humans as unintelligent creatures whose lives were shaped by environmental change. I think humans have been fundamentally creative, clever, and inclined towards experiment for much of our evolutionary past. If I can increase our under
Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:
Many accounts of modern human origins link the emergence of Homo sapiens to the appearance of Ice Age art around 36,000 years ago. Yet, anatomically-modern-looking humans were already present in much of Africa, Southwest Asia more than 100,000 years ago.
Something controversial or provocative about this subject
Fossil and archaeological evidence from the Middle Paleolithic period (47,000-245,000 BP) in Southwest Asia, that Neandertals may have displaced earlier populations of modern humans (e.g., the Skhul/Qafzeh humans). See http://www.athenapub.com/8shea1.htm for my take on this issue.
Average Ratings
Recent Reviews from Users
K = Knowledgeability C = Clarity of Response P = Politeness| User | Date | K | C | P | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim | 09/03/11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | I appreciate your answer, and thank you ..... |
| Eleanor | 08/11/11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Thanks. I share your skepticism, but also ..... |
| Richard | 06/11/11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | thankyou very much for your time |
| Eleanor | 05/07/11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Thanks! |
| Anthony | 04/17/11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Thanks to Dr. Shea, I realize I ..... |
Recent Answers from John Shea
2012-01-27 importance of statictis in anthropology:
All sciences use statistics. In archaeology, one uses statistics to describe variation in the quantities and properties of the things we find and to test for the significance of differences among data
2011-12-20 Birthplace of the human race:
The oldest fossils of Homo sapiens come from sites in Ethiopia. African populations are more genetically diverse than non-Africans, and thus likely older. Our nearest primate relatives come from equatorial
2011-12-11 bone identification:
Hi Andrea It's a pelvic bone (sacrum), but not human. Too short. I don't really have the expertise to tell you exactly what species it is. Take it to a natural history museum near where you found it
2011-08-10 DNA bottleneck:
Hi Eleanor, It is on the periphery of my expertise, but I'll give it a try. Chimpanzees live only in the forests of equatorial Africa and are largely vegetarian/insectivores. As such, they might not
2011-08-10 PRE-CIVILIZATION HUMANS:
Hi Mike Anthropologists don't use the term "precivilizational" very much, but there are two options here about what this person means. They might mean lacking the features we see in "civilizations",
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