Hannah Keller

I am interested in archaeological site formation as a product of interactions between human societies, local ecologies, and post-depositional processes. My methods include zooarchaeology, archaeological science, and experimental archaeology to untangle site formation process and human behavior. I have participated in projects at Late Pleistocene and Holocene sites across South Africa, Malawi, Italy, Mongolia, Romania, and the USA. My Masters’ thesis examined proxies for nutritional stress in Later Stone Age populations along the South African coastline during interstadial/glacial transitions. My dissertation research investigates human use of ostrich eggs during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene of South Africa, and how climate change and a shifting coastline impacted resource availability and subsequently human subsistence strategies, flask manufacture, and social connectivity. 

2024 Late Pleistocene prey mobility in southwestern France and its implications for reconstructing Neandertal ranging behaviors - ScienceDirect

2023 The Zooarchaeology of Pleistocene Africa | SpringerLink. 

2022  The Ornaments of the Arma Veirana Early Mesolithic Infant Burial | Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory (springer.com)

2022   Towards an interpretive framework for heated ostrich eggshell: An actualistic study - ScienceDirect

2021 An infant burial from Arma Veirana in northwestern Italy provides insights into funerary practices and female personhood in early Mesolithic Europe | Scientific Reports 

2021  Approaches to land snail shell bead manufacture in the Early Holocene of Malawi | Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 

2020  An isotopic test of the seasonal migration hypothesis for large grazing ungulates inhabiting the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain - ScienceDirect.