From Dirt to Behavior: An Introduction

Author(s): Dave Schmitt

Year: 2016

Summary

This paper presents an introduction to the life and times of David B. Madsen and a collection of presentations that celebrate his significant contributions. Perhaps best known for his unparalleled investigations of Great Basin paleoecology and Fremont period farmers and foragers, Madsen’s voluminous and enduring record also includes books and articles on late Pleistocene-Holocene paleontology, the peopling of North America, the Asian Upper Paleolithic and the transition to agriculture, the prehistory of western China, and the initial peopling of the Tibetan Plateau and the development of high altitude adaptations. His diverse, interdisciplinary approaches to the archaeological record are truly “from dirt to behavior” as they characteristically incorporate geomorphology, paleoecology, climate change, ethnography, and human behavioral ecology. His collected works have greatly enhanced ecological and archaeological studies around the world and his methods, theoretical approaches, and results of investigations will continue to influence earth and social science research for generations to come.

Cite this Record

From Dirt to Behavior: An Introduction. Dave Schmitt. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 403847)