- Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, University of Brighton
I am a Palaeolithic Archaeologist with a focus on East African human origins, cognitive archaeology and the use of material culture in constructing hominin social relationships. I completed my Ph.D as part of the British Academy funded "Lucy to Language: the archaeology of the social brain" project which concentrated on testing the predictions of the social brain in regards to hominin cognition against the archaeological record. Since recieving my Ph.D I have taught Human Origins and Evolution at the Universities of Southampton, Bournemouth, Oxford, Royal Holloway, and Reading before accept a lecturership at the University of Brighton. I am a fieldwork active and am currently leading new field work at the famous Stone Age site of Isimila in Tanzania (known for its giant handaxes) with colleagues from the Universities of Dar es Salaam, Southampton, Wales Trinity St David, Gloucestershire and the National Museums of Tanzania.
Experience
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–presentSenior Lecturer in Archaeology, University of Brighton
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2013–2014Visiting Lecturer, Royal Holloway, University of London
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2013–2014Visiting Lecturer, Bournemouth University
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2012–2013Lecturer, University of Oxford
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2013–2013Visiting Lecturer, University of Reading
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2011–2012Visiting Lecturer, University of Southampton
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2011–2012Visiting Lecturer, Bournemouth University
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2010–2011Teaching Fellow, University of Southampton
Education
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2011University of Southampton, Ph.D in Palaeolithic Archaeology
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2007University of Southampton, MA in Human Origins
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2004University of Southampton, BA Archaeology
Publications
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2015Handaxe symmetry in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic: implications for the Acheulean gaze, In F. Wenban-Smith, F. Coward, R. Hosfield and M. Pope (eds). Settlement, Society and Cognition in Human Evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
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2015Hominin language development: a new method of archaeological assessment, Biosemiotics 8: 67-90
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2014The Identity Model: a theory to access visual display and hominin cognition within the Palaeolithic, In R.I.M. Dunbar, C. Gamble and J.A.J. Gowlett (eds). Lucy to Language: Benchmark Papers. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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2012The Identity Model: a method to access visual display within the Palaeolithic, Human Origins 1: 24 – 40
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2012Papers from the British Academy Lucy to Language: the Archaeology of the Social Brain Seminar Series on Visual Display in the Palaeolithic, Cole, J. and Ruebens, K (eds). Human Origins (1). (https://humanorigins.soton.ac.uk/issues/)
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2006Consuming Passions: Reviewing the Evidence for Cannibalism within the Prehistoric Archaeological Record, Assemblage (9)
Grants and Contracts
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2015Contextualising the Stone Age site of Isimila, Tanzania
- Role:
- PI
- Funding Source:
- University of Brighton School of Environment and Technology Research Initiative Award
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2014Dating the Early Stone Age site of Isimila, Tanzania
- Role:
- PI
- Funding Source:
- University of Brighton, Rising Stars Fund
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2014Dating the Early Stone Age site of Isimila, Tanzania
- Role:
- PI
- Funding Source:
- University of Brighton School of Environment and Technology Research Initiative Award
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2013Contextualising the Neanderthal Assemblage of Oosthoven (Belgium)
- Role:
- PI
- Funding Source:
- Society of Antiquaries (London)
Contact James for
- General
- Media request
- Speaking request
- Consulting / Advising
- Research collaboration
- Research supervision
- Location: Brighton, United Kingdom
- Website
- X (formerly Twitter): @jamescolearch
- Article Feed
- ORCID
- Joined