Staff Profile:Dr Robert Hosfield

Name:

Dr Robert Hosfield

Job Title:

Lecturer

Responsibilities:

Undergraduate Programme Director

Areas of Interest:

• British and Western European Lower and Middle Palaeolithic archaeology
• Pleistocene fluvial landscapes
• Experimental archaeology & site formation processes
• GIS applications in Palaeolithic and prehistoric archaeology

Postgraduate supervision

Rob currently supervises two research students, exploring the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic archaeology and settlement histories of the Solent River (Davis, co-supervised by Dr Nick Ashton of the British Museum), and experimental approaches to the taphonomy of early Palaeolithic assemblages (Chu). Rob is also co-supervising a third student researching a GIS analysis of Mediterranean palaeoenvironments and settlement ecology in the early Holocene (Pogg,i with Prof. Chapman).

Rob is happy to discuss proposals for future postgraduate research in any areas of Palaeolithic archaeology, in particular: Lower and/or Middle Palaeolithic hominin behaviour and lithic technology, GIS applications, and experimental archaeology (esp. focusing on tool use or lithic assemblage taphonomy).

For further information, please contact Dr Hosfield

Research groups / Centres:

Scientific Archaeology Research Group

Key Facts:

Dr Rob Hosfield teaches the Lower Palaeolithic archaeology of northern Europe, the Middle Palaeolithic archaeology of Europe and SW Asia, human origins, lithics, GIS and statistics for archaeologists. In 2004 he completed The Archaeological Potential of Secondary Contexts Project (funded by English Heritage through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund), which re-investigated the archaeological value of the Palaeolithic stone tools scattered throughout Britain's Pleistocene river landscapes. In 2007 he completed (with Professor Tony Brown of Southampton University) The Palaeolithic Rivers of South-West Britain Project,also  funded by English Heritage through the ALSF, which documented the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic archaeology of the south-west region's rivers and undertook new fieldwork. Between 2007-9 he was involved in the development of experimental archaeology applications and best practices (with Prof. Martin Bell and Dr Wendy Matthews of Reading) which led to Reading hosting the 5^th Experimental Archaeology conference (January 2011).

He is currently completing the post-fieldwork analysis and publication of three earlier projects: the Broom Excavation project (2000-2006),  The Afon Ystwyth Experimental Archaeology Project (Phase I; 2000-2004), and field investigations of the Lower Palaeolithic deposits at Corfe Mullen on the river Stour (with Dr McNabb, Southampton University).

He has recently published papers on the early Middle Pleistocene archaeology of Britain, the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic archaeology of the Solent (with Nick Ashton of the British Museum), a handaxe assemblage from the British Lower Palaeolithic site of Broom (with Dr Jenni Chambers), and the interpretation of Palaeolithic assemblages from fluvial contexts.

He is currently a Committee Member of the Lithic Studies Society , (and was until recently Editor of the society's journal Lithics), and was recently a council member of the Prehistoric Society (2005-2008).

Since 2005 he has been involved with the South West Archaeological Research Framework (SWARF), acting as the period convenor for the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic, and has also contributed to the Solent-Thames Archaeological Research Framework (the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic archaeology of Berkshire).

Publications:

Y

Jump to: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003

Number of items: 31.

2011

• Hosfield, R. (2011) The British Lower Palaeolithic of the early Middle Pleistocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30 (11-12). pp. 1486-1510. ISSN 0277-3791
• Basell, L. S., Brown, A. G., Hosfield, R. T. and Toms, P. S. (2011) The geoarchaeology of Palaeolithic rivers of South-west Britain. In: Brown, A. G., Basell, L. S. and Butzer, K. W. (eds.) Geoarchaeology, Climate Change, and Sustainability. Special Papers (476). Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp. 23-36. ISBN 9780813724768
• Hosfield, R. (2011) Rolling stones: understanding river-rolled Palaeolithic artefact assemblages. In: Brown, A. G., Basell, L. S. and Butzer, K. W. (eds.) Geoarchaeology, Climate Change, and Sustainability. Special Paper (476). Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp. 27-52. ISBN 9780813724768
• Hosfield, R. T. (2011) Rolling stones: understanding river-rolled Paleolithic artifact assemblages. In: Brown, A. G., Basell, L. S. and Butzer, K. W. (eds.) Geoarchaeology, Climate Change, and Sustainability. Special Papers (476). Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp. 37-52. ISBN 9780813724768
• Hosfield, R. (2011) New sites, new techniques, new understandings: 50 years of Palaeolithic-Mesolithic research in Wessex. In: Whimster, R. (ed.) The New antiquarians: 50 years of archaeological innovations in Wessex. Research Report (166). Council for Britsih Archaeology, York, pp. 15-31. ISBN 9781902771854
• Hosfield, R. and Green, C. P., eds. (2011) The Lower Palaeolithic site of Broom. Oxbow, Oxford. (In Press)
• Ashton, N., Lewis, S. and Hosfield, R. (2011) Mapping the human record: population change in Britain during the Early Palaeolithic. In: Ashton, N., Lewis, S. and Stringer, C. (eds.) The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 39-51. ISBN 9780444535979
• Hosfield, R., Green, C., Toms, P., Scourse, J., Scaife, R. and Chambers, J. (2011) The Middle Pleistocene deposits and archaeology at Broom. In: Basell, L. S., Brown, A.G. and Toms, P. (eds.) The Quaternary of the Exe Valley and adjoining areas. Field Guides. Quaternary Research Association, London, pp. 103-127.

2010

• Ashton, N. and Hosfield, R. (2010) Mapping the human record in the British early Palaeolithic: evidence from the Solent River system. Journal of Quaternary Science, 25 (5). pp. 737-753. ISSN 0267-8179
• Brown, A. G., Basell, L. S., Toms, P. S., Bennett, J. A., Hosfield, R. T. and Scrivener, R. C. (2010) Later Pleistocene evolution of the Exe valley: a chronostratigraphic model of terrace formation and its implications for Palaeolithic archaeology. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29 (7-8). pp. 897-912. ISSN 0277-3791

2009

• Hosfield, R. T. (2009) Modes of transmission and material culture patterns in craft skills. In: Shennan, S. (ed.) Pattern and Process in Cultural Evolution. Origins of Human Behavior and Culture, 2. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 45-60. ISBN 9780520255999
• Hosfield, R. and Chambers, J. C. (2009) Genuine diversity? The Broom biface assemblage. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 75. pp. 65-100. ISSN 0079-797X
• Hosfield, R. T., Wenban-Smith, F. F. and Pope, M.I., eds. (2009) Great prehistorians: 150 years of palaeolithic research, 1859-2009. Lithics Special Volume, 30. Lithic Studies Society, London, pp222.
• Hosfield, R. T., Wenban-Smith, F. F. and Grant, M. J. (2009) Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archaeology of the Solent Basin and western Sussex region: an overview. In: Briant, R., Bates, M., Hosfield, R. T. and Wenban-Smith, F.F. (eds.) The Quaternary of the Solent Basin and West Sussex Raised Beaches. Field Guides. Quaternary Research Association, London, pp. 42-59.
• McNabb, J. and Hosfield, R. T. (2009) Re-investigations of Lower Palaeolithic archaeology and deposits at Corfe Mullen. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 130. pp. 195-198. ISSN 0070 7112
• Hosfield, R. T. (2009) The unsung heroes. Lithics, 30. pp. 185-200. ISSN 0262-7817

2008

• Hosfield, R.T., Straker, V., Gardiner, P., Brown, A.G., Davies, P., Fyfe, R., Jones, J. and Tinsley, H. (2008) Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. In: Webster, C.J. (ed.) The Archaeology of South West England. South West Archaeological Research Framework: Resource Assessment and ResearchAgenda. Somerset County Council, Taunton, pp. 23-62. ISBN 978-0-86183-392-4
• Toms, P.S., Brown, A.G., Basell, L.S. and Hosfield, R.T. (2008) Palaeolithic Rivers of South-West Britain: Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating of Residual Deposits of the Proto-Axe, Exe, Otter, and Doniford. Research Department Report Series No. 2-2008. English Heritage, London.
• Brown, A.G., Hosfield, R.T., Basell, L.S., Toms, P., Hounsell, S. and Young, R. (2008) The Palaeolithic Rivers of Southwest Britain. [Web Resource]
• Hosfield, R.T. (2008) Stability or flexibility? Handaxes and hominins in the Lower Palaeolithic. In: Papagianni, D., Maschner, H. and Layton, R. (eds.) Time and Change: Archaeological and Anthropological Perspectives on the Long Term. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 15-36. ISBN 9781842173206

2007

• Hosfield, R. (2007) Terrestrial implications for the maritime geoarchaeological resource: A view from the Lower Palaeolithic. Journal of Maritime Archaeology, 2 (1). pp. 4-23. ISSN 1557-2285
• Machin, A. J., Hosfield, R. T. and Mithen, S. J. (2007) Why are some handaxes symmetrical? Testing the influence of handaxe morphology on butchery effectiveness. Journal of Archaeological Science, 34 (6). pp. 883-893. ISSN 0305-4403

2006

• Machin, A.J., Hosfield, R.T. and Mithen, S.J. (2006) Quantifying the Functional Utility of Handaxe Symmetry: an experimental butchery approach. [Web Resource]

2005

• Hosfield, R.T. (2005) Individuals among palimpsest data: fluvial landscapes in Southern England. In: Gamble, C.S. and Porr, M. (eds.) The Individual Hominid in Context: archaeological investigations of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic landscapes, locales and artefacts. Routledge (Taylor & Francis), Abingdon, pp. 220-243.
• Toms, P., Hosfield, R.T., Chambers, J.C., Green, C.P. and Marshall, P. (2005) Optical dating of the Broom Palaeolithic sites, Devon & Dorset. Centre for Archaeology Report 16/2005. English Heritage, London.
• Hosfield, R.T., Brown, A.G., Basell, L. and Hounsell, S. (2005) The Palaeolithic rivers of south-west Britain. PAST: The Newsletter of the Prehistoric Society, 51. pp. 12-14.
• Hosfield, R. T. and Chambers, J. C. (2005) Pleistocene geochronologies for fluvial sedimentary sequences: an archaeologist's perspective. Journal of Quaternary Science, 20 (3). pp. 285-296. ISSN 0267-8179
• Hosfield, R.T. and Chambers, J.C. (2005) River gravels and flakes: new experiments in site formation, stone tool transportation and transformation. In: Fansa, M. (ed.) Experimentelle Archäologie in Europa, Bilanz 2004. Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg, pp. 57-74.
• Machin, A.J., Hosfield, R.T. and Mithen, S.J. (2005) Testing the functional utility of handaxe symmetry: fallow deer butchery with replica handaxes. Lithics: the Journal of the Lithic Studies Society, 26. pp. 23-37.

2004

• Hosfield, R.T. and Chambers, J.C. (2004) Experimental archaeology on the Afon Ystwyth, Wales, UK. Antiquity, 78 (299). ISSN 0003-598X

2003

• Hosfield, R.T. and Chambers, J.C. (2003) Flake modifications during fluvial transportation: three cautionary tales. Lithics, 24. pp. 57-65.

This list was generated on Wed Feb 8 21:01:53 2012 GMT.

Earlier Publications

Journal Articles

Hosfield, R.T. & Chambers, J.C. (2003) Recent Research at the Broom Lower Palaeolithic Site. Antiquity 77 (297): http://antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/hosfield/hosfield.html.

Hosfield, R.T. & Chambers, J.C. (2002) The Lower Palaeolithic site of Broom: geoarchaeological implications of optical dating. Lithics: The Newsletter of the Lithic Studies Society 23: 33-42.

Book Sections

Hosfield, R.T. (2002) Quantifying the British Palaeolithic: Regional Data and Hominid Adaptations. In D.W. Wheatley, G.P. Earl & S. Poppy (ed's)Contemporary themes in Archaeological Computing: 37-46. Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton Monograph No. 3. Oxbow Books, Oxford.

Hosfield, R.T. (2001) The Lower Palaeolithic of the Solent: site formation and interpretive frameworks. In F.F. Wenban-Smith & R.T. Hosfield (ed's) Palaeolithic Archaeology of the Solent River: 85-97. Lithic Studies Society Occasional Paper 7. Lithic Studies Society, London.

Hosfield, R.T. (2001) Approaching a Wider Spatio-Temporal View: Modelling the Terrace Gravel Assemblages. In K.J. Fewster & M. Zvelebil (eds.) Ethnoarchaeology and Hunter-Gatherers: Pictures at an Exhibition: 127-141. British Archaeological Reports (International Series) 955. Archaeopress: Oxford.

Books

Wenban-Smith, F.F. & Hosfield, R.T. (ed's). (2001) Palaeolithic Archaeology of the Solent River. Lithic Studies Society Occasional Paper 7. Lithic Studies Society, London.

Qualifications:

BA, MSc (Archaeological Science: Archaeological Computing), PhD (Southampton)