Current Projects

Into the Depths

We are examining fisheries practices and their socioecological impacts in the Kafue Flats of central Zambia during the 6th-16th centuries, a period characterized by patterns of settlement and mobility of Bantu-speaking populations in this region. Fishing continues to be a key source of food and livelihood in this seasonally inundated floodplain that is also home to a wide range of fish species, including breams, tilapia, catfishes, and others. Our research helps us learn about past fishing practices by identifying the species and estimating the sizes of the fish eaten throughout the long history of people’s interaction with this floodplain environment.

past human responses to climate change

This project is in collaboration with the OBT Lab led by Kristina Douglass and members of the Velondriake community. Our project involves three seasons of archaeological, ethnohistorical, and paleoclimatic research in the Velondriake Marine Protected Area in SW Madagascar to investigate the adaptive role of social memory in contexts of climatic unpredictability and shifting resource availability.