Daniel Adler

Associate Professor

Anthropology

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Education

Ph.D., 2002, Harvard University

About

I have been a student of Archaeology since 1989 and a director of Palaeolithic archaeological excavations in Eurasia since 1995. My knowledge of Palaeolithic Archaeology has been gained through study and research at the University of Connecticut, the Forschungsinstitut für Vor- und Frühgeschichte in Neuwied, Germany, the Institute für Ur- und Frühgeschichte at the Universität Tübingen, Germany, and Harvard University. Experiences at these institutions fostered my interests in human behavioral ecology, human evolution, lithic technology, zooarchaeology, chronometric dating, Neanderthal-modern human interactions, and the factors contributing to the demise of the Neanderthals.

In 1992, I began Palaeolithic research in Europe, the Middle East, and the Caucasus, and between 1995–2006 I co-directed four interdisciplinary research projects in the Georgian Republic: Akhalkalaki, Ortvale Klde, the Mashavera Gorge Palaeolithic Project, and the Pinavera site. Each project focused on the documentation and dating of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites and the testing of various hominin behavioral hypotheses.

Since 2008, I have been engaged in Palaeolithic research in Armenia, specifically within and surrounding the Hrazdan Gorge. Through a combination of survey and excavation my interdisciplinary research team has identified and conducted excavations at a variety of new Palaeolithic localities. Our efforts have focused on Nor Geghi 1 and Lusakert Cave, sites that document hominin activities in the region during the late Middle Pleistocene and the Upper Pleistocene, respectively.

Excavations at these and other sites in Armenia are conducted in tandem with an archaeological field school run through UConn’s Office of Study Abroad and supported by UConn’s Norian Armenian Programs Committee and external sources.

Curriculum Vitae: Adler-CV

Research Interests

Georgia, Armenia.

Teaching

• ANTH 2501. Introduction to Archaeology
• ANTH 3514. European Prehistory
• ANTH 3521W. Seminar in Archaeology
• ANTH 4510/5345. The Neanderthals
• ANTH 5513. Modern Human Dispersals
• ANTH 5517. Hunter-Gatherers Past and Present

Selected publications

Frahm, E., Adler, D.S., Gasparyan, B., Bing Luo, Mallol, C., Pajović, G., Tostevin, G.B., Yeritsyan, B., Monnier, G. Every contact leaves a trace: documenting contamination in lithic residue studies at the Middle Palaeolithic sites of Lusakert Cave 1 (Armenia) and Crvena Stijena (Montenegro). Accepted by PlosOne 17 (4) 4): e0266362. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266362

Gill, J.P., Adler, D.S., Raczynski-Henk, Y., Frahm, E., Sherriff, J.E., Wilkinson, K.N., Gasparyan, B. Accepted 09/2021. The Techno-typological and 3D-GM Analysis of Hatis 1: A Late Acheulian Open-Air Site on the Hrazdan-Kotayk Plateau, Armenia. JournalofPaleolithic Archaeology 4:29.

Sherriff, J., Wilkinson, K.N., Harding, P., Hawkins, H., Timms, R., Adler, D.S., Beverly, E., Blockley, S., Gasparyan, B., Manning, C., Mark, D., Nahapetyan, S., Preece, K. 2022. Middle Pleistocene environments, landscapes and tephrostratigraphy of the Armenian Highlands: evidence from Bird Farm 1, Hrazdan Valley. Journal of Quaternary Science 37 (1): 6–27.

Frahm, E., Martirosyan-Olshansky, K., Sherriff, J.E., Wilkinson, K.N., Glauberman, P., Raczynski-Henk, Y., Gasparyan, B., Adler, D.S. 2021. Geochemical changes in obsidian outcrops with elevation at Hatis volcano (Armenia) and corresponding Lower Palaeolithic artifacts from Nor Geghi 1. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 38.

Cullen, V.L., V.C. Smith, N. Tushabramishvili, C. Mallol, M. Dee, K.N. Wilkinson, D.S. Adler. 2021. A Revised AMS and Tephra Chronology for the Late Middle to Early Upper Palaeolithic Occupations of Ortvale Klde, Republic of Georgia. Journal of Human Evolution 151.

Gasparyan, B., Adler, D.S., Wilkinson, K.N., Nahapetyan, S., Egeland, C.P., Glauberman, P.J., Malinsky-Buller, A., Arakelyan, D., Arimura, M., Dan, R., Frahm, E., Haydosyan, H., Azizbekyan, H., Petrosyan, A., Kandel, & A.W. 2020. Study of the Stone Age in the Republic of Armenia (Part 1 – Lower Palaeolithic). In A. Kosyan, P. Avetisyan, A. Bobokhyan, & Y. Grekyan (Eds.), Armenian Archaeology: Past Experiences and New Achievements (pp. 1–60). Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing.

Glauberman, P., B. Gasparyan, K.N. Wilkinson, E. Frahm, J. Sherrif, M. Knul, A. Brittingham, D. Arakelyan, Y.  Raczynski-Henk, H. Haydosyan, D.S. Adler. 2020. Late Middle Paleolithic Technological Organization and Behavior during MIS 3 as recorded at the Open-Air Site of Barozh 12, Armenia. Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology.

Malinsky-Buller, A., P. Glauberman, K.N. Wilkinson, Bo Li, E. Frahm, B. Gasparyan, R. Timms, D.S. Adler, J. Sherriff. 2020. Evidence for Middle Palaeolithic occupation and landscape change in Central Armenia at the open-air site of Alapars-1. Quaternary Research. 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2020.61.

Frahm, E., Jones, C.O., Corolla, M., Wilkinson, K.N., Gasparyan, B., D.S. Adler. 2020. Comparing Lower and Middle Palaeolithic lithic procurement behaviors within the Hrazdan basin of central Armenia. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 32, 102389.

Glauberman, P., B. Gasparyan, J. Sherriff, K.N. Wilkinson, L. Bo, M. Knul, A. Brittingham, M. Hren, D. Arakelyan, S. Nahapetyan, Y. Raczynsky-Henk, H. Haydosyan, D. S. Adler. 2020. Barozh 12: formation processes of a late Middle Paleolithic open-air site in western Armenia. Quaternary Science Reviews 236, 106276.

Brittingham, A., M.T. Hren, G. Hartman, K.N. Wilkinson, C. Mallol, B. Gasparyan, D.S. Adler. 2019. Geochemical Evidence for the Control of Fire by Middle Palaeolithic Hominins. Scientific Reports 9: 15368.

Sherriff, J., K. Wilkinson, D.S. Adler, D. Arakelyan, E. Beverly, S. Blockley, B. Gasparyan, D. Mark, K. Meliksetian, S. Nahapetyan, K. Preece, R. Timms. 2019. Pleistocene volcanism and the geomorphological record of the Hrazdan Valley, Central Armenia: linking landscape dynamics and the Palaeolithic record. Quaternary Science Reviews, 105994.

Frahm, E., Feinberg, J.M., Monnier, G.F., Tostevin, G.B., Gasparyan, B., Yeritsyan, B., and D.S. Adler. 2016. Lithic Raw Material Units Based on Magnetic Properties: A Blind Test with Armenian Obsidian and Application to the Middle Paleolithic Site of Lusakert Cave 1. Journal of Archaeological Science 74: 102-123.

Frahm, E., Feinberg, J.M., Schmidt-Magee, B.A., Wilkinson, K.N., Gasparyan, B., Yeritsyan, B., and D.S. Adler. 2016. Middle Paleolithic Toolstone Procurement Behaviors at Lusakert Cave 1, Hrazdan Valley, Armenia. Journal of Human Evolution 91: 73-92.

Gasparyan, B., C. P. Egeland, D. S. Adler, R. Pinhasi, P. Glauberman and H. Haydosyan. 2014. The Middle Paleolithic Occupation of Armenia: Summarizing Old and New Data. In Stone Age of Armenia: A Guide-book to the Stone Age Archaeology in the Republic of Armenia, edited by Boris Gasparyan and Makoto Arimura, pp. 65–105.Monograph of the JSPS-Bilateral Joint Research Project, Kanazawa UniversityPress, Tokyo.

Gasparyan, B., D. S. Adler, C. P. Egeland and K. Azatyan. 2014. Recently Discovered Lower Paleolithic Sites of Armenia. In Stone Age of Armenia: A Guide-book to the Stone Age Archaeology in the Republic of Armenia, edited by Boris Gasparyan and Makoto Arimura, pp. 37–64.Monograph of the JSPS-Bilateral Joint Research Project, Kanazawa UniversityPress, Tokyo.

Adler, D.S., K.N. Wilkinson, S. Blockley, D. Mark, R. Pinhasi, B.A. Schmidt-Magee, B. Yeritsyan, S. Nahapetyan, C. Mallol, F. Berna, P. J. Glauberman, Y. Raczynski-Henk, V. Cullen, E. Frahm, O. Jöris, A. Macloud, V. Smith, B. Gasparian. Early Levallois Technology and the Transition from the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic in the Southern Caucasus. Science 345 (6204): 1609–1613.

Supplemental Material to Early Levallois Technology and the Transition from the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic in the Southern Caucasus.

Frahm, E., Feinberg, J.M., Schmidt-Magee, B.A., Wilkinson, K., Gasparyan, B., Yeritsyan, B., Karapetian, S., Meliksetian, K., Muth, M.J., and D. S. Adler, 2014. Multiscalar Magnetic Variation in the Gutansar Obsidian Complex: Implications for Lithic Technology, Landscape Use, and Resource Selection in Palaeolithic Armenia. Journal of Archaeological Science 47: 164–178.

Frahm, E., Schmidt, B.A., Gasparyan, B., Yeritsyan, B., Karapetian, S., Meliksetian, K., Adler, D.S., 2014. Ten Seconds in the Field: Rapid Armenian Obsidian Sourcing with Portable XRF to Inform Excavations and Surveys, Journal of Archaeological Science 41:333–348.

Adler, D.S., B. Yeritsyan, K. Wilkinson, R. Pinhasi, G. Bar-Oz, S. Nahapetyan, R. Bailey, B. A. Schmidt, P. Glauberman, N. Wales, B. Gasparian. 2012. The Hrazdan Gorge Palaeolithic Project, 2008–2009. In Archaeology of Armenia in Regional Context, Proceedings of the International Conference dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography Held on September 15-17, 2009 in Yerevan, Armenia. Edited by P. Avetisyan and A. Bobokhyan, pp. 21–37. NAS RA Gitutyn Publishing house, Yerevan.

Pinhasi, R., M. Nioradze, N. Tushabramishvilli, D. Lordkipanidze, D. Pleurdeau, M-H. Moncel, D.S. Adler, C. Stringer, T.F.G. Higham. 2012. New chronology for the Middle Palaeolithic of the Southern Caucasus suggests early demise of Neanderthals in this region. Journal of Human Evolution 63(6): 770–780.

Mercier, N., H. Valladas, L. Meignen, J.-L. Joron, N. Tushabramishvili, D.S. Adler, O. Bar-Yosef. 2010. Dating the Early Laminar Middle Paleolithic Laminar Industry from Djruchula, Republic of Georgia. Paléorient 36(2): 163­173.

Adler, D. S. 2009. The Earliest Musical Tradition. Nature 406 (6 August 2009): 695–696.

Adler, D. S., and Bar-Oz, G. 2009. Seasonal Patterns of Prey Acquisition During the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of the Southern Caucasus. In The Evolution of Hominid Diets: Integrating approaches to the study of Palaeolithic subsistence, edited by J.-J. Hublin and M. Richards. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig Germany.

ERRATUM to Adler, D. S., and Bar-Oz, G. 2009. Seasonal Patterns of Prey Acquisition During the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of the Southern Caucasus. In The Evolution of Hominid Diets: Integrating approaches to the study of Palaeolithic subsistence, edited by J.-J. Hublin and M. Richards. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig Germany.

Adler, D. S., and O. Jöris. 2008. Dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Boundary Across Eurasia. In Dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Boundary Across Eurasia, edited by O. Jöris and D. S. Adler, a special issue of the Eurasian Prehistory 2007, 5(2): 3–16.

Jöris, O., D. S. Adler (Guest Editors). 2008. Dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Boundary Across Eurasia, a special issue of the Eurasian Prehistory 2007, 5(2).
D. S. Adler, and O. Jöris, O. (Guest Editors) 2008. Journal of Human Evolution: Chronology of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in Eurasia, 55/5.

Jöris, O., and D. S. Adler. 2008. Setting the record straight: Toward a systematic chronological understanding of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic boundary in Eurasia. Journal of Human Evolution: Chronology of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in Eurasia 55/5:761–763.

Adler, D. S., O. Bar-Yosef, A. Belfer-Cohen, N. Tushabramishvil, E. Boaretto, N. Mercier, H. Valladas, and W.J. Rink. 2008. Dating the demise: Neandertal extinction and the establishment of modern humans in the southern Caucasus. In Journal of Human Evolution: Chronology of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in Eurasia 55/5:817–833.

Adler et al. Erratum.

Adler, D. S., Belfer-Cohen, A., Bar-Yosef, O. 2006. Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Neanderthal-Modern Human Interactions In The Southern Caucasus. In Neanderthals and Modern Humans Meet , edited by N. J. Conard, pp. 165–187. Tübingen Publications in Prehistory, Kerns Verlag Tübingen.

Bar-Yosef, O., Belfer-Cohen, A., Adler, D. S. 2006. The Implications of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Chronological Boundary in the Caucasus to Eurasian Prehistory. Anthropologie XLIV(1): 49–60.

Adler, D. S., Bar-Oz, G, Belfer-Cohen, A., and Bar-Yosef, O. 2006. Ahead of the Game: Middle and Upper Palaeolithic Hunting Practices in the Southern Caucasus. Current Anthropology 47(1): 89–118.

Bar-Oz, G, and Adler, D. S. 2005. The Taphonomic History of the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic Faunal Assemblages from Ortvale Klde, Georgian Republic. Journal of Taphonomy 3(4) 185 – 211.

Eren, M., Dominguez-Rodrigo, M., Le, I., Adler , D. S., Kuhn, S. L., and Bar-Yosef, O. 2005. Defining and Measuring Reduction in Unifacial Stone Tools. Journal of Archaeological Science 32:1190–1201.

Adler, D. S., Bar-Oz, G., Vekua, A., and Tushabramishvili, N. 2004. Palaeolithic Hunting Practices. Caucasus Environment 2(7): 52–55.

Bar-Oz, G., Adler, D. S., Vekua, A., Meshveliani, T., Tushabramishvili, N., Belfer-Cohen, A., Bar-Yosef, O. 2004. Faunal exploitation patterns along the southern slopes of the Caucasus during the Late Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic. In Colonisation, Migration, and Marginal Areas. A Zooarchaeological Approach , edited by M. Mondini, S. Muñoz, and S. Wickler, pp. 46–54. Oxford: Oxbow Books.

Adler, D. S., Tushabramishvili, N. 2004. Middle Palaeolithic Patterns of Settlement and Subsistence in the Southern Caucasus. In Middle Palaeolithic Settlement Dynamics , edited by N. Conard, Tübingen, pp. 91–132. Publications in Prehistory, Kerns Verlag Tübingen .

Adler, D. S., Prindiville, T. P., Conard, N. J. 2003. Patterns of Spatial Organization and Land Use During the Eemian Interglacial in the Rhineland: New Data from Wallertheim, Germany. Eurasian Prehistory 1(2): 25–78.

Tappan, M., Adler, D. S., Ferring, R., Gabunia, M., Vekua, A., Swisher, C. 2002. Akhalkalaki: The Taphonomy of An Early Pleistocene Locality in the Republic of Georgia. Journal of Archaeological Science 29:1367–1391.

Tushabramishvili, N., Adler, D. S., Bar-Yosef, O., Belfer-Cohen, A. 2002. Current Middle & Upper Palaeolithic Research in the Southern Caucasus. Antiquity 76:927–928.

Conard, N. J., Adler, D. S. 1997. Lithic Reduction and Hominid Behavior in the Middle Palaeolithic of the Rhineland. Journal of Anthropological Research 53: 147–175.