I am currently retired after 38 years at Texas A&M. My research interests continue to include the application of quantitative methods to archaeological and anthropological questions. While I do not focus on a particular time period, I have worked more with data from hunting and gathering sites than complex ancient societies or historic sites. Currently I am analyzing the distribution of artifacts at the Friedrich site and GPS data on Dominican fishermen around fish aggregating devices (FADs).
My book, Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Using R is part of the Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology series. A free package of data sets, archdata, used in the book is available for download through CRAN. I am also a co-author of Clovis Lithic Technology: Investigations of a Stratified Workshop at the Gault Site, Texas, a book analyzing an area at the Gault site, a Clovis camp in central Texas that explores a number of ways of using quantitative methods to analyze the data.Â
I formerly taught several undergraduate and graduate courses. "Introduction to Anthropology" for undergraduate honors students focuses on how humans became such strange creatures. "Ancient Civilizations" for undergraduate students explores the emergence of complex societies around the world. "Archaeological Methods and Theory" is a required graduate course for anthropology graduate students covering the theoretical basis for archaeological explanation and the development of new methodological techniques. "Research Methods in Anthropology" for graduate students involves answering anthropological questions using quantitative data.
Email: dcarlson@tamu.edu