News and Tweets

September, 2023.  A short newspaper article highlighting some work that I'm doing with students for the Village of Fredonia recently was published in the Dunkirk Observer. For my projects, I'm involved in various aspects of soil erosion and landslide activity in areas surrounding the Fredonia reservoir. Check out the link to the online article here. 

September, 2022. Had this very nice article come out in the school newspaper. It highlights some of our recent stream work. The student testimonials are awesome. Check out the online article here. 

September, 2022. Just had an article published entitled "More than Just Clovis: The Broad Impact of Sampling Bias on Archaeological Site Distributions" in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. This study explored the role of sampling and taphonomic bias on archaeological site detectability. Traditionally, most of these studies have focused on Clovis, or fluted-point, assemblages, but my work indicates that bias influences later assemblages (Archaic) to an equal degree. I then propose two methods to work with legacy datasets that already are biased. Check out the online article here. 

June, 2021. In the current American Archaeology magazine, an article entitled "Google Maps for Travelers" highlighted recent research conducted by me on Paleoindian Native American travel decision making during the terminal Pleistocene. Check out a 'sneak peak' of this article at American Archaeology . The original article by Purtill, "The Road Not Taken", can be found at: www.researchgate.net/profile/Matthew-Purtill/research 

January, 2021. Brad Lepper just published a short newspaper article in the Columbus Dispatch highlighting my results from my just published scientific article The Road Not Taken. This is a nice article that is meant to bring the results of research to the general public. The article is located at https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/columns/2021/01/31/archaeology-paleoindians-ohios-first-settlers-left-stone-tools-flint-few-footprints/4280620001/ , but is behind a paywall. A copy of the article is available here for free.

January, 2021. Dr. Purtill recently had an article published in American Antiquity entitled The Road Not Taken: How Early Landscape Learning and Adoption of a Risk-Averse Strategy Influenced Paleoindian Travel Route Decision Making in the Upper Ohio Valley. This article explores potential travel routes that Paleoindian groups may have traveled between Sandy Springs, a large Paleoindian site in Adams County, Ohio, and Upper Mercer/Vanport chert quarries in east-central Ohio. This research highlights the importance of incorporating geological principals and social science theory. It can be located at www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/article/abs/road-not-taken-how-early-landscape-learning-and-adoption-of-a-riskaverse-strategy-influenced-paleoindian-travel-route-decision-making-in-the-upper-ohio-valley/658B4AFA3E239C1448CA7A0CD785385C