Welcome

My name is Elizabeth Grace Veatch and I received my PhD in Anthropology from Emory University in 2021 and currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Human Origins Program of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

My research interests span anthropology, natural history, and mammalogy and include hominin dietary behavior (what did our Paleolithic ancestor eat and why?), paleoecology (what kinds of environments were they exploiting?), and Human Behavioral Ecology foraging theory (How does foraging behavior impact evolutionary trajectories in the genus Homo?).

My primary research takes place at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia – one of the most important sites in human evolution and home to the late-surviving archaic hominin Homo floresiensis. Extending from rats to small Proboscideans, my research centers on understanding the foraging behaviors and diets of Homo floresiensis and modern humans during the Pleistocene and Holocene using taphonomic, zooarchaeological, and geochemical methods.

Most importantly, I love what I do. I love looking at tens of thousands of small (and big!) rat bones to solve a 100,000 year old island mystery. I love collaborating with colleagues from around the world. And I love creating something from nothing.