Research

"Our past could show us how we can feed ourselves and still leave room for nature" - Sir David Attenborough

Reconstructing Hominin Diets

Through zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of both large and small animals, my research is focused on identifying traces of hominin and carnivore predation from faunal assemblages in Island Southeast Asia to infer diet and foraging strategies of extinct hominins. The majority of my research takes place at Liang Bua on the Indonesian island of Flores to better understand how Homo floresiensis, foraging populations of Homo sapiens, and Austronesian farming communities interacted with local fauna. I use a human behavioral ecology approach to test hypotheses about foraging efficiency and the dietary role of smaller animals for the evolution of our species.

Experimental ZooArchaeology

The Laboratory for Experimental Archaeology and Neotaphonomy (LEArN) conducts experiments to understand how processes observed in the present can be applied to infer hominin behavior in the past. This research program is focused specifically on understanding the formation of bone surface modifications created by human and carnivore agents to infer hominin diet and foraging strategies. Techniques employed by the LEArN lab include feeding experiments at zoological institutions, ethnoarchaeology, and experimental butchery studies. We use a combination of imaging methods, including confocal profilometry (in collaboration with Dr. Pante at CSU) and micro-CT.

Paleoecology

Understanding the relationship between extinct hominin populations and the environment is critical for inferring evolutionary processes. Therefore, to understand the role of diet in hominin evolution, I seek to reconstruct extinct paleoecologies and habitats through the use of light stable isotopes from small mammals (e.g. rodents). I also create paleoecological models that incorporate stable isotope and zooarchaeological data to reconstruct habitat structures that have influenced or was influenced by hominin foraging activities.

Publications

Major In-Review & In-Progress Publications

17. Veatch E.G., Alamsyah N., I Made Julianto A., Sutikna T., Tocheri M. The consumption of small mammals by foraging Homo sapiens and Austronesian farmers at Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia). In preparation for PaleoAnthropology.

16. Veatch E.G., Alamsyah N., Dupra T., Foecke K., Sutikna T., Tocheri M. The Paleoecology of Homo floresiensis and Homo sapiens at Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia): Temporal Changes as Inferred through δ13C and δ18O Stable Isotopes from Murine Rodents. In preparation for Nature Ecology & Evolution.

15. #Eber A., Veatch E.G., Sutikna T., and Tocheri M. Taxonomic Identification of Large Murine Mandibular Toothrows from Flores, Indonesia, Using Two-Dimensional Geometric Morphometrics. In preparation for Hystrix

14. Veatch E.G., Alamsyah N., Pante M., Pelissero A., Kassaw T., Pobiner B., Betts C., Sutikna T., and Tocheri M. Taphonomic Analysis at Liang Bua Reveals the Dietary and Technological Capabilities of Homo floresiensis. In Review Science Advances

13. Hawkins M., Coombs E., Flores M.F., Penna A., Sefczek T.M., Brown A., Sharkey E., Tinsman J., Rasambainarivo F., Veatch E.G., Randriamanana J., Ranaivoarisoa J., Zaonarvelo J.R., Plaxton L., Brace S., Barnes I., Mingez R.P., and Louis E.E. Total evidence approach reveals undescribed species of the Critically Endangered Diademed Sifaka. In Review Linnean Society.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

12. Cerezo-Roman J., Sawchuk E., Bertacchi A., Hanson A., Walsh M., Veatch E.G., Kaliba P., and Thompson J. Detailed Recovery Methods Show the Complexity of Ancient Mortuary Practices in Later Stone Age Hunter-Gatherers of Southern-Central Africa. Bioarchaeology International, https://doi.org/10.5744/bi.2024.0027

11. Veatch E.G., Fabre P.H., Tocheri M.W., Sutikna T., Saptomo E.W., Musser G.G., and Helgen K.M. 2023. A new giant shrew rat (Rodentia: Muridae: Murinae) from Flores, Indonesia and a comparative investigation of its ecomorphology. In Contributions to Mammalogy and Zooarchaeology of Wallacea, ed. K. M. Helgen and R. K. Jones. Records of the Australian Museum 75(5): 741–764. https://doi.org/10.3853/j.2201-4349.75.2023.1781

10. Veatch E.G., Julianto A., Sutikna T., Jatmiko, and Tocheri M.W. 2023. Prey body size generates bias for human and avian agents: Cautions for interpreting small game assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Science, 160: 105883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105883

9. Flannery T.F., Rich T.H., Vickers-Rich P., Veatch E.G., and Helgen K.M. 2022. The Gondwanan origin of Tribosphenida (Mammalia). Alcheringa, 46(3-4): 277-290. DOI.org/10.1080/03115518.2022.2132288

8. Flannery T., Rich T.H., Vickers-Rich P., Ziegler T., Veatch E.G., and Helgen K.M. 2022. A review of Monotreme (Monotremata) evolution. Alcheringa, 46(1): 1-18. DOI:10.1080/03115518.2022.202590

7. Veatch E.G., Ringen E.J., Kilgore M.B., Jatmiko. 2021. Using niche construction theory to generate testable foraging hypotheses at Liang Bua. Evolutionary Anthropology, 30: 8–16. DOI: 10.1002/evan.21884

6. Roos C., Helgen K., Portela R.M., Thant N.M.L., Lwin N., Lin A.K., Lin A., Yi K.M., Soe P., Hein Z.M., Myint M.N., Ahmed T., Chetry D., Urh M., Veatch E.G., Duncan N., Kamminga P., Chua M., Yao L., Matauschek C., Meyer D., Liu Z., Li M., Fan P., Quyet K., Hofreiter M., Zinner D., Momberg F. 2020. Mitogenomic phylogeny of the Asian colobine genus Trachypithecus Reichenbach, 1862, with special focus on Trachypithecus phayrei (Blyth, 1847) and description of a new species. Zoological Research, 41(6): 656-669. DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2020.254

5. Veatch E.G., Tocheri M.W., Sutikna T., McGrath K., Saptomo E. W., Jatmiko, and Helgen K.M. 2019. Temporal shifts in the distribution of murine rodent body sizes at Liang Bua: New insights into the paleoecology of Homo floresiensis and other endemic fauna. Journal of Human Evolution, 130: 45-60. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.02.002

4. Brooks A., Yellen J., Potts R., Behrensmeyer A.K., Deino A.L., Leslie D., Ambrose S., Ferguson J., D’Errico F., Zipkin A., Whittaker S., Post J., Veatch E.G., Foecke K., & Clark J. 2018. Long-distance stone transport and pigment use in the earliest Middle Stone Age. Science, 360(6384): 90-94. DOI: 10.1126/science.aao2646

3. Potts R., Behrensmeyer A.K., Faith J.T., Tryon C.A., Brooks A., Yellen J., Deino A.L., Kinyanjui R., Clark J., Haradon C., Levin N., Meijer H., Veatch E.G., Owen R.B., & Renaut R. 2018. Environmental dynamics during the onset of the Middle Stone Age in eastern Africa. Science, 360(6384): 86-90. DOI: 10.1126/science.eaao2200

Book Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)

2. Tocheri M., Veatch E.G., Jatmiko, Sutikna T. 2022. Homo floresiensis. In Oxford Handbook of Early Southeast Asia. Charles F.W. Higham and Nam C. Kim (editors). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199355358.013.2

1. Helgen K.M. and E.G. Veatch. 2015. Recently extinct Australian marsupials and monotremes. Handbook of Mammals of the World, Volume 5, Monotremes and Marsupials, D.E. Wilson and R.A. Mittermeier (editors), Lynx Editions, Barcelona. Pp. 17-31.

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

Veatch E.G. 2023. Extinguishing the Idea that Hobbits used Fire. Sapiens.org

Theses

Veatch, E.G. 2021. The zooarchaeology and taphonomy of small mammal remains at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia. Ph.D. Dissertation, Emory University, Atlanta, G.A., USA, 355 pp.

Veatch, E.G. 2014. A morphological analysis of the humerus and calcaneus of endemic rats from Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia. M.A. thesis, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA, 98 pp.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse