Alison S. Brooks

Professor of Anthropology
Research Associate in Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution
Visiting Scientist, Carnegie Institution of Washington Geophysical Laboratory
E-mail abrooks@gwu.edu
Office; 2112 G St. 204 / (202) 994-6079

Dr. Brooks is a paleoanthropologist and Paleolithic archaeologist who has worked at numerous localities in Africa and in northern China.

Research

Dr. Brooks's recent field research has been on Africa's Middle Stone Age, and she has ongoing projects at MSA sites in the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia, and the Olorgesailie Basin, Southern Kenya Rift. She is an important figure in the debate over when, where, and why modern Homo sapiens originated.

Current Research Projects

1. Field research at Paleolithic sites in Kenya.
2. Analysis of skeletal remains from Ishango, Zaire..
3. Dating by protein changes in ostrich eggshell.

Selected Publications

For Dr. Brooks's complete CV, click here.

Books

2005	Sager, R.J., D.M. Helgren and A.S. Brooks. An Introduction to World Studies: People, Places and Change. Holt, Rinehart and Winston 774 p. 4th ed., orig. published 2001. Also available in Eastern Hemisphere, Western World, and annotated teacher's editions.
2000	Delson, E., I. Tattersall, J.A. Van Couvering and A.S. Brooks, eds. Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory. 2nd ed. New York: Garland Press.

Articles and Book Chapters

2005	Yellen, J., A. Brooks, D. Helgren, M. Tappen, S. Ambrose, R. Bonnefille, J. Feathers, G. Goodfriend, K. Ludwig, P. Renne, and K. Stewart. "The archaeology of Aduma Middle Stone Age sites in the Awash Valley, Ethiopia," PaleoAnthropology 3: 25-100.
2005	Brooks, A.S., J. E. Yellen, L. Nevell and G. Hartman. "Projectile technologies of the African MSA: Implications for modern human origins." In E. Hovers and S. Kuhn, eds., Transitions before the Transition: Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age. New York: Kluwer Academics/Plenum.
2002	Brooks, A.S. "Cultural contact in Africa, past and present: Multidisciplinary perspectives on the status of African foragers." In S. Kent, ed., Ethnicity, Hunter-Gatherers, and the "Other": Association or Assimilation in Africa. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution.
2001	Mercader, J., and A.S. Brooks. "Across forests and savannas: Later Stone Age assemblages from Ituri and Semliki, Northeast Democratic Republic of Congo," Journal of Anthropological Research 57(2):197-217.
2002	McBrearty, S., and A.S. Brooks. "The revolution that wasn't: A new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior," Journal of Human Evolution 39(5): 453-563.

Courses Taught

Anth 001: Biological Anthropology
Anth 003: Archaeology
Anth 114/214: Paleoanthropological Field Program
Anth 118: Theory and Practice in Archaeology
Anth 147: Hominin Evolution
Anth 148: Primatology
Anth 158: Art and Culture
Anth 181: African Roots from Australopithecus to Zimbabwe
Anth 183: Human Cultural Beginnings
Anth 184: Old World Prehistory: First Farmers to First Cities
Anth 198: Foundations of Anthropological Thought
Anth 201: Proseminar in Biological Anthropology
Anth 203: Proseminar in Archaeology
Anth 247: Paleoanthropology (various topics)
Anth 283: Paleolithic Archaeology (various topics)
Anth 284: Archaeology Field/Laboratory Research

Education

Doc. Letters honoris causae, 1999, Russian Academy of Sciences
Ph.D. 1979, Harvard University
M.A. 1967, Harvard University
B.A. 1965, Radcliffe College