Stephen Shennan

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Stephen James Shennan (born May 1949 ) is a British prehistorian . He is considered one of the leading specialists in European prehistory. His research focus is on the use of theories and methodology of evolutionary biology in archeology . He also deals with prehistoric demographics and research on prehistoric social and economic institutions .

Life

Shennan studied archeology and anthropology at the University of Cambridge and received a Masters of Arts . There, with the prehistorian David Leonard Clarke , his doctorate took place . The subject of Shennan's dissertation was the bell beaker culture in Central Europe. In 1975 he moved to Southampton and did research there on prehistoric amber finds. In the course of this he was appointed Hampshire Archaeological Field Officer and carried out one of the first intensive field inspections in the United Kingdom. He then taught from 1978 as a lecturer at the University of Southampton . In 1995 he was appointed professor. 1996 Shennan left the University of Southampton and moved to the University College London , where he has since the Chair holds the Professor of Theoretical Archeology. From 2005 to 2014 he was director of the University's Institute of Archeology .

Shennan has built a reputation over the years as a specialist in European prehistory. At the beginning of his academic career he mainly researched the Copper Age and the Bronze Age in Central Europe. During his time at the University of Southampton, for example, he mainly examined the socio-economic aspects of the same. From 1985 to 1989 he headed the excavations of a Bronze Age mining settlement on the Klinglberg near St. Veit im Pongau in the Austrian Eastern Alps . Since the late 1980s, he has also been increasingly concerned with the use of theories and methods of evolution research for archaeological investigations, with particular attention to the role of demographic factors.

In July 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy . He also received the Rivers Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland in 2010 and has been a member of the Academia Europaea since 2013 . In 2015 he received the Shanghai Archaeological Forum Research Award .

Shennan is married to the film scholar Lúcia Nagib .

Publications (selection)

  • Stephen J. Shennan: Quantifying Archeology. (1988)
  • Stephen J. Shennan: Bronze Age Copper Producers of the Eastern Alps. (1995)
  • Stephen J. Shennan: Genes, Memes and Human History: Darwinian Archeology and Cultural Evolution. (2002, London: Thames and Hudson)
  • John F. Cherry, Chris Scarre , Stephen J. Shennan [Eds.]: Explaining Social Change: Studies in Honor of Colin Renfrew. (2004, Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research)
  • Ruth H. Mace, Clare J. Holden, Stephen J. Shennan: The Evolution of Cultural Diversity: A Phylogenetic Approach. (2005, UCL Press & Left Coast Press)
  • Carl P. Lipo, Michael J. O'Brien , Mark Collard, Stephen J. Shennan: Mapping our Ancestors: Phylogenetic Methods in Anthropology and Prehistory. (2006, New Brunswick, NJ: Aldine Transaction)
  • Robert Layton, Stephen J. Shennan, Peter Stone [Eds.]: A Future for Archeology: The Past in the Present. (2006, London: UCL Press)
  • Stephen J. Shennan: Pattern and Process in Cultural Evolution. (2009)
  • Michael J. O'Brien, Stephen J. Shennan [Eds.]: Innovation in Cultural Systems: Contributions from Evolutionary Anthropology. (2010, Cambridge, MIT Press)
  • Sue Colledge, James Conolly, Keith Dobney, Katie Manning, Stephen J. Shennan [Eds.]: The Origins and Spread of Domestic Animals in Southwest Asia and Europe. (2013, Walnut Creek US: Left Coast Press)
  • Tim Kerig, Stephen J. Shennan [Eds.]: Connecting Networks: characterizing contact by measuring lithic exchange in the European Neolithic. (2015, Oxford: Archaeopress)

Web links

  • Entry on the website of University College London
  • Biography on the British Academy website

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Graeme Barker [Hrsg.]: Companion Encyclopedia of Archeology (1999, Volume 1, Page xxvii)
  2. ↑ Stephen Shennan: Bronze Age Copper Producers of the Eastern Alps (1995)
  3. ↑ Stephen Shennan invited to join prestigious Academia Europaea , October 28, 2013, UCL Institute of Archeology
  4. ↑ Spotlight on Stephen Shennan , March 1, 2012, UCL Institute of Archeology
  5. ↑ Lúcia Nagib: World Cinema and the Ethics of Realism (2011, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, page xiv)
personal data
SURNAME Shennan, Stephen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shennan, Stephen James (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British prehistorian
DATE OF BIRTH May 1949