Associate Professor
University Hall (UH) 3129
(205) 934-2742
Research and Teaching Interests: Paleoanthropology, zooarchaeology, taphonomy, experimental archaeology, human dietary evolution, meat-alternatives, future foods
Office Hours: By appointment
Education:
- BS, Rutgers University, Evolutionary Anthropology
- MA, Rutgers University, Anthropology
- PhD, Rutgers University, Anthropology
My research explores the ecology and evolution of the human diet, focusing primarily on the foraging behaviors and technological adaptations that characterize prehistoric humans’ carnivorous niche. Much of this work is zooarchaeological and taphonomic; using experimental models of animal butchery and resulting bone surface modifications to guide interpretation of fossil assemblages.
In addition to studying prehistoric examples of tool-assisted carnivory, I explore contemporary foodways, focusing on emerging meat-alternatives as foods of the future. Studying with innovators who are designing new ways to produce meat and other animal foods without growing animals offers a view of the biotechnological and entrepreneurial contexts that shape our food systems, and the logics, ideals, motivations that innovators in the alternative-meat food space deploy when they think about meat, animal foods, and their role in directing the future of the human diet.
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Recent Courses
My courses emphasize critical thinking about human biology, behavior, culture, the fossil record, and human evolution - topics that are very important for understanding the complex place that humanity occupies in the world.
- ANTH 102: Introduction to Biological Anthropology
- ANTH 410/631: Bones
- ANTH 429/619: Food and Culture
- ANTH 454/654: Biological Anthropology and Contemporary Issues
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Select Publications
- Patterson, D.B., Braun, D.R., Allen, K.A., Barr, W.A., Behrensmeyer, A.K., Biernat, M., Lehmann, S.B., Maddox, T., Manthi, F.K., Merritt, S.R., Morris, S.E., O’Brien, K., Reeves, J.S., Wood, B.A., Bobe, R. 2019. Comparative isotopic evidence from East Turkana supports a dietary shift within the genus Homo. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3:1048-1056. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0916-0
- Merritt, S.R. 2019. An experimental investigation of changing cut mark cross-sectional size during butchery: implications for interpreting tool-assisted carcass processing from cut mark samples. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 25:184-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.03.028
- Merritt S.R., Peters, K.D. 2018. The impact of flake tool attributes and experience on carcass processing time and efficiency during experimental butchery trials. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 29:220-230.https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2730
- Merritt, S.R., Pante, M.C., Keevil, T.L., Njau, J.K., Blumenschine, R.J. 2019. Don’t cry over spilled ink: missing context prevent replication and creates the Rorschach effect in bone surface modification studies. Journal of Archaeological Science 102:71-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2018.07.003
- Key, A.J.M., Merritt, S.R., Kivell, T.L. 2018. Hand grip diversity and frequency during Lower Palaeolithic stone tool use. Journal of Human Evolution 125:137-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.08.006
- Merritt, S.R., Mavuso, S., Cordiner, E.A., Fetchenhier, K., Greiner, E. 2018. FwJj70 – a potential Early Stone Age single carcass butchery locality preserved in a fragmentary surface assemblage. Journal of Archaeological Science:Reports 20:736-747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.06.016
- Merritt, S.R. 2017. Investigating hominin carnivory in the Okote Member of Koobi Fora, Kenya with an actualistic model of carcass consumption and traces of butchery on the elbow. Journal of Human Evolution 112:105-133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.08.004
- Merritt, S.R., Davis, K. M. 2017. Diagnostic properties of hammerstone-broken long bone fragments, specimen identifiability, and Early Stone Age butchered assemblage interpretation. Journal of Archaeological Science 85:114-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2017.06.009
- Patterson, D.B., Braun, D.R., Behrensmeyer, A.K., Merritt, S.R., Zliobaite, I., Reeves, J.S., Wood, B.A., Fortelius, M., Bobe, R. 2017. Ecosystem evolution and hominin paleobiology at East Turkana, northern Kenya between 2.0 and 1.4 Ma. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 481:1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.05.001
- Patterson, D.B., Braun, D.R., Behrensmeyer, A.K., Lehman, S.B., Merritt, S.R., Reeves, J.S., Wood, B.A., Bobe, R. 2017. Landscape scale heterogeneity in the East Turkana ecosystem during the Okote Member (1.56-1.38). Journal of Human Evolution 112:148-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.06.007
- Pante, M.C., Muttart, M.V., Keevil, T.L., Blumenschine, R.J., Njau, J.K., Merritt, S.R. 2017. A new high-resolution 3-D quantitative method for identifying bone surface modifications with implications for the Early Stone Age archaeological record. Journal of Human Evolution 102:1-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.10.002
- Merritt, S.R. 2016. Cut mark cluster geometry and equifinality in replicated Early Stone Age butchery. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 26:585-598. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2448
- Merritt, S.R. 2012. Factors affecting Early Stone Age cut mark cross-sectional size: implications from actualistic butchery trials. Journal of Archaeological Science 39: 2984-2994. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.04.036
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Academic Distinctions & Professionals Societies
- Paleoanthropological Society
- Society of American Archaeologists
- American Association of Physical Anthropologists
- American Anthropological Association