Andrew Zipkin
Andrew Zipkin is an archaeologist with research interests including the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of Central and East Africa, provenance geochemistry, remote sensing and GIS, experimental archaeology, and the origins of behavioral modernity. Specifically, his doctoral dissertation research focuses on understanding how humans interacted with the landscape to acquire, modify, and use the ochre pigments (iron oxides) which have been found at MSA sites across Africa. Andrew conducts field work with the Malawi Earlier-Middle Stone Age Project in northern Malawi and with the Olorgesailie Project – Middle Stone Age Group in southern Kenya. In the laboratory he collaborates with The George Washington University Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering to test the material properties of ochre-based adhesives like those used to construct hafted compound tools, such as a stone-tipped spear. He also works with the University of Missouri Research Reactor and the Department of Earth Sciences at the Memorial University of Newfoundland to develop new techniques for matching ochre artifacts to their geological source on the African landscape.
| Year Entered Program: | 2009 | |
| Email: | amzipkin@gwmail.gwu.edu | |
| Personal Website: | http://gwu.academia.edu/andrewzipkin | |
| Advisor: | Alison S. Brooks | |
| Education | ||
| Undergraduate: | Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Research (Major: Biology and Society), Magna Cum Laude, Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2009 | |
| Publications | Go to Publications Page | |
| Grants/Awards | 2012 Dissertation Fieldwork Grant: “Material Symbolism and Ochre Use in Middle Stone Age East-Central Africa” Wenner-Gren Foundation – $14,892 (over two years)
2012 Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: “Material Symbolism and Ochre Use in Middle Stone Age East-Central Africa” National Science Foundation – $25,196 (over two years) 2011 Graduate Research Fellowship: “Ochre Exploitation in the Middle Stone Age of Central and East Africa” National Science Foundation – $90,000 ($30,000/year) 2011 Exploration and Field Research Grant: “Ochre Exploitation in the Middle Stone Age of northern Malawi” The Explorers Club Washington Group – $2000 2011 Cosmos Scholars Grant: “Identification and Characterization of Archaeologically Relevant Malawian Ochre Deposits” Cosmos Club Foundation – $2400 2009 William Warren Graduate Fellowship Award ,The George Washington University – $500 2009 Hirsch Scholarship for Travel to Archaeological Projects, Cornell University – $2500 2008 Hirsch Scholarship for Travel to Archaeological Projects, Cornell University – $2500 2007 Hirsch Scholarship for Travel to Archaeological Projects, Cornell University – $2500 |
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| Research Experience | 2011-2012 Malawi Earlier-Middle Stone Age Project, Karonga, Malawi; University of Queensland, Brisbane and the Malawi Department of Antiquities, Lilongwe
2009-2010 Olorgesailie Middle Stone Age Project, Olorgesailie, Kenya; Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC and the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 2008 Nuvuk Archaeological Project, Barrow, Alaska, USA; Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation Science LLC, Barrow 2007 Palaeo-Archaeological Field School, Swartkrans and Kudu Koppie, South Africa; University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg |
