{"id":14879,"date":"2019-07-01T14:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T18:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/archaeology\/?post_type=profile&p=14879"},"modified":"2025-08-08T15:35:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T19:35:20","slug":"joshua-robinson","status":"publish","type":"profile","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/archaeology\/profile\/joshua-robinson\/","title":{"rendered":"Joshua Robinson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Curriculum Vitae<\/a><\/p>\n


\nAreas of Interest<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paleoecological<\/span> reconstructions of <\/span>Plio<\/span>-Pleistocene hominin sites<\/span>; Habitat<\/span>s<\/span> <\/span>and diets<\/span> of early <\/span>Homo<\/span>; <\/span>African Mi<\/span>ddle and Later Stone Ages; Reconstructing exchange<\/span> and movement<\/span>networks; Local paleoenvironments and climate; H<\/span>unter-to-herder transition<\/span> in sub-Saharan Africa<\/span>;<\/span> <\/span>Adaptive radiation of platyrrhines during the Miocene<\/span>;<\/span> <\/span>Stable isotope analyses; Geospatial analysis and modeling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Excavations and Fieldwork<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joshua Robinson<\/span> is <\/span>an archaeologist <\/span>with research interests in the <\/span>paleoecological<\/span> context of <\/span>Plio<\/span>-Pleistocene biological and behavioral adap<\/span>tati<\/span>ons of the human lineage.<\/span> His research<\/span> appl<\/span>ies<\/span>multi-proxy ecological and geospatial methods to study how past habitats affected hominin diets, evolution, and movements<\/span>. Robinson has conducted research on the paleobiology of early <\/span>Homo <\/span>at Hadar and <\/span>Ledi-Geraru<\/span> in Ethiopia as well as field and museum work on the Middle to Later Stone Age transition in Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, and South Africa. Using <\/span>spatially and temporally complex datasets, he seeks to reconstruct p<\/span>aleoecosystems<\/span> in an effort to assess how changing climatic and habitat contexts intersected with behavioral and demographic changes in socio-ecologically linked adaptive cycles. In addition to this work, Robinson also has interests in the adaptive radiation of platyrrhine primates in<\/span> Argentine<\/span> Patagonia during the <\/span>Miocene. He has conducted <\/span>paleoecological<\/span> research on the Pinturas Formation and is a co-PI of a recently funded Leakey Foundation grant (2025-2027) for new field work in the Collon Cura Formation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Representative Publications<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robinson, J<\/span>oshua R.<\/span>, <\/span>Ignacio A. <\/span>Lazagabaster<\/span>, <\/span>John Rowan<\/span>, <\/span>Margaret E. Lewis,<\/span> <\/span>Lars Werdelin<\/span>, <\/span>Christopher J. Campisano<\/span>, & <\/span>Kaye E. Reed. 2025.<\/span> <\/span>Palaeoecology<\/span> of the Pliocene large carnivore guild at Hadar, Lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia.\u00a0<\/span>Journal of Human Evolution<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>202<\/span>, 103653. DOI: 10.1016\/j.jhevol.2025.103653<\/span><\/p>\n

Kirkpatrick, A<\/span>ndrew G.<\/span>, <\/span>Ignacio A. <\/span>Lazagabaster<\/span>, <\/span>Joshua R. Robinson<\/span>, <\/span>John Rowan<\/span>, <\/span>Christopher J. Campisano<\/span>, <\/span>Kaye E. Reed<\/span>, <\/span>Jessica R. Scott<\/span>, & <\/span>Peter S. Ungar. 2025.<\/span> Dental microwear of bovids from the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition in the lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia.\u00a0<\/span>Palaeogeography<\/span>, Palaeoclimatology, <\/span>Palaeoecology<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>670<\/span>, 112932. DOI: 10.1016\/j.palaeo.2025.112932<\/span><\/p>\n

Smail, I<\/span>rene E.<\/span>,<\/span> Amy L. Rector<\/span>, <\/span>Joshua R. Robinson,<\/span> & <\/span>Kaye E. Reed. 2025.<\/span> Pliocene climatic change and the origins of Homo at <\/span>Ledi-Geraru<\/span>, Ethiopia.\u00a0<\/span>Annals of Human Biology<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>52<\/span>(1), 2462255. DOI: 10.1080\/03014460.2025.2462255<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson, Joshua R. 2023.<\/span> <\/span>A context for connectivity: Stable isotope insights <\/span>to<\/span> habitat heterogeneity in the late Pleistocene and Holocene of southern Africa. <\/span>Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology<\/span>, 6, 34. DOI: 10.1007\/s41982-023-00160-0<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson, Joshua R. 2022. <\/span>Investigating Isotopic Niche Space: Using <\/span>rKIN<\/span> for stable isotope studies in archaeology. <\/span>Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory<\/span>, 29, 831-861. DOI: 10.1007\/s10816-021-09541-7<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson, Joshua R. 2022. <\/span>Investigating habitat heterogeneity of Late Pleistocene archaeological sites in eastern Africa from stable isotopes. <\/span>Historical Biology<\/span>, 34:4, 674-693. DOI: 10.1080\/08912963.2021.1942465<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson, Joshua R., <\/span>John Rowan<\/span>,<\/span> W. Andrew Barr<\/span>, & <\/span>Matt Sponheimer<\/span>.<\/span> 2021.<\/span> <\/span>Intrataxonomic<\/span>trends in<\/span> <\/span>herbivore enamel \u03b4<\/span>13<\/span>C are decoupled from ecosystem woody cover. <\/span>Nature Ecology & Evolution<\/span>, 5, 995-1002. DOI: 10.1038\/s41559-021-01455-7<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson, Joshua R., <\/span>& <\/span>John D. Kingston. 2020.<\/span> Burned by the fire: Isotopic effects of experimental combustion of faunal tooth enamel. <\/span>Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports<\/span>, 34(A), 102593<\/span>. <\/span>DOI: 10.1016\/j.jasrep.2020.102593<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson, J<\/span>oshua <\/span>R.<\/span> 2019.<\/span> <\/span>A Holocene paleoenvironmental record based on ungulate stable isotopes from <\/span>Lukenya<\/span> Hill, Kenya. <\/span>Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports<\/span>, 28, 102016. DOI: 10.1016\/j.jasrep.2019.102016<\/span><\/p>\n

Du, Andrew<\/span>, <\/span>Joshua R. Robinson<\/span>, <\/span>Ignacio A. Lazagabaster<\/span>,<\/span> John Rowan, and Anna K. <\/span>Behrensmeyer<\/span>.<\/span> 2019.<\/span> Stable carbon isotopes from paleosol carbonate and herbivore enamel document differing <\/span>paleovegetation<\/span> signals in the eastern African <\/span>Plio<\/span>-Pleistocene. <\/span>Review of <\/span>Palaeobotany<\/span> and Palynology<\/span> 261:<\/span>41-52. DOI: 10.1016\/j.revpalbo.2018.11.003<\/span><\/p>\n

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