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Deborah Barsky

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Deborah Barsky
Author

Deborah Barsky is a writing fellow for the Human Bridges project of the Independent Media Institute, a researcher at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, and an associate professor at the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, Spain, with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). She is the author of Human Prehistory: Exploring the Past to Understand the Future.

Latest by this author


Deborah Barsky is a writing fellow for the Human Bridges project of the Independent Media Institute, a researcher at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, and an associate professor at the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, Spain, with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). She is the author of Human Prehistory: Exploring the Past to Understand the Future (Cambridge University Press, 2022).

Engaged in research projects on archaeological sites throughout the world, Barsky has published numerous works in books and scholarly journals.

“Throughout the years I have joined numerous international collaborative research and excavation missions in different areas of the world to study human cultural evolution from Lower, Middle and Upper Paleolithic sites in Africa and Eurasia. Early on, the opportunity to analyze some key African Oldowan sites in Ethiopia led me to focus my interests more specifically on the technological aspects of the oldest stone toolkits known in the world (Kada Gona EG 10 and EG 12, 2,6 Ma and Fejej FJ-1, 1,96 Ma). Collaborative research on the oldest stone industries outside of Africa, at the Lower Pleistocene site of Dmanisi (Georgian Caucasus, 1,8 Ma) and at Barranco León and Fuente Nueva 3 (1,4-1,3 Ma, Orce, Spain) for example, further widened my interests in cultural transmission and early human migrations. Currently my research and excavations are focused on understanding morpho-technological variability and cultural transitions in different areas of the globe.”

Publications by this author
Exploring the Past to Understand the Future
Cambridge University Press | November 2022

This book provides a concise overview of human prehistory. It shows how an understanding of the distant past offers new perspectives on present-day challenges facing our species—and how we can build a sustainable future for all life on planet Earth. Deborah Barsky tells a fascinating story of the long-term evolution of human culture and provides up-to-date examples from the archaeological record to illustrate the different phases of human history.

Barsky also presents a refreshing and original analysis about issues plaguing modern globalized society, such as racism, institutionalized religion, the digital revolution, human migrations, terrorism, and war. Written in an accessible and engaging style, Human Prehistory is aimed at an introductory-level audience. Students will acquire a comprehensive understanding of the interdisciplinary, scientific study of human prehistory, as well as the theoretical interpretations of human evolutionary processes that are used in contemporary archaeological practice. Definitions, tables, and illustrations accompany the text.

Contrasting Lithic Raw Materials Procurement and Use Patterns at the Oldowan Sites of Barranco León and Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Andalusia, Spain)
Co-authors: Stefania Titton, Robert Sala-Ramos, Amèlia Bargalló, Sophie Grégoire, Thibaud Saos, Alexia Serrano-Ramos, Oriol Oms, Jose-Antonio Solano García, Isidro Toro-Moyano, Juan Manuel Jiménez-Arenas | Frontiers in Earth Science | May 2022
Co-authors: Eudald Carbonell, Robert Sala-Ramos, José María Bermúdez de Castro, Francisco-Javier García-Vadillo | Quaternary International | November 2021
Co-authors: Josep-Maria Vergès, Stefania Titton, Miquel Guardiola, Robert Sala, Isidro Toro Moyano | Comptes Rendus Palevol | March 2018
Co-authors: Eudald Carbonell and Robert Sala Ramos | L’Anthropologie | March 2018
Co-authors: Marina Mosquera, Andreu Ollé, Xosé Pedro Rodríguez-Álvarez | Quaternary International | January 2016
Co-authors: Josep-María Vergès, Robert Sala, Leticia Menéndez, Isidro Toro-Moyano | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B | November 2015
Co-authors: Robert Sala, Leticia Menéndez, Isidro Toro-Moyano | Quaternary International | March 2015
Co-authors: Joan Garcia, Kenneth Martínez, Robert Sala, Yossi Zaidner, Eudald Carbonell, Isidro Toro-Moyano | Quaternary International | December 2013
Co-authors: Cécile Chapon-Sao, Jean-Jacques Bahain, Yonas Beyene, Dominique Cauche, Vincenzo Celiberti, Emmanuel Desclaux, Henry de Lumley, Marie-Antoinette de Lumley, François Marchal, Pierre-Elie Moullé, David Pleurdeau | Journal of African Archaeology | October 2011
Springer Publishing | 2014
In: M. Otte & R. Miller (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (Geographic/Cultural section), Volume II, Springer, Belgium, pp. 5,454-5,475.
Interview | October 2022

Lessons learned from the remote past could guide our species toward a brighter future, a new book argues.

An interview with Deborah Barsky by Observatory co-founder Jan Ritch-Frel.

Interview | 2022

Sonali Kolhatkar interviews Deborah Barsky about her book Human Prehistory: Exploring the Past to Understand the Future.

Watch: https://player.vimeo.com/video/782995096?h=bfac46bab2

Feature | August 2022

A new book analyzes the significance of prehistory for understanding the human condition in the modern globalized world.

See also in Catalan: Deborah Barsky: “conèixer el nostre passat ens ajudaria a rectificar la nostra trajectòria cap al futur”

Events with this author

At the Museum of Human Evolution (Museo de la Evolución Humana), in Burgos, Spain, on May 9, 2024, at 8:15PM: Deborah Barsky will be presenting her book Human Prehistory: Exploring the Past to Understand the Future.[1]

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