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
Today’s hot-button issue is actually as old as the human race.
Between 50,000 and 35,000 years ago in Eurasia, the disappearance of hominin species or their biocultural assimilation with anatomically modern humans is one of the biggest questions in prehistory today.
Mysterious stone balls continue to puzzle archaeologists.
A paradigm shift has occurred in our understanding of when the first humans settled in Western Eurasia.
What led humans on the unique path of cultural development? And can we do anything useful with newly reconstructed histories of this process?
Developments in the study of human prehistory hold clues about our times, our world, and ourselves.
Human technologies have continued to evolve exponentially since the end of the Paleolithic: today we are using them to learn more about the past.
By Deborah Barsky in Human Bridges | English
In a world so profoundly transformed by science and technology, it seems reasonable to ask: Why do religions still exist?
Of all the pivotal technologies discovered by humans, fire making was the one that gifted our species with power beyond all others.
Can we pinpoint a time in our evolutionary trajectory when we wandered from the path of empathy, compassion and respect for one another and for all forms of life?
We need a broad comparative lens to produce useful explanations and narratives of our origins across time
Is large-scale intraspecific warfare Homo sapiens’ condition, or can our species strive to achieve global peace?
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
Human Prehistory
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 and Juan Manuel Jiménez-Arenas | Frontiers in Earth Science | May | 2022
Co-authors: Eudald Carbonell, Robert Sala-Ramos, José María Bermúdez de Castro and Francisco-Javier García-Vadillo | Quaternary International | November | 2021
Co-authors: Anne Marie Moigne and Véronique Pois | Journal of Human Evolution | October | 2019
Co-authors: Josep-Maria Vergès, Stefania Titton, Miquel Guardiola, Robert Sala and Isidro Toro Moyano | Comptes Rendus Palevol | March | 2018
Co-authors: Eudald Carbonell and Robert Sala Ramos | L’Anthropologie | March | 2018
The First Peopling of Europe and Technological Change During the Lower-Middle Pleistocene Transition
Co-authors: Marina Mosquera, Andreu Ollé and Xosé Pedro Rodríguez-Álvarez | Quaternary International | January | 2016
Co-authors: Josep-María Vergès, Robert Sala, Leticia Menéndez and Isidro Toro-Moyano | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B | November | 2015
Comptes Rendus Palevol | July | 2013
Co-authors: Robert Sala, Leticia Menéndez and Isidro Toro-Moyano | Quaternary International | March | 2015
Co-authors: Joan Garcia, Kenneth Martínez, Robert Sala, Yossi Zaidner, Eudald Carbonell and 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 and 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.
Media by this author
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
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