Tate Paulette

Tate Paulette is an Associate Professor in the History Department at North Carolina State University (NC State). His research focuses on ancient Mesopotamia, Cyprus, and the broader Near East, with an emphasis on state formation, food politics, and the socio-political role of alcoholic beverages. A graduate of the University of Chicago's Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations program, Paulette's work bridges archaeological evidence, cuneiform texts, and experimental archaeology. He is the author of In the Land of Ninkasi: A History of Beer in Ancient Mesopotamia (2024), which explores beer's cultural and economic significance in Mesopotamian society.

Key research themes include grain storage systems, the political economy of food, and the archaeology of beer production. His fieldwork includes surveys in Cyprus (e.g., the 2017 Makounta-Voules and Stroumpi-Pigi-Agios Andronikos projects) and zooarchaeological studies of animal husbandry practices in Mesopotamia. Paulette has also collaborated on interdisciplinary projects analyzing caprines' roles as economic capital and the resilience of Bronze Age communities amid environmental change.

Teaching interests span material culture theory, ancient Near Eastern civilizations, and the history of agriculture. Courses include graduate seminars on material culture and undergraduate classes on the ancient Mediterranean world and alcohol in antiquity. His work highlights the interplay between archaeological evidence, historical sources, and experimental methods to reconstruct past lifeways.