Ben Schoville

Ben Schoville is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Purdue University and a member of the College of Liberal Arts AI Research Initiative, where he investigates technological innovations that enabled human survival during the late Pleistocene through field excavations, experimental archaeology, and quantitative methodologies.

His research centers on human adaptation to water scarcity in arid environments over the past million years, focusing on Early and Middle Stone Age archaeological sites in the southern Kalahari Basin. By integrating high-resolution archaeological data with paleoenvironmental records through the North of Kuruman Palaeoarchaeology Project, he examines long-term human-environment dynamics and technological responses to ecological challenges.

Dr. Schoville directs the North of Kuruman Palaeoarchaeology Project and collaborates with Indigenous communities using community-led approaches to explore sustainable human-environment interactions. His work bridges traditional archaeological methods with AI-driven analysis through Purdue's College of Liberal Arts AI Research Initiative, emphasizing interdisciplinary solutions for understanding human resilience.