Dan Cabanes

Dan Cabanes is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, specializing in Microarchaeology and Geoarchaeology. His research focuses on understanding human impact on archaeological sediments through phytolith and FTIR analysis, with particular emphasis on the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition, Neanderthal behavior, and Levantine urban centers.

Academic Appointments:

• 2025–Present: Undergraduate Director, Department of Anthropology, Rutgers
• 2015–2016: Post-doctoral researcher, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• 2012–2015: Juan de la Cierva Post-doctoral Fellow, Universitat de Barcelona

Education:

• Ph.D. in Prehistory, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain), 2009
• MA in History, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2002
• B.A. in History, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2000

Research Interests: Cabanes' work bridges Archaeobotany and Geoarchaeology, analyzing microremains to trace human-environment interactions. His studies span prehistoric fire use, site formation processes, and paleoecological reconstruction in Africa, Europe, and the Levant.

Grants & Collaborations: Extensive post-doctoral fellowships across institutions including the Weizmann Institute of Science and Tel-Aviv University. Lead developer of rapid phytolith analysis techniques.

Labs/Teams: Director of the Anthropology Laboratory for MicroArchaeology at Rutgers. Collaborator on international projects like the Mas del Pepet experimental program and the Mughr el-Hamamah chronology study in Jordan.