Sam Smith

Dr. Sam Smith is a Reader in Anthropology at the School of Law and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University. His research focuses on the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene archaeology of South West Asia, with particular emphasis on the emergence of sedentary, food-producing societies and chipped stone tool analysis.

• University: Oxford Brookes University
• School: School of Law and Social Sciences
• Academic Rank: Professor (mapped from 'Reader')

Sam specializes in typological, technological, and use wear analysis of stone tool assemblages, with fieldwork experience in the UK, Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. He collaborates with geographers, hydrologists, and meteorologists to explore human-climate interactions in semi-arid regions. His projects include the Barqa Epipalaeolithic initiative and sedaDNA, Environmental Changes and Demography in Oman, funded by the Society of Antiquities of London (£14,907).

Recent publications highlight his interdisciplinary work spanning Climate Science, Archaeology, and Ontology, with a focus on the Southern Levant Neolithic, atmospheric dynamics, and occupational data standards. He has supervised research students Sophie Edwards and Jon Gorrie.

Sam's work integrates human origins, palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, and multidisciplinary methodologies, reflecting his leadership in the Human Origins and Palaeo Environments (HOPE) group and contributions to understanding early human societies in Jordan's Wadi Faynan.