People

 Austin

Former Postdoctoral Fellows

Austin "Chad" Hill

M.A. in Anthropology

PhD project
Specialized Pastoralism and Social Stratification---Analysis of the Fauna from Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf, Israel
This research aims to identify the early emergence of social complexity during the Chalcolithic period in the southern Levant. This is a key transitional period between the egalitarian, village-based agricultural social systems of the Neolithic and the hierarchical, socially stratified urban social systems in the Early Bronze Age. Social change in the Levantine Chalcolithic was examined using a number of lines of zooarchaeological evidence for animal production and consumption at the site of Tel Tsaf, Israel. ^ Tel Tsaf is a middle Chalcolithic village located in the Jordan River Valley, dating from 6800 to 6500 BP. It is one of the most important Chalcolithic sites yet excavated in the Levant. The site contains provocative hints of social stratification. The presence of up to 19 grain storage silos suggests extraordinary quantities of surplus grain production, a key prerequisite for specialization and social differentiation. Imported pottery and beads attest to inter-regional trade systems, and the presence of clay seals to record economic transactions suggest administrative control of production. ^ The patterned production and consumption of animals at Tel Tsaf provides critical information about the social organization of a small village during this period. On the one hand there is little evidence for a shift towards the specialized production of non-meat animal products, such as wool and milk, which are a hallmark of market economies in more complex societies. However, cattle remains at the site provide some of the earliest evidence for plowing in the region. The use of cattle for plowing likely enabled the large-scale surplus production of agriculture. Surplus food production is a key requisite in the development of social differentiation, allowing a portion of the population to be freed from food production. Finally, the distribution of food remains found among households at the site suggests that not all households had access to the same variety of foods. There is a large variation in the species consumed and discarded among households, with strong spatial evidence for feasting in some, suggesting the development of social differentiation.
Research interests The Chalcolithic Period in the Levant, early agricultural societies, subsistence transitions, zooarchaeology, shifts in social complexity, the rise of states, spatial technology in archaeology, unmanned aerial vehicle applications in archaeology, 3d Photogrammetry
Education

2011
PhD, Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

2011
Graduate Certificate in GIS, Geography, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

2006
MA, Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

2003
BA, Archaeology and Classical History, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH

Work experience

Since 2011
Research Collaborator - Smithsonian Institution

Jan 2012 - June 2012
Educational and Cultural Affairs Fellow, Albright Institute, Jerusalem, Israel

Summer 2012
Project Surveyor/GIS specialist – Eastern Badia Desert Project, Jordan

2011
Field Director, Marj Rabba Archaeological Project, Israel

Summers 2009 - 2011
Area Supervisor and GIS specialist, Marj Rabba Archaeological Project, Israel

2006 - 2010
Research Assistant, Gazelle Project, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

2006 - 2010
Primary Instructor, Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

Summers 2008 - 2009
Field Technician, Public Archaeology Survey Team, Storrs, CT

Fall 2007
Educational and Cultural Affairs Fellow, Albright Institute, Jerusalem, Israel

Summers 2007 - 2008
GIS Consultant, Hammondville Archaeological Project, Hammondville, NY

Summer 2007
Instructor/Organizer, Tel Tsaf Archaeological Field School, Israel

Summers 2005 - 2007
Site Staff/zooarchaeologist, Tel Tsaf Archaeological Project, Israel

2004 - 2006
Teaching Assistant, Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

2003 - 2004
Field Technician, Public Archaeology Survey Team, Storrs, CT

Summer 2003
Field Technician, Hunter Research Historical Resource Consultants, Trenton, NJ

Selected publications

Forthcoming
Hill, A., accepted, UAVs at Marj Rabba, Israel: Low-cost high-tech tools for aerial photography and photogrammetry. The SAA Archaeological Record.

2012
Ben-Shlomo, D., A. Hill, Y. Garfinkel, 2012. Storage, feasting and burials at Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf. Proceedings of the 7ICAANE Conference, April 2010.

2011
Munro, N. M., G. Bar-Oz, A. Hill, 2011. An exploration of character traits and metric measurements for sexing mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella) skeletons. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(6).

2009
Ben-Shlomo, D., A. Hill, Y. Garfinkel, 2009. Feasting between the revolutions: evidence from Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 22(2).

back
Mobile Menu