Lecture with Dr. Jay Reti
This live Zoom webinar event occurred on March 21, 2021.
Click the title below for the lecture recording.
The Evolution of Stone Tools based on Lithic Artifact Analysis
This event included a live presentation followed by a Q & A.
Imagine for a moment what it would take to make it through a day – let alone a meal – without the use of tools. While tools can be crafted from a number of natural objects, their utility depends largely on the skill, creativity and perseverance of the tool crafter. How did early hominins learn to make tools, and learn to improve on their function? How do anthropologists and archeologists study the evolution of tool making over a time scale that begins with the dawn of man, nearly 3.0 million years ago?
UC Santa Barbara’s Santa Cruz Island Reserve Director Dr. Jay Reti is an archeologist by training and a college lecturer by passion. Jay will present a lively lecture covering ways that tool making has evolved over millions of years, along with ways to study how hominins produced stone (lithic) artifacts. Jay’s enthusiasm for anthropology and his ability to connect with his audiences promises that even early hominids in the audience will leave the talk enlightened about how the role of tools and advancements in tool making have shaped human evolution.
Dr. Jay Reti is the Director of the Santa Cruz Island Reserve, part of the UCSB Natural Reserve System. Prior to this, Jay was faculty in the Anthropology Department at UC Santa Cruz and still retains an honorary Assistant Professor position there. He earned a PhD from the Evolutionary Archaeology program at Rutgers University. Dr. Reti is an archaeologist and paleoanthropologist with extensive field experience in human evolutionary sites in East Africa, inluding Kenya and Tanzania. He lives both on Santa Cruz Island and in Santa Ynez with his partner, Sarah, and 6-year-old daughter, Norah.
