Dr. Jessica Thompson

Biography

Jessica Thompson specializes in human evolution, particularly through the analysis of ancient animal bones discovered at archaeological sites, a field known as zooarchaeology. She leads the Malawi Ancient Lifeways Peoples Project in Malawi, Central Africa, where she has maintained a field site since 2009. Her multidisciplinary research incorporates archaeological science, evolutionary theory, and hunter-gatherer ethnography to develop interpretations of cultural and paleoenvironmental chronologies in the region that spans the transition out of the Ice Age. Her research includes collaborative work in Ethiopia that focuses on the origins of Pliocene archaeological records. Thompson is the principal investigator at the Yale Paleoarchaeology Laboratory.

Research Interests

Experience