The Botanic Age: Origins of Fiber Technology

Dean Falk is an American evolutionary anthropologist who is the Hale G. Smith Professor of Anthropology and a Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University. Since receiving her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan in 1976, she has taught anatomy and anthropology courses at various universities. Her research on the fossil record has taken her to museums in Africa, Europe, and Asia. Much of her research focuses on the evolution of the human brain (paleoneurology) and the associated emergence of language, music, art, and science. She also participates in collaborative research concerning Hans Asperger’s career as a pediatrician when he lived in Nazi-era Vienna. Falk has published numerous scientific and popular books and articles, and has lectured extensively about evolution to both academic and public audiences. More information may be found on her website: www.deanfalk.com.

Dietrich Stout is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Emory University, where his Paleolithic Technology Laboratory investigates the role of technology in human evolution. Dr. Stout is also Associate Director of Emory’s cross-disciplinary Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture, which promotes diverse and integrative research into human nature and experience. He received his Ph.D. in Paleoanthropology in 2003 from Indiana University, Bloomington, where he studied with Professors Kathy Schick and Nicholas Toth. He then spent one year as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Anthropology at George Washington University and four years as a Lecturer (equivalent U.S. Asst. Prof.) in Paleolithic Archaeology at the University College London Institute of Archaeology before relocating to Emory in 2009. His research focus on Paleolithic stone tool-making and brain evolution integrates field research at Plio-Pleistocene archaeological sites in Ethiopia with laboratory and museum research including artifact analysis and experimental replication, functional and structural neuroimaging, behavioral analysis, and psychometric testing. His work is published in discipline-specific journals ranging from Current Anthropology and the Journal of Archaeological Science to Neuroimage and the Journal of Neuroscience, as well as multidisciplinary venues such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Science.