About

Professor John J. Shea's research interests include human evolution, archaeology, and stoneworking modes. His work encompasses topics such as the Spearthrower Lesson, Shea Survival Archaeology, and the study of stone tools in human evolution. He has contributed to the understanding of how early humans used stone tools and the significance of these tools in our evolutionary history. Additionally, Shea has been involved in television, multimedia, and consulting work related to his expertise. He has authored a book titled 'Unstoppable Human Species' and has engaged in various courses and publications that explore the origins and development of human species, emphasizing the importance of understanding our differences from other animals and among humans themselves.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Geology
• Geography
• Paleontology
• Archaeology
• History
• Psychology

Selected publications

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  University of Hawaii Press eBooks · 2024

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  DOI

• Did Pleistocene Africans use the spearthrower‐and‐dart?

  Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews · 2021 · 44 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Archaeology
  • Geography

  Archeologists commonly suppose that among complex projectile weapons humans use as subsistence aids, the spearthrower-and-dart preceded bow-and-arrow use. And yet, neither ethnographic nor archeological records furnish any robust evidence for spearthrower-and-dart use in Africa. Instead, evidence grows apace for ever-more ancient bow-and-arrow use. Here we explore these findings and their implications for models of early Homo sapiens behavior.

  DOI

• Knowledge vs. know-how? Dissecting the foundations of stone knapping skill

  Journal of Human Evolution · 2020 · 86 citations

  • Geology
  • Psychology
  • Geography
  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• YUAN WANG

  The University of Tokyo

  9 shared

• W G Case

  Dewsbury and District Hospital

  9 shared

• Karien Lahaise

  University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

  9 shared

• Maxime Aubert

  Griffith University

  9 shared

• Kaifu Youseke

  University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

  9 shared

• Tim Maloney

  Griffith University

  9 shared

• M. Mohanraj

  University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore

  9 shared

• Philip Smith

  9 shared

Labs

• John J. Shea LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Anthropology

  Harvard University

  1992

• B.A., Archaeology and Anthropology

  Boston University

  1982

Awards & honors

• 2014 State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Exc…
• Sigma XI Distinguished Lecturer (2012-2014)