About

Gilbert Tostevin is a professor affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, specializing in anthropology with a focus on human evolution and adaptations, lithic technology, Old World archaeology, Paleolithic archaeology, cultural transmission theory, and experimental archaeology. He holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University. Tostevin's research explores the origins of modern humans, the material culture associated with Paleolithic societies, and the processes of cultural transmission and technological knowledge sharing within hunter-gatherer groups. His work includes excavations at significant archaeological sites such as Brno-Bohunice and Tvarožná X in the Czech Republic, where he investigates early Upper Paleolithic industries and their development. Tostevin has contributed to advancing analytical techniques in lithic analysis, including 3D modeling of stone tools, and has engaged in scholarly activities such as invited lectures and archaeological consulting. His publications and research activities reflect a deep engagement with understanding prehistoric human behavior, technological evolution, and the social dynamics of ancient populations.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Geology
• Geography
• Paleontology
• Archaeology
• Physics
• Optics
• Mineralogy
• Chemistry
• Geomorphology
• Geophysics
• Ecology
• Biology

Selected publications

• Exploring the Gross-Edge Curvature of Experimentally Produced Preferential Levallois Debitage

  Lithic Technology · 2023-10-02 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author

  Flaked stone reduced via a Levallois, or Levallois-like, sequence potentially provided benefits to hominins in terms of flake morphology and economy relative to other sequences. But such benefits did not come without costs. Here, we contribute to ongoing debates regarding Levallois technology by assessing the gross-edge curvature of experimentally produced Levallois debitage and Preferential Levallois Flake (PLF) edges. Previous experiments have shown that as gross-edge curvature increases, cutting efficiency decreases. As such, our results allow us to evaluate standardized gross-edge curvature throughout multiple Preferential Levallois Core reduction stages. Also, among several results, we show that as Levallois debitage size decreases, so too does gross-edge curvature, suggesting that knappers pursuing a Levallois core to exhaustion will not be penalized in terms of this feature.

  PublisherDOI

• What species is it really? A comparison of morphological and collagen fingerprinting (ZooMS) methods using a double-blind protocol

  Research Square · 2023-07-05 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract Modeling the subsistence strategies of prehistoric groups depends on the accuracy of the faunal identifications that provide the basis for these models. However, our knowledge remains limited about the reproducibility of published taxonomic identifications and how they accurately reflect the range of species deposited in the archaeological record. This study compares taxonomic identifications at three Paleolithic sites (Saint-Césaire and Le Piage in France, Crvena Stijena in Montenegro) characterized by high levels of fragmentation. Identifications at these sites were derived using two methods: morphological identification and collagen fingerprinting, the latter a peptide-based approach known as ZooMS. Using a double-blind experimental design, we show that the two methods give taxonomic profiles that are statistically indistinguishable at all three sites. However, rare species and parts difficult to identify such as ribs seem more frequently associated with errors of identification. Comparisons with the indeterminate fraction indicate that large game is over-represented in the ZooMS sample at two of the three sites. These differences are possibly an artifact caused by differential fragmentation of elements from large species. Collagen fingerprinting can produce critical insights on the range distribution of animal prey in the past while also contributing to improved models of taphonomic processes and subsistence behavior.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A double-blind comparison of morphological and collagen fingerprinting (ZooMS) methods of skeletal identifications from Paleolithic contexts

  Scientific Reports · 2023-11-01 · 12 citations

  articleOpen access

  Modeling the subsistence strategies of prehistoric groups depends on the accuracy of the faunal identifications that provide the basis for these models. However, our knowledge remains limited about the reproducibility of published taxonomic identifications and how they accurately reflect the range of species deposited in the archaeological record. This study compares taxonomic identifications at three Paleolithic sites (Saint-Césaire and Le Piage in France, Crvena Stijena in Montenegro) characterized by high levels of fragmentation. Identifications at these sites were derived using two methods: morphological identification and collagen fingerprinting, the latter a peptide-based approach known as ZooMS. Using a double-blind experimental design, we show that the two methods give taxonomic profiles that are statistically indistinguishable at all three sites. However, rare species and parts difficult to identify such as ribs seem more frequently associated with errors of identification. Comparisons with the indeterminate fraction indicate that large game is over-represented in the ZooMS sample at two of the three sites. These differences possibly signal differential fragmentation of elements from large species. Collagen fingerprinting can produce critical insights on the range distribution of animal prey in the past while also contributing to improved models of taphonomic processes and subsistence behavior.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Special Issue: Reduction Sequence, Chaîne Opératoire, and Other Methods: The Epistemologies of Different Approaches to Lithic Analysis. Introduction.

  DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · 2022-10-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Every contact leaves a trace: Documenting contamination in lithic residue studies at the Middle Palaeolithic sites of Lusakert Cave 1 (Armenia) and Crvena Stijena (Montenegro)

  PLoS ONE · 2022-04-07 · 20 citations

  articleOpen access

  Investigations of organic lithic micro-residues have, over the last decade, shifted from entirely morphological observations using visible-light microscopy to compositional ones using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy, providing a seemingly objective chemical basis for residue identifications. Contamination, though, remains a problem that can affect these results. Modern contaminants, accumulated during the post-excavation lives of artifacts, are pervasive, subtle, and even “invisible” (unlisted ingredients in common lab products). Ancient contamination is a second issue. The aim of residue analysis is to recognize residues related to use, but other types of residues can also accumulate on artifacts. Caves are subject to various taphonomic forces and organic inputs, and use-related residues can degrade into secondary compounds. This organic “background noise” must be taken into consideration. Here we show that residue contamination is more pervasive than is often appreciated, as revealed by our studies of Middle Palaeolithic artifacts from two sites: Lusakert Cave 1 in Armenia and Crvena Stijena in Montenegro. First, we explain how artifacts from Lusakert Cave 1, despite being handled following specialized protocols, were tainted by a modern-day contaminant from an unanticipated source: a release agent used inside the zip-top bags that are ubiquitous in the field and lab. Second, we document that, when non-artifact “controls” are studied alongside artifacts from Crvena Stijena, comparisons reveal that organic residues are adhered to both, indicating that they are prevalent throughout the sediments and not necessarily related to use. We provide suggestions for reducing contamination and increasing the reliability of residue studies. Ultimately, we propose that archaeologists working in the field of residue studies must start with the null hypothesis that miniscule organic residues reflect contamination, either ancient or modern, and systematically proceed to rule out all possible contaminants before interpreting them as evidence of an artifact’s use in the distant past.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• POTENTIAL SOURCES OF RAW MATERIALS USED FOR TOOLS IN PALEOLITHIC ROCKSHELTER CRVENA STIJENA, MONTENEGRO

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2022-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Experimental assessment of plan‐view and profile‐view gross‐edge curvature on stone flake slicing efficiency

  Archaeometry · 2022-06-17 · 10 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Separating two or more aspects of an object via cutting was likely an important factor in the origin and evolution of flaked stone technology. In recent years experiments have demonstrated that several stone tool attributes can influence different kinds of cutting behaviour: slicing, cleaving, scraping, sawing, drilling, piercing and abrading. Here we experimentally assessed the role of stone flake plan‐ and profile‐view gross‐edge curvature in a controlled slicing task. We also assessed the role of edge length. A total of 21 participants, using 252 stone flakes with distinct gross‐edge curvatures and edge lengths, were asked to cut through a standardized substrate, and their efficiency in the task was measured over time. Flakes with longer edge lengths increased the efficiency of the cutting task, but increasing either plan‐ or profile‐view edge curvature decreased the efficiency of the cutting task. These results have implications for the emergence of particular tool forms or reduction sequences throughout the Pleistocene, and may in part explain why certain forms were favoured by Paleolithic people, leading to their convergent evolution or widespread transmission.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Hydroclimate reconstruction through MIS 3 in the Middle Paleolithic site of Crvena Stijena (Montenegro) based on hydrogen-isotopic composition of sedimentary n-alkanes

  Quaternary Science Reviews · 2022-10-02 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  This study presents a hydroclimatic reconstruction from Crvena Stijena (Montenegro, Balkan Peninsula), a rock shelter that has yielded evidence for Middle Paleolithic human occupation. The integration of lipid biomarkers, hydrogen (δD) isotopic compositions of n-alkanes, and organic elemental geochemistry in the 7-m deep vertical sedimentary sequence enables reconstruction of the main hydrological and environmental changes during the MIS 3 and their correlation with the presence at the site. We apply agglomerative hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis to the geochemical, molecular, and stable isotopic data to obtain a robust hydrological record. We find evidence of three aridity trends from the studied period, one of them correlated with the Heinrich Event 5, and humid and cold-temperate conditions in archaeology-rich layers. Our dataset also contributes to the knowledge of past hydrological variability in the Balkan Peninsula, a sensitive area to short-lived climatic shifts, and overall, in the Mediterranean region during the last glacial/interglacial cycle.

  PublisherDOI

• Use and Misuse of Machine Learning in Anthropology

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2022-09-06

  preprintOpen access

  Machine learning (ML), being now widely accessible to the research community at large, has fostered a proliferation of new and striking applications of these emergent mathematical techniques across a wide range of disciplines. In this paper, we will focus on a particular case study: the field of paleoanthropology, which seeks to understand the evolution of the human species based on biological and cultural evidence. As we will show, the easy availability of ML algorithms and lack of expertise on their proper use among the anthropological research community has led to foundational misapplications that have appeared throughout the literature. The resulting unreliable results not only undermine efforts to legitimately incorporate ML into anthropological research, but produce potentially faulty understandings about our human evolutionary and behavioral past. The aim of this paper is to provide a brief introduction to some of the ways in which ML has been applied within paleoanthropology; we also include a survey of some basic ML algorithms for those who are not fully conversant with the field, which remains under active development. We discuss a series of missteps, errors, and violations of correct protocols of ML methods that appear disconcertingly often within the accumulating body of anthropological literature. These mistakes include use of outdated algorithms and practices; inappropriate train/test splits, sample composition, and textual explanations; as well as an absence of transparency due to the lack of data/code sharing, and the subsequent limitations imposed on independent replication. We assert that expanding samples, sharing data and code, re-evaluating approaches to peer review, and, most importantly, developing interdisciplinary teams that include experts in ML are all necessary for progress in future research incorporating ML within anthropology.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The influence of cut material on the slicing efficiency effects of stone tool flake size, edge length, and gross edge curvature

  Journal of Archaeological Science Reports · 2022-11-16 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• The Origin of Controlled Fire Use

  NSF · $269k · 2018–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Gilliane Monnier

  University of Minnesota System

  15 shared

• Petr Škrdla

  Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Brno

  12 shared

• Carolina Mallol

  10 shared

• Goran Pajović

  Prirodnjacki Muzej Crne Gore

  8 shared

• Daniel Richter

  8 shared

• Mile Baković

  Prirodnjacki Muzej Crne Gore

  7 shared

• Isabelle Crevecœur

  7 shared

• Metin I. Eren

  Kent State University

  7 shared

Labs

• Anthropology LabsPI

  The Anthropology labs house a variety of people who conduct research on a constant basis.

Awards & honors

• Pleistocene Migrations and Human Evolution Invited Speaker (…
• Public lecture for the Minnesota Society of the Archaeologic…
• Leakey Foundation & U of M Grant-in-Aid for Excavation, Anal…
• NSF BCS-Archaeology Program Grant for Excavation of Tvarožná…