People
Brent Whitford
Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University at Buffalo, Balkan Heritage Fieldschool Field supervisor, and lecturer. Faculty Liaison for the Anthropology Graduate Student Association.
Education:
- Ph.D., Anthropology Graduate Program, University at Buffalo, Buffalo NY, United States (expected graduation 2023)
- Master of Arts, Anthropology Graduate Program, Trent University, Peterborough ON, Canada (2015 – 2017). Thesis: Agriculture as Niche Construction: Eco-Cultural Niche Evolution During the Neolithic (c. 6200 – 4900 BC) of the Struma River Valley
- Bachelor of Arts with distinction, Major in Anthropology, Vancouver Island University (VIU), Nanaimo BC, Canada (2010 – 2014)
Research Interests:
European Neolithic and Chalcolithic; geoarchaeology; niche construction; human-environment interactions; eco-cultural niche modeling; settlement patterns; geomatics applications in archaeology; excavation methodology.
Fieldwork:
- Excavations of the Chalcolithic layers at Tell Yunatsite, Bulgaria (2013 – to present)
- Excavations at the Neolithic settlement of Ilindentsi Masovets, Bulgaria (2012 – 2018)
- Rescue Excavations of the Late Neolithic settlement Damyanitsa, Bulgaria (2016 – 2017)
Publications:
Peer-reviewed journal articles
2019 Characterizing the cultural evolutionary process from eco-cultural niche models: niche construction during the Neolithic of the Struma River Valley (c. 6200–4900 BC). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 11(5): 2181-2200. doi: 10.1007/s12520-018-0667-x
2018 The Neolithic (c. 6200 – 4900 BC) in the Struma River Valley: Characterizing change to the human ecological niche from species distribution models. Bulgarian e-journal of Archaeology. in review
Conference Proceedings
Grebska-Kulow, Malgorzata, and Brent Whitford
2016 Objects of everyday life and their ritual dimension from prehistoric settlements in the Struma Valley. In Megalithic Monuments and Cult Practices: Proceedings of the Second International Symposium, Blagoevgrad, 12-15 October 2016, Pp. 160-170. Blagoevgrad: Neofit Rilski University Press.
Conference Papers
2019 Life in the foothills: a diachronic assessment of Neolithic settlement patterns in the Sandanski-Petrich Basin of Southwest Bulgaria. Beyond Paradigms: 25th annual meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, September 4-7. Bern, Switzerland.
2018 The Balkan Neolithic: Ecological niche modeling and exploring the role of intermediary climate zones as stimulators of adaptation and transmission. Reflecting futures: 24th annual meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, September 5-8. Barcelona, Spain.
2017 Agriculture as Niche Construction: Eco-cultural niche evolution during the Neolithic (c. 6200 – 4900 BC) of the Struma River Valley. Doctoral Student Conference on Balkan Archaeology, November 19-21. Sofia, Bulgaria.
2014 GIS applications in archaeology: an integrated object-relational geodatabase model for the documentation of archaeological excavations. Western Division Canadian Association of Geographers, March 7-8. Victoria, Canada.
Archaeological Reports
Grebska-Kulow, Malgorzata, Petar Zidarov, Ivan Vassilev, Ivan Suvandzhiev, Brent Whitford, Maria Gurova, Elena Marinova-Wolf, and Bea de Cupere
2019 Excavations at Ilindentsi-Masovets Neolithic Site in Southwestern Bulgaria. In Archaeological Discoveries and Excavations in 2018. Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences National Archaeological Institute with Museum.
2018 Excavations at Ilindentsi-Masovets Neolithic Site in Southwestern Bulgaria. In Archaeological Discoveries and Excavations in 2017. Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences National Archaeological Institute with Museum.
2017 Excavations at Ilindentsi-Masovets Neolithic Site in Southwestern Bulgaria. In Archaeological Discoveries and Excavations in 2016, Pp. 66-68. Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences National Archaeological Institute with Museum.