Edward Knell

Professor

Degrees

PhD, Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman

MA, Anthropology, University of Wyoming

BA, Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder

Biography

I am an archaeologist whose research addresses Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene human adaptations such as land use and the organization of lithic technology. My Great Plains research focuses on how later Paleoindian lithic technological and land use organization varied in relation to resource structure. I am also actively working in the Great Basin, particularly the Mojave Desert of California, on similar research questions. My Mojave Desert research is part of a long-term project around pluvial Lake Mojave, for which I have thus far considered variations in paleoclimate, the conveyance of lithic raw materials to reconstruct land use patterns, occupation span, settlement patterns, and lithic technological organization strategies. I recently analyzed the chipped stone from an Early Holocene San Dieguito complex component in the San Diego region, and plan to further study this enigmatic cultural complex.

I am looking for graduate students wishing to earn a Master’s degree within an emphasis in archaeology. Though I will consider students with a range of interests, preference will be given to those interested in one or more of the following: hunter-gatherers, lithic analysis, Paleoindians, and/or the Mojave Desert/Great Basin.

Recent Courses

Undergraduate Classes: Introduction to Archaeology (ANTH 103), Introduction to Anthropology (ANTH 105), Origins of Civilizations (ANTH 327), Prehistoric North America (ANTH 383), Lithic Analysis (ANTH 425), Public Archaeology (ANTH 460)

Graduate Classes: Lithic Analysis (ANTH 504T), Peopling of the Americas (ANTH 504T)

Selected Publications

Knell, Edward J. 2022. Allometry of Unifacial Flake Tools from Mojave Desert Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Sites: Implications for Landscape Knowledge, Tool Design, and Land Use. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 41:103314.

Eren, Metin I., Michelle R. Bebber, Edward J. Knell, Brett Story, and Briggs Buchanan. 2022. Plains Paleoindian Projectile Point Penetration Potential. Journal of Anthropological Research 78:84-112.

Knell, Edward J., and Mark S. Becker. 2019.The Late Paleoindian Cody Complex Component at Lamb Spring, Colorado. Plains Anthropologist 251:233-256.

Knell, Edward J., and Mark S. Becker. 2017. Early Holocene San Dieguito Complex Lithic Technological Strategies at the C.W. Harris Site, San Diego County, California. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 37:183-201.

Andrews, Brian N., Edward J. Knell, and Metin I. Eren. 2015. The Three Lives of a Uniface. Journal of Archaeological Science 54:228-236.

Kirby, Matthew E., Edward J. Knell, William T. Anderson, Matthew S. Lachniet, Jennifer Palermo, Holly Eeg, Ricardo Lucero, Rosa Murrieta, Andrea Arevalo, Emily Silveira, and Christine A. Hiner. 2015. Evidence for insolation and Pacific forcing of late glacial through Holocene climate in the Central Mojave Desert (Silver Lake, CA). Quaternary Research 84:174-186.

Knell, Edward J. 2014. Terminal Pleistocene-Early Holocene Lithic Technological Organization around Lake Mojave, California. Journal of Field Archaeology 39:213-229.

Knell, Edward J., Leah C. Walden-Hurtgen, and Matthew E. Kirby. 2014. Terminal Pleistocene-Early Holocene Spatio-Temporal and Settlement Patterns around Pluvial Lake Mojave, California. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 34:43-60.

Knell, Edward J., and Mark P. Muñiz (editors). 2013. Paleoindian Lifeways of the Cody Complex. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Knell, Edward J. 2013. Cody Complex Land-Use Organization on the Northwestern Great Plains. In Paleoindian Lifeways of the Cody Complex, edited by E.J. Knell and M.P. Muñiz, pp. 249-268. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Knell, Edward J., and Mark P. Muñiz. 2013. Introducing the Cody Complex. In Paleoindian Lifeways of the Cody Complex, edited by E.J. Knell and M.P. Muñiz, pp. 3-28. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Hill, Matthew E, Jr., and Edward J. Knell. 2013. Cody in the Rockies: The Mountain Expression of a Plains Culture Complex? In Paleoindian Lifeways of the Cody Complex, edited by E.J. Knell and M.P. Muñiz, pp. 188-214. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Root, Matthew J., Edward J. Knell, and Jeb Taylor. 2013. Cody Complex Land-Use in Western North Dakota and Southern Saskatchewan. In Paleoindian Lifeways of the Cody Complex, edited by E.J. Knell and M.P. Muñiz, pp. 121-143. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Knell, Edward J. 2012. Minimum Analytical Nodules and Late Paleoindian Cody Complex Lithic Technological Organization at Hell Gap, Wyoming. Plains Anthropologist 224:325-351.

Knell, Edward J., and Matthew E. Hill, Jr. 2012. Linking Bones and Stones: Regional Variation in Late Paleoindian Cody Complex Land Use and Foraging Strategies. American Antiquity 77:40-70.

Knell, Edward J. 2009. Cody Complex at Locality I. In Hell Gap: A Stratified Paleoindian Campsite at the Edge of the Rockies, edited by M.L. Larson, M. Kornfeld, and G.C. Frison, pp. 180–194. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Knell, Edward J., Matthew G. Hill, and Andrew Izeta. 2009. The Locality IIIS/ V Eden Complex Component. In Hell Gap: A Stratified Paleoindian Campsite at the Edge of the Rockies, edited by M.L. Larson, M. Kornfeld, and G.C. Frison, pp. 157–179. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.