Radu Iovita
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Ph.D. 2008, University of Pennsylvania; MPhil 2002, University of Cambridge; B.A. 2001, Harvard University
Email: iovita@nyu.edu
Phone: 212-992-7475
Office: 805
Research Interests
- Paleolithic archaeology
- Eurasian loess steppe
- lithics
- controlled experiments
- human responses to environmental change
- archaeological survey techniques
- use-wear
- geometric morphometrics
Other Affiliations
ERC Group Leader, PALAEOSILKROAD Project, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen
Current Projects
Maibulka Excavations, Kazakhstan
Selected Publications
ORCID | Google Scholar Profile
As editor (peer-reviewed)
Marreiros, J., Pereira, T., and R. Iovita (Eds.) (2020) Controlled experiments in lithic technology and function, collection in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Springer.
Iovita, R. and K. Sano (Eds.) (2016) Multidisciplinary approaches to the study of Stone Age weaponry, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, Springer, Dordrecht.
Marreiros, J., Pereira, T., and Iovita, R. (Eds.) (in press) Controlled experiments in lithic technology and function, issue of Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Springer.
Peer-reviewed articles
Varis, A., Miller, C., Namen, A., Cuthbertson, P., Taimagambetov, Zh., Iovita, R., (2022) The effect of formation processes on the frequency of Palaeolithic cave sites in semiarid zones: insights from Kazakhstan. Geoarchaeology 37(4): 594-616.
Namen, A., Varis, A.,Taimagambetov, Z., Iovita, R. (2022). Preference for Porphyry: Petrographic Insights into Lithic Raw Material Procurement from Palaeolithic Kazakhstan. J Field Archaeology 47(7): 435-450. [postprint]
Iovita, R., Braun, D., Douglass, M., Holdaway, S. J., Lin, S. C., Olszewski, D., Rezek, Z. (2021) Operationalizing niche construction theory with stone tools. Evolutionary Anthropology 30(1):28-39.
Cuthbertson, P.P,Ullman, T., Büdel, C., Varis, A.G,Namen, A.G, Seltmann, R., Taimagambetov, Z., Iovita, R. (2021). Finding karstic caves and rockshelters in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor using predictive modelling and field survey. PloS One 16(1): e0245170.
Schmidt, P., Rodriguez, A., Yanamandra, V. S. S. K., Behera, R., Iovita, R. (2020) The mineralogy and structure of use-wear polish on chert. Scientific Reports 10(1):21512
Coco, E., Iovita, R. (2020). Time-dependent taphonomic site loss leads to spatial averaging: implications for archaeological cultures. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications 7, 136.
Coco, E., Holdaway, S., Iovita, R. The effects of secondary recycling on the technological character of lithic assemblages. (2020) J Paleolithic Archaeology 3:453–474. [postprint]
Iovita, R., Varis, A., Cuthbertson, P., Namen, A., Taimagambetov, Zh., Miller, C. (2020) In search of a Paleolithic Silk Road in Kazakhstan. Quatern Int 559, 119-132. [postprint]
Schmidt, P., Blessing, M., Rageot, M., Iovita, R., Pfleging, J., Nickel, K.G., Righetti, L., Tennie, C. (2019) Birch tar production does not prove Neanderthal behavioral complexity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116 (36), 17707-17711.
Calandra, I., Schunk, L., Rodriguez, A., Gneisinger, W., Pedergnana, A., Paixao, E., Iovita, R., Marreiros, J. (in press) Back to the edge: relative coordinate system for use-wear analysis. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Springer.
Pfleging, J., Iovita, R., Buchli, J. (2019) Influence of force and duration on stone tool wear: results from experiments with a force-controlled robot. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., Noack, E.S., Pop, E., Herbst, C., Pfleging, J., Buchli, J., Jacob, A., Enzmann, F., Kindler, L., Iovita, R., Street, M., Roebroeks, W., 2018. Evidence for close-range hunting by last interglacial Neanderthals. Nature: Ecology and Evolution 2, 1087–1092.
Fitzsimmons, KE, Sprafke, T, Zielhofer, C, Günter, C, Deom, JM, Sala, R, and R Iovita (2018) Loess accumulation in the Tian Shan piedmont: implications for palaeo-environmental change in arid Central Asia. Quaternary International 469:30-43.
Fitzsimmons, K.E., Iovita, R., Sprafke, T., Glantz, M., Talamo, S., Horton, K., Beeton, T., Alipova, S., Bekseitov, G., Ospanov, Y., Deom, J.-M., Sala, R., Taimagambetov, Z. (2017) A chronological framework connecting the early Upper Palaeolithic across the Central Asian piedmont. Journal of Human Evolution 113, 107–126.
Iovita, R., I. Tuvi-Arad, M.-H. Moncel, J. Despriée, P. Voinchet, and J.-J. Bahain (2017). High handaxe symmetry at the beginning of the European Acheulian: the data from la Noira (France) in context. PLoS One 12(5): e0177063.
Pfleging J, Stücheli M, Iovita R, Buchli J. (2015) Dynamic Monitoring Reveals Motor Task Characteristics in Prehistoric Technical Gestures. PLoS ONE 10(8): e0134570.
Iovita R., H. Schönekeß, S. Gaudzinski-Windheuser, and F. Jäger (2014) Projectile impact fractures and launching mechanisms: results of a controlled ballistic experiment using replica Levallois points. Journal of Archaeological Science 48: 73-83.
Iovita, R., A. Dobos, K. E. Fitzsimmons, M. Probst, U. Hambach, M. Robu, M. Vlaicu, and A. Petculescu. (2014) Geoarchaeological prospection in the loess steppe: preliminary results from the Lower Danube Survey for Paleolithic Sites (LoDanS). Quaternary International 351:98-114.
Fitzsimmons, K. E., U. Hambach, D. Veres, and R. Iovita. (2013) The Campanian Ignimbrite eruption: new data on volcanic ash dispersal and its potential impact on human evolution. PLoS ONE.
Iovita, R., K. E. Fitzsimmons, A. Dobos, U. Hambach, A. Hilgers, and A. Zander. (2012) Dealul Guran: evidence of Lower Paleolithic occupation of the southeast European loess steppe. Antiquity 86(334): 973-989.
Iovita, R. (2011) Shape variation in Aterian tanged tools and the origins of projectile technology: a morphometric perspective on stone fool function. PLoS One 6(12): e29029.
Iovita, R. and S. P. McPherron (2011) The handaxe reloaded: a morphometric reassessment of Acheulian and Middle Paleolithic handaxes. Journal of Human Evolution 61: 61-74.
Iovita, R. P. (2009) Reevaluating connections between the Early Upper Paleolithic of Northeast Africa and the Levant: technological differences between the Dabban and the Emiran. In Transitions in Prehistory: Papers in Honor of Ofer BarYosef, J. Shea and D. Lieberman (Eds.), pp. 125-142. Oxbow Books, Oxford.
Iovita, R. P. (2009) Ontogenetic scaling and lithic systematics: method and application. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(7): 14471457. DOI