European Research Council (ERC) Project PALAEOSILKROAD

Faculty Profile @ NYU

Twitter: @iovitza

• Paleolithic archaeology / Steinzeitarchäologie
• Human responses to environmental change / Mensch-Umwelt Interaktion
• Central Asia / Zentralasien
• Eastern Europe / Osteuropa
• Use-wear / Gebrauchsspurenanalyse
• Geometric Morphometrics / Geometrische Morphometrie

Current

Group Leader / Gruppenleiter ERC Project PALAEOSILKROAD, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen

Assistant Professor of Anthropology, New York University

Associated Scientist / Assoz. Wiss., Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie

Previous

2012-2016 Senior Scientist / Wiss. Mitarb., Monrepos Archäologisches Forschungszentrum und Museum, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (RGZM), Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Archäologie 

2010-2012 Junior Researcher (DFG, Projekt: Neandertalzeitliche Waffentechnologien), Monrepos, RGZM 

2009-2016 Associated Lecturer / Lehrbeauftragter, Johannes-Gutenberg-Unversität Mainz 

2008-2012 Postdoctoral Fellow / Postdoktoranden-Stipendiat, Monrepos, RGZM

• 2008 PhD in Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania
• 2005 Complex Systems Summer School, Santa Fe Institute
  magna cum laude), Harvard University
• 2002 MPhil in Archaeology (with distinction), University of Cambridge
• 2001 AB (Hons.) in Anthropology 

(full list available at Google Scholar)

As editor (peer-reviewed)

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 R. Iovita (Eds.) (in press) Controlled experiments in lithic technology and function, issue of Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Springer.

Peer-reviewed articles

Pfleging, J., Iovita, R., Buchli, J. (in press) 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 Ecol Evol 2, 1087–1092. 

Fitzsimmons, KE, Sprafke, T, Zielhofer, C, Günter, C, Deom, JM, Sala, R, and R Iovita (2017) "Loess accumulation in the Tian Shan piedmont: implications for palaeo-environmental change in arid Central Asia." Quaternary International.

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. DOI

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: e data from la Noira (France) in context”. PLoS One 12(5): e0177063. OA

Pfleging J, Stücheli M, Iovita R, Buchli J. (2015) "Dynamic Monitoring Reveals Motor Task Characteristics in Prehistoric Technical Gestures." PLoS ONE 10(8): e0134570. OA

Iovita R., H. Schönekeß, S. Gaudzinski-Windheuser, and F. Jäger (2014) “Impact fracture patterns in exact replicas of Levallois points: the first results of a new controlled ballistic experimental protocol.” Journal of Archaeological Science 48: 73-83. DOI 

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. DOI

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. OA 

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. OA

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.” J Archaeol Sci 36(7): 14471457. DOI