Dr. Viola C. Schmid
Affiliation:
Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany &
UMR 7041, Equipe AnTET, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Nanterre Cedex, France
Contact:
Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Burgsteige 11, Schloss Hohentübingen, Room 115, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
Telephone: +49-(0)7071-29-78914
E-Mail: viola.schmid@uni-tuebingen.de
Office hours: by arrangement
Research Interests
- Cultural Evolution
- Human behaviours
- Palaeolithic & Stone Age Archaeology
- African Archaeology
- Lithic technology
Academic Studies
17th June 2019
| Acquisition of the academic degree Dr. rer. nat. with magna cum laude (PhD thesis: „The C-A layers of Sibudu Cave (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) in the light of the MSA lithic technologies in MIS 5”; supervisors: Prof. N. J. Conard & É. Boëda) |
December 2013 – June 2019 | Ph.D. candidate under joint supervision (cotutelle) between the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and the Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense |
21st August 2013 | Acquisition of the academic degree Magistra artium (master’s thesis: „A technological revision of the „MSA 1” at Elands Bay Cave (Western Cape Province, South Africa)”; integrated in the DFG-Project „The lithic technology of the Early Middle Stone Age in southern Africa“.) |
April 2008 – August 2013 | Student of Palaeolithic Archaeology at the Institute of Pre- & Protohistory and Medieval Archaeology at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen |
January 2008
| Completion of the first study section (Proseminar thesis: „Neue Einblicke in das Gravettien von Willendorf II, Niederösterreich - Die Steinartefakte der Grabung 1993”) |
October 2005 – January 2008 | Student of Prehistoric Archaeology at the Institute of Pre- and Protohistory at the University of Vienna |
Publications
Schmid, V. C., Bosch, M. D., Brandl, M., Götzinger, M., Nigst, P.-R., 2019. Neue Einblicke in das Gravettien von Willendorf II: Die Steinartefakte der Grabung 1993. Archaeologica Austriaca 103: 11-73. |
Schmid, V. C., Porraz, G., Zeidi, M., Conard, N. J., 2019. Blade technology characterizing the MIS 5 D-A layers of Sibudu Cave, South Africa. Lithic Technology 44(4): 199-236. |
Porraz, G., Val, A., Tribolo, C., Mercier, N., de la Peña, P., Haaland, M. M., Igreja, M., Miller, C. E., Schmid, V. C., 2018. The MIS5 Pietersburg at ‘28’ Bushman Rock Shelter, Limpopo Province, South Africa. PLoS ONE 13(10): e0202853. |
Rots, V., Lentfer, C., Schmid, V. C., Porraz, G., Conard, N. J., 2017. Pressure flaking to serrate bifacial points for the hunt during the MIS5 at Sibudu Cave (South Africa). PLoS ONE 12(4): e0175151. |
Porraz, G., Schmid, V. C., Miller, C. E., Tribolo, C., Cartwright, C., Charrié-Duhaut, A., Igreja, M., Mercier, N., Schmidt, P., Mentzer, S., Valladas, H., N. J., Conard, Texier, P.-J., Parkington, J.E., 2016. A synthesis on the 2011 excavation at Elands Bay Cave: a place on the West Coast of South Africa. Southern African Humanities 29: 33-68. |
Schmid, V. C., Parkington, J. E., Conard, N. J., Texier, P.-J., Porraz, G., 2016. The «MSA 1» of Elands Bay Cave (Western Cape Province, South Africa) in the context of the southern African Early MSA technologies. Southern African Humanities 29: 153-201. |
Porraz, G., Val, A., Dayet, L., de la Peña, P., Douze, K., Miller, C. E., Murungi, M., Tribolo, C., Schmid, V. C., Sievers, C., 2015. Bushman Rock Shelter (Limpopo, South Africa): a perspective from the edge of the Highveld. South African Archaeological Bulletin 70: 166-179. |
Conard, N. J., Schmid, V. C., Will, M., 2015. Sibudu und die kulturelle Evolution des modernen Menschen, Archäologie in Deutschland 31: 12-17. |
Conard, N. J., Bader, G. D., Schmid, V. C., Will, M., 2014. Bringing the Middle Stone Age into clearer focus, Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Ur- & Frühgeschichte 23: 121-128. |
Schmid, V. C., Nigst P.-R., 2014. Die Steinartfakte der Repolusthöhle (Steiermark, Österreich). Schild von Steier 26: 98-164. |
Oral Presentations
November 2019 | Schmid, V. C., Sibudu Cave (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) providing new techno-cultural implications for the Middle Stone Age of during Marine Isotope Stage 5, Palaeolithic-Mesolithic Seminar Series in Cambridge, United Kingdom |
September 2019 | Conard, N. J., Bader, G. D., Rots, V., Schmid, V. C., Tribolo, C., Will, M., MSA deposits at Sibudu and Umbeli Belli in KZN, South Africa document cultural change in high resolution, Meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution (ESHE) in Liège, Belgium |
September 2019 | Schmid, V. C., Blade technology of the D-A layers from Sibudu, South Africa, within the context of MIS 5 in southern Africa, Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) in Bern, Switzerland |
September 2019 | Hussain, S. T., Schmid, V. C., The contextual blade – towards a comparative understanding of early laminar technologies, Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) in Bern, Switzerland |
June 2019
| Schmid, V. C., Blade technology as a cultural dawning in MIS5 – new perspectives from Sibudu Cave (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa), international workshop “Cultural dynamics of the Middle Stone Age in coastal and interior contexts of southern Africa” in Tübingen, Germany |
April 2019 | Sommer, C., Schmid, V. C., Bader, G., Maerker, M., Will, M., Conard, N. J., Hochschild, V., Prediction of Paleolithic sites in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa using remote sensing, digital landscape analysis and statistical classification, Conference of the Computer Applications & Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) in Krakow, Poland |
April 2019
| Will, M., Schmid, V. C., Bolus, M., Conard, N. J., New insights on technological behavior of Late Pleistocene Neanderthals from Middle Paleolithic assemblages of Geißenklösterle Cave, Germany, Meeting of the Hugo Obermaier-Gesellschaft in Erkrath, Germany |
April 2019
| Conard, N. J., Bader, G. D., Schmid, V. C., Tribolo, C., Will, M., New results from Middle Stone Age of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, Meeting of the Hugo Obermaier-Gesellschaft in Erkrath, Germany |
December 2018
| Schmid, V. C., Porraz, G., Zeidi, M., Conard, N. J., Characterising the C-A layers of Sibudu, South Africa, and implications for the MSA cultural sequence in MIS 5, Meetings of Modern Air and African Prehistory in Paris, France |
June 2018 | Val, A., Tribolo, C., Mercier, N., Haaland, M. M., Igreja, M., Miller, C. E., de la Peña, P., Schmid, V. C., Porraz, G., Late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological records from the interior of southern Africa, Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA) in Toronto, Canada |
June 2018 | Will, M., Schmid, V. C., Bolus, M., Conard, N. J., Lithic assemblages from the Middle Paleolithic of Geißenklösterle Cave, Germany: New insights on Neanderthal technology and behaviour from the Swabian Jura, Congress of the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP) in Paris, France |
July 2017
| Schmid, V. C., Porraz, G., Zeidi, M., Conard, N. J., New results on laminar reduction strategies from the Deep Sounding of Sibudu Cave, Conference of the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA) in Pretoria, South Africa |
May 2017
| Conard, N. J., Will, M., Schmid, V. C., Tafelmaier, Y., Bolus, M., Middle Palaeolithic variability as seen from the caves of the Swabian Jura, workshop “The Rhine during the Middle Palaeolithic: boundary or corridor?” in Sélestat, France |
September 2016
| Rots, V., Lentfer, C., Schmid, V. C., Porraz, G., Conard, N. J., There is more to life than subsistence: use-wear and residue analyses on pre-Still Bay stone tools at Sibudu, Meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution (ESHE) in Madrid, Spain |
June 2016
| Conard, N. J., Miller, C. E., Rots, V., Schmid, V. C., Will, M., Zeidi, M., Porraz, G., Cultural Stratigraphy at Sibudu and its Implications for our Understanding of the MSA, Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA) in Toulouse, France |
June 2016
| Schmid, V. C., Porraz, G., Rots, V., Lentfer, C., Zeidi, M., Conard, N. J., Bifacial technologies and the definition of the Still Bay: new data from the basal layers of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA) in Toulouse, France |
June 2016
| Porraz, G., Val, A., Tribolo, C., Cnuts, D., Dayet, L., de la Peña, P., Igreja, M., Mentzer, S. M., Mercier, N., Miller, C. E., Murungi, M., Puech, E., Schmid, V. C., Sievers, C., Théry-Parisot, I., “28” at Bushman Rock Shelter, Limpopo (South Africa), Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA) in Toulouse, France |
May 2016 | Conard, N. J., Bader, G. D., Schmid, V. C., Will, M., The MSA of southern Africa: a view from open air and cave sites, international workshop “Current research in the MSA – New perspectives on the archaeology of Halibee (Ethiopia)” in Tübingen, Germany |
September 2015
| Schmid, V. C., Porraz, G., Rots, V., Zeidi, M., Conard, N. J., Bifacial serrated technology in the southern African Still Bay: new data from Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, Meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution (ESHE) in London, United Kingdom |
July 2015
| Val, A., Backwell, L., Brugal, J.-P., Cnuts, D., Dayet, L., de la Peña, P., Douze, K., Feyfant, L., Grenet, M., Igreja, M., Kloos, P., Mentzer, S. M., Mercier, N., Miller, C. E., Murungi, M., Rots, V., Schmid, V. C., Sievers, C., Théry-Parisot, I., Tribolo, C., Valladas, H., van der Heever, A., Verna, C., Porraz, G., New excavations of the Later and Middle Stone Age layers at Bushman Rock Shelter, Limpopo Province, South Africa, Conference of the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA) in Harare, Zimbabwe |
July 2015
| Schmid, V. C., Zeidi, M., Porraz, G., Conard, N. J., Characterizing the basal lithic assemblages from deep sounding of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Conference of the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA) in Harare, Zimbabwe |
September 2014 | Conard, N. J., Schmid, V. C., Will, M., The tempo and nature of technological change in the MSA at Sibudu, international workshop “Contextualizing technological change and cultural evolution in the MSA of southern Africa” in Tübingen, Germany |
September 2014 | Schmid, V. C., The significance of the technological sequence at Elands Bay Cave for the MSA of the West Coast, South Africa, international workshop “Contextualizing technological change and cultural evolution in the MSA of southern Africa” in Tübingen, Germany |
September 2014 | Porraz, G., Val, A., Douze, K., De La Peña, P., Schmid, V. C., Introduction to Bushman Rock Shelter in South Africa, Congress of the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP) in Burgos, Spain |
September 2014 | Conard, N. J., Schmid, V. C., Zeidi, M., Porraz, G., Characterizing the stratigraphy of bifacial technology in the assemblages from the Deep Sounding at Sibudu Cave, in KwaZulu-Natal, Congress of the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP) in Burgos, Spain |
July 2014
| Schmid V. C., Conard N. J., Parkington J., Texier P.-J., Porraz G., Characterising the Early Middle Stone Age of Elands Bay Cave (Western Cape Province, South Africa), Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies and Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists in Johannesburg, South Africa |
November 2013 | Schmid, V. C., Conard, N. J., Parkington, J. E., Texier, P.-J., Porraz, G., A technological revision of the “MSA 1” at Elands Bay Cave (Western Cape Province, South Africa), international workshop “Mapping the origins of modern behaviour” in Clanwilliam, South Africa |
September 2013
| Conard, N. J., Schmid, V. C., Zeidi, M., Bifacial technology at Sibudu and its implications for our understanding of the Still Bay, Meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution (ESHE) in Vienna, Austria |
April 2013 | Pacher, M., Schmid, V. C., Nigst, P.-R., News on the Middle Palaeolithic Occupation of Repolust Cave (Styria, Austria): Taphonomy, Zooarchaeology and Lithic Technology, Meeting of the Hugo Obermaier-Gesellschaft in Vienna, Austria |
February 2013 | Schmid, V. C., Characterizing the MSA sequence at Elands Bay Cave (EBC) in the Western Cape, South African Archaeological Society in Durban, South Africa |
April 2012
| Porraz, G., Schmid, V. C., Conard, N. J., Parkington, J., Texier, P.-J., Building a sequence: Elands Bay Cave in the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa, Meeting of the Paleoanthropology Society in Memphis/Tennessee, USA |
April 2010
| Schmid, V. C., Porraz, G., The Early Middle Stone Age technology at Elands Bay Cave (Western Cape Province, South Africa): central issues and preliminary observations, Meeting of the Hugo Obermaier-Gesellschaft in Leipzig, Germany |
Poster Presentations
September 2017
| Schmid, V. C., Will, M., Bolus, M., Conard, N. J., Lithic assemblages from the Middle Paleolithic of Geißenklösterle Cave, Germany: New insights on Neanderthal technology and behaviour from the Swabian Jura, Meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution (ESHE) in Leiden, Netherlands |
June 2016
| Bader, G. D., Porraz, G., Rots, V., Schmid, V. C., Will, M., Conard, N. J., Implications of Spatial and Temporal Variation in Point Technology in Kwazulu-Natal during the MSA, Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA) in Toulouse, France |
July 2015
| Schmid, V. C., Zeidi, M., Porraz, G., Conard, N. J., Innovative expressions before the supposed rise of the Still Bay - Evidence from Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, international conference “Expansions 2015” organised by the Role of Culture in the Early Expansions of Humans (ROCEEH) in Frankfurt, Germany |
September 2012
| Schmid, V. C., Parkington, J. E., Conard, N. J., Texier, P.-J., Porraz, G., A revision of the southern African “MSA 1” based on new excavations at Elands Bay Cave (South Africa), Meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution (ESHE) in Bordeaux, France |
Workshop organisation
September 2014
| International workshop “Contextualizing technological change and cultural evolution in the MSA of southern Africa”, organised by N. J. Conard, University of Tübingen, 8-10. September 2014. |
Prices and Grants
July 2017 | Conference funding for the Biennial Conference of the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA) in Pretoria, South Africa, by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) |
October 2015 – December 2018 | Doctoral scholarship under the state of Baden-Württemberg law for the promotion of graduates (LGFG) |
June 2015 | Conference funding for the Biennial Conference of the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA) in Harare, Zimbabwe, by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) |
May 2015 | Part Funding for the Biennial Conference of the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA) in Harare, Zimbabwe, by the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists |
April 2015 | Grant for the Biennial Conference of the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA) in Harare, Zimbabwe, by the Universitätsbund, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen |
March 2014 | Conference sponsorship prize of postgraduate students for the participation at the 14th Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies und the 22nd Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists in Johannesburg, South Africa by the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies |
September 2013 | Grant for the international workshop “Mapping the origins of modern behaviour” in Clanwilliam, South Africa, by the Universitätsbund, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen |
Teaching
Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
Summer Semester 2019 | Excursion „Erkundung von Rohmaterialquellen (Mittelrhein)“ |
Winter Semester 2018/2019 | Lecture/Exercise „Modul Bachelor 14-2d & Master 1-2: Ausgewählte Themen der Artefaktanalyse am Beispiel der paläolithischen Fundstelle Vogelherd“ |
Summer Semester 2018 | Excursion „Erkundung von Rohmaterialquellen (Fränkischer Jura)“ |
Winter Semester 2016/2017 | Lecture/Exercise „Modul Bachelor 14-2d: Praktische und methodische Ansätze zur Auswertung von lithischen Artefakten“ |
Winter Semester 2015/2016 | Seminar „Modul Bachelor 14-2a & Master Modul 4-2: Das Middle Stone Age in Afrika” |
Winter Semester 2015/2016 | Lecture/Exercise „Modul Bachelor 14-2d: Praktische und methodische Ansätze zur Auswertung von lithischen Artefakten“ |
Winter Semester 2014/2015
| Lecture/Exercise „Modul Bachelor 14-2d: Ausgewählte Themen der Artefaktanalyse am Beispiel der paläolithischen Fundstelle Vogelherd“ |
Work Experience
2019
| Researcher for the study of the MSA lithic assemblage of Toumboura III (Senegal) at the Laboratory of Archaeology and Peopling of Africa, University of Geneva |
2014 – 2015 | Employee in the ROCEEH-Project (Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans) at Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften |
2013/2014
| Public Sorting during the day of the open cave at Geißenklösterle near Blaubeuren, Baden-Württemberg |
2012
| Student assistant for the DFG-Project „The lithic technology of the Early Middle Stone Age in southern Africa“ at the Institute of Pre- & Protohistory and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen |
2011 – 2012 | Recording of lithic artefacts from the profile session 2012 at Willendorf at the Natural History Museum Vienna |
2009 – 2010 | Student assistant for the Willendorf-Project at the Max-Planck-Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig |
2009 – 2010 | Museum guide for the exhibition "Ice Age - Art and Culture" at the centre of arts Stuttgart, Württemberg State Museum |
2009 – 2010 | Student assistant for the Jebel Faya-Project at the Institute of Pre- & Protohistory and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen |
2008 – 2009 | Employee for the recording and analysing of the chert and quartz artefacts from Repolust Cave at the State Museum Joanneum, Graz, Austria |
2008 – 2011 | Student assistant for the analysis of the Aurignacian lithics of Geißenklösterle at the Institute of Pre- & Protohistory and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen |
2006
| Employee for the digital recording of the study collection at the Institute of Pre- and Protohistory at the University of Vienna |
Fieldwork
Excavation | |
Austria | Grub/Kranawetberg, Lower Austria (directed by W. Antl-Weiser) Krems/Wachtberg, Lower Austria (directed by C. Neugebauer-Maresch) Ollersdorf, Lower Austria (directed by P.-R. Nigst, M. D. Bosch & W. Antl-Weiser) Willendorf II, Lower Austria (directed by P.-R. Nigst, T. B. Viola & G. Trnka) |
Czech Republic | Tvarozna, Jihomoravský kraj (directed by G. Tostevin & P. Skrdla) |
France
| Bibracte/Mont Beuvray, Burgundy (directed by O. H. Urban) Gergovie, Burgundy (directed by O. H. Urban) Germolles, Burgundy (directed by H. Floss) Les Cottés, Rhône-Alpes (directed by M. Soressi) Prés de Laure, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (directed by G. Porraz, L. Purdue & A. Tomasso) |
Germany
| Hohle Fels, Baden-Württemberg (directed by N. J. Conard) Schöningen, Lower Saxony (directed by N. J. Conard & J. Serangeli) Vogelherd, Baden-Württemberg (directed by N. J. Conard) |
Italy | Riparo Tagliente, Veneto (directed by A. Guerreschi & F. Fontana) |
Senegal | Ravin Blanc IV, Tambacounda (directed by É. Huysecom & K. Douze) Site du Chacal, Tambacounda (directed by É. Huysecom & K. Douze) |
South Africa
| Bushman Rock Shelter, Limpopo (directed by G. Porraz & A. Val) Heuningneskrans, Limpopo (directed by G. Porraz & A. Val) Diepkloof Rock Shelter, Western Cape Province (directed by P.-J. Texier) Elands Bay Cave, Western Cape Province (directed by G. Porraz & J. Parkington) Hoedjiespunt, Western Cape Province (directed by N.J. Conard) Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal (directed by N. J. Conard) |
Ukraine
| Beregovo, Transcarpathian (directed by P.-R. Nigst, L. Kulakovska & V. Usik) Korolevo II, Transcarpathian Oblast (directed by P.-R. Nigst, V. Usik & L. Kulakovska) |
United Arabic Emirates | Jebel Faya NE-1, Sharjah (directed by H.-P. Uerpmann) |
Survey | |
February 2015 | KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (directed by M. Zeidi) |
February 2007 – January 2008 | Melk, Lower Austria, Austria (directed by S. Groh) |
Professional Affiliations
Society of Africanist Archaeologists - SAfA |
European Society for the study of Human Evolution - ESHE |
Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte Blaubeuren – GfU |
Hugo Obermaier Gesellschaft - HOG |
Österreichische Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte – ÖGUF |
Language Skills
German (mother tongue) |
English (fluently) |
French (fluently) |
Latin (2nd minor) |