• Pleistocene hominins in SW Asia
• Spatial and technological behavior of hominin populations in arid and semi-arid environments
• Paleolithic landscape archaeology
• Biological, technological and environmental context of human evolution

1. Postdoctoral researcher in the project: “Population dynamics and technological variability during the Late Pleistocene of the circum-Persian Gulf region” (DFG funded)

• Paleolithic field work in the Emirate of Sharjah, UAE. Project Director: Prof. Hans-Peter Uerpmann
  • Excavations at site FAY-NE1, Jebel Faya -> stratified Middle and Late Pleistocene Archaeology
  • Survey

• Paleolithic field work in southern Iran. Project director: Prof. Nicholas J. Conard
  • Excavations at site Ghar-e Boof -> stratified Upper Paleolithic Archaeology
  • Survey

2. Land use and mobility during the MSA in South Africa -> data analysis

3. The Lower Paleolithic in Sharjah, UAE -> field work at site Suhailah, Sharjah Emirate, UAE

• Studies on Upper Paleolithic landuse in the northern Levant” (DFG funded)
• Lithic points from the MSA at Mumba Cave, Tanzania
• Lithic technology at the Neolithic site BHS18, Sharjah Emirate, UAE

1. Kandel, AW, Bolus, M, Bretzke, K, Bruch, AA, Haidle, MN, Hertler,C, Märker, M, accepted. Increasing behavioral flexibility? An integrative macro-scale approach to understanding the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.

2. Bretzke, K, in press. Paleolithic assemblages from the Central Region of the Emirate of Sharjah (UAE) and implications for human settlement dynamics in southern Arabia. Nicholas J. Conard & Annes Delagnes (eds.) Settlement Dynamics vol. IV.

3. Bretzke, K, Conard, NJ, Uerpmann, H-P., 2014. Excavations at Jebel Faya – The FAY-NE1 Shelter Sequence. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 44, 69-82.

4. Conard, NJ, Bretzke, K, Deckers, K, Kandel, AW, Masri, M, Napierala, HA, Riehl, S, Stahlschmidt, M, 2013. Natufian lifeways in the eastern foothills of the Anti‐Lebanon Mountains, in: Bar-Yosef, O & Valla, FR (Eds.), Natufian foragers in the Levant. International Monographs in Prehistory, Ann Arbor: pp. 1-16.

5. Bretzke, K, Armitage, S, Parker, A, Walkington, H, Uerpmann, H‐P, 2013. The environmental context of Paleolithic settlement at Jebel Faya, Emirate Sharjah, UAE. Quaternary International 300: 83-93.

6. Bretzke, K, Conard, NJ, 2012. The evaluation of morphological variability in lithic assemblages using 3D models of stone artifacts. Journal of Archaeological Science 39: 3741-3749.

7. Bretzke, K, Drechsler, P, Conard, NJ, 2012. Water availability and landuse during the Upper and Epipaleolithic in southwestern Syria. Journal of Archaeological Science 39: 2272‐2279.

8. Conard, NJ, Abu Kahla, J, Bretzke, K, Napierala, HA, Kandel, AW, submitted. The 2010 Excavation at the Middle Paleolithic Rockshelter of Wadi Mushkuna, Damascus Province, Syria. Chronique Archéologique en Syrie.

9. Bretzke, K, Kandel, AW, Conard, NJ, 2011. Deducing landuse patterns from archaeological survey data. Chronique Archéologique en Syrie 5: 11‐18.

10. Conard, NJ, Bretzke, K, Masri, M, Napierala, HA, Kandel, AW, 2010. Modeling Middle Paleolithic landuse in the Damascus Province, Syria. In: N.J. Conard & A. Delagnes (Eds.) Settlement Dynamics of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, Vol III. Tübingen: Kerns Verlag, pp. 123‐144

11. Conard, NJ, Masri, M, Bretzke, K, Napierala, HA, Welte, B, Kandel, AW, 2010. The 2008 Excavation at the Middle Paleolithic site of Wadi Mushkuna Rockshelter, Damascus Province, Syria. Chronique Archéologique en Syrie 4: 13-22.

12. Conard, NJ, Masri, M, Bretzke, K, Stahlschmidt, M, Kandel, AW, 2010. The 2008 TDASP Survey in the Damascus Province, Syria and the refinement of models of Paleolithic landuse. Chronique Archéologique en Syrie 4: 23-29.

13. Bretzke, K, 2008. Oberflächenfunde als Quelle siedlungsarchäologischer Untersuchungen. Eine Fallstudie am Jungpaläolithikum der Zentrallevante. Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 17: 69‐96.

14. Bretzke, K, Marks, AE, Conard, NJ, 2006. Projektiltechnologie und kultureller Evolution in Ostafrika. Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 15: 63‐81.

15. Conard, NJ, Bretzke, K, Hillgruber, KF, Masri,M, 2006. Research in 2005 at Kaus Kozah Cave. In: NJ Conard (ed.) Tübingen Damascus Excavation and Survey Project. 1999.‐2005. p. 195‐202.

16. Conard, NJ, Bretzke, K, Hillgruber, KF, Kandel, AW, Masri, M, 2006. The 2006 Excavation at Kaus Kozah Cave, Damascus Province, Syria. Excavation report submitted to the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums of Syria.