Heisenberg Fellow - DFG Heisenberg Programme 
Principal Investigator of the Cluster of Excellence: HUMAN ORIGINS (EXC 3101) 
Member of the working group Prehistory and Archaeological Sciences, subgroup Archaeometry 
Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Archaeology of the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa 
Member of the editorial board of Archaeological and Anthropological Science (Springer)

Schmidt works at the interface of mineralogy, chemistry and archaeology. Research topics are the spectroscopic signature of minerals, the properties of materials, the mineralogy and crystallography of raw materials and provenance studies on archaeological raw materials. He also works on early pyrotechnology and transformative techniques like stone heat treatment or adhesive making. His analytical focus lies on silica minerals like quartz, opal-CT and moganite, siliceous rocks like flint, chert and silcrete, and organic materials like birch tar, plant gums and conifer adhesives. 

Patrick Schmidt's Google Scholar profile                                                                                                                                                        Patrick Schmidt's ORCID profile

• The southern African Stone Age – regular fieldwork in South Africa. Rocks/minerals, botanical materials.
• The Australian prehistory – fieldwork campaigns in Australia. Rocks/minerals, archaeological raw materials.
• Silica rocks in Europe - regular fieldwork in France, Germany, Italy, Spain.
• Coloring materials of the Stone Age - regular fieldwork in South Africa and Europe.

A full list of publications can be viewed at Schmidt’s Google Scholar profile (link above)

Schmidt, P., Pappas, I. Porraz, G., Berthold, C., Nickel, K.G (2024): The driving force behind tool-stone selection in the African Middle Stone Age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 121(10), e2318560121 (10p.).

Schmidt, P., Iovita, R., Charrié-Duhaut, A., Möller, G., Namen, A., Dutkiewicz, E. (2024): Ochre-based compound adhesives at the Mousterian type-site document complex cognition and high investment. Science Advances 10 (8), eadl0822 (10 p.). 

Schmidt, P., Koch, T.J., Blessing, M.A., Karakostis, F.A., Harvati, K., Dresely, V., Charrié  Duhaut, A. (2023): Production method of the Königsaue birch tar documents cumulative culture in Neanderthals. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 15, 84 (13 p.). 

Schmidt, P., Koch, T.J., February, E. (2022): Archaeological adhesives made from Podocarpus document innovative potential in the African Middle Stone Age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 119(40), e2209592119 (9 p.). 

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 (PNAS) 116(36), 17707–17711. 

Schmidt, P., Lauer, C., Buck, G., Miller, C.E., Nickel., K.G. (2017): Detailed near-infrared study of the 'water'-related transformations in silcrete upon heat treatment. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals 44(2), 21-31. 

Schmidt, P., Porraz, G., Bellot-Gurlet, L., February, E., Ligouis, B., Paris, C., Texier, J.P., Parkington, J.E., Miller, C.E., Nickel, K.G., Conard, N.J. (2015): A previously undescribed organic residue sheds light on heat treatment in the Middle Stone Age. Journal of Human Evolution 85, 22-34. 

Schmidt, P., Bellot-Gurlet, L. Léa, V., Sciau, P. (2014):  Moganite detection in silica rocks using Raman and infrared spectroscopy. European Journal of Mineralogy 25(5), 797-805. 

Schmidt, P., Porraz, G., Slodczyk, A., Bellot-Gurlet, L., Archer, W., Miller, C. (2013): Heat treatment in the South African Middle Stone Age: temperature induced transformations of silcrete and their technological implications. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(9), 3519-3531. 

Schmidt, P., Masse, S., Laurent, G., Slodczyk, A., Le Bourhis, E., Perrenoud, C., Livage, J., Fröhlich, F. (2012): Crystallographic and structural transformations of sedimentary chalcedony in flint upon heat treatment. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(1), 135-144.