Urgeschichte und Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie

PD Dr. Manuel Will

Anschrift:
Universität Tübingen
Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie
Burgsteige 11
72070 Tübingen

Büro: Raum 106, Schloss Hohentübingen

 +49-(0)7071-29-74993
manuel.willspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

Sprechzeiten:
Nach Vereinbarung

Anstellung

Akademischer Rat a. Z.

Aktuelle Forschung

Aktive Forschungsprojekte

2023 - 2025

 

Co-Principal Investigator, Fritz Thyssen Foundation “Investigating the relationship between human behavioral change and environmental conditions during the Late Pleistocene in the interior of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa”, with Dr. G. Bader (Ref 10.23.2.005AA)

2022 - 2024

 

Principal Investigator, DFG project “Landscape use, niche construction and cultural evolution of early Homo sapiens in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa” WI 4978/3-1
Since 2020         

Co-Principal Investigator, “The Paleolithic settlement of the Ermstal Valley (Swabian Jura), Germany”, with Dr. G. Bader.

2018 - 2022

Co-Principal Investigator, DFG project “Dynamics of subsistence and technology before and during the Still Bay at Sibudu, South Africa” with Prof. N. Conard; CO 226/34-1/WI 4978/1-1

Since 2018

Co-Principal Investigator, Scientific network “Comparative Analyses of Middle Stone Age Artefacts in Africa (CoMSAfrica)”, with Prof. C. Tryon; Consortium of 12 international scholars on comparative lithic analyses

Since 2017

Project Collaborator, Lithic analyst, “The evolution of landscape use among modern humans”, ARC project, Director Dr. A. Mackay

Herausgebertätigkeiten

Associate Editor 

      Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports (since 04/2019)

Studium & Ausbildung

2023

Habilitation in Prehistoric Archaeology & Paleoanthropology,

University of Tübingen

2012 - 2016

Doctoral studies in Prehistoric Archaeology

University of Tübingen

2011 - 2012

Master of Philosophy in Human Evolutionary Studies 

University of Cambridge
2008 - 2011

Bachelor of Arts in Prehistoric Archaeology and Paleoanthropology

University of Tübingen

Vorherige Anstellungen

2016 - 2018

Junior Research Fellow (Archaeology & Anthropology)

Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge

2013 - 2016 Coordinator of studies and teaching, B.Sc. and M.Sc.
"Archaeological Sciences" (University of Tübingen)

Publikationen (Bücher)

Publikationen (Herausgeberschaften)

Publikationen (Artikel & Buchkapitel peer reviewed)

  1. Moos, E.T., Bader, G.D., & Will, M. (2024). Experimental investigation of knapping characteristics of dolerite and implications for the interpretation of Middle Stone Age technologies. Lithic Technology, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/01977261.2024.2388964

  2. Will, M., Blessing, M., Möller, G.H., Msimanga, L., Pehnert, H., Riedesel, S., Botha, G.A., Sommer, C. (2024). The Jojosi Dongas: An interdisciplinary project to study the evolution of human behaviour and landscapes in open-air contexts. Southern African Field Archaeology 19, 3010.

  3. Bader, G.D., Val, A., Gevers, E., Rhodes, S.E., Stahl, N., Woodborne, S., Will, M. (2024). Behind the waterfall – Interdisciplinary results from Holley Shelter and their implications for understanding human behavioral patterns at the end of the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa Quaternary Science Reviews 331, 108633

  4. Will, M., Scerri, E. (2024). The generic MSA: Fact or fiction? Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa 59:1, 4-21.

  5. Stock, J., Will, M., Wells, J. (2023). The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis and distributed adaptation in the genus Homo: Phenotypic plasticity and behavioral adaptability. Pal PaleoAnthropology 2023:2, 205−223.

  6. Will, M., Jerardino, A., Villagran, X., Green, A., Erlandson, J. (2023). Living on the edge – interdisciplinary perspectives on coastal and marine ecosystems in human prehistory. Frontiers in Earth Science 11, 1209842.

  7. Scerri, E., Will, M. (2023). The revolution that still isn’t. The origins of behavioral complexity in Homo sapiens. Journal of Human Evolution 179, 103358

  8. Pargeter, J., Brooks, A., Douze, K., Eren, M., Groucutt, H., McNeil, J., Mackay, A., Ranhorn, K., Scerri, E., Shaw, M., Tryon, C., Will, M., Leplongeon, A. (2023) Replicability in lithic analysis. American Antiquity, 1-24.  https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2023.4

  9. Blessing, M. A., Conard, N. J., Will, M. (2023). Lithic standardization and behavioral complexity in the Middle Stone Age. A case study from Sibhudu, South Africa. Lithic Technology, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/01977261.2022.2158591

  10. Bader, G. D., Will, M. (2022). 70 years later – New research at Holley Shelter, a Middle and Later Stone Age site in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 118 (11/12). https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2022/14069

  11. Will, M., Bader, G.D., Sommer, C., Cooper, A., Green, A. (2022). Coastal adaptations on the eastern seaboard of South Africa during the Pleistocene and Holocene? Current evidence and future perspectives from archaeology and marine geology. Frontiers in Earth Science 10, 964423.

  12. Conard, N.J., Brenner, M., Bretzke, K., Will, M. (2022). What do spatial data from Sibhudu tell us about life in the Middle Stone Age? Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 14, 148.

  13. Bader, G., Mabuza, A., Price Williams, D., Will, M. (2022). Rethinking the Middle to Later Stone Age transition in southern Africa. A perspective from the highveld of Eswatini. Quaternary Science Reviews 286, 107540.

  14. Tribolo, C., Mercier, N., Martin, L., Taffin, N., Miller, C. E., Will, M., Conard, N.J. (2022). Luminescence dating estimates for the coastal MSA sequence of Hoedjiespunt 1 (South Africa). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 41, 103320.

  15. Will, M., Krapp, M., Stock, J.T., Manica, A. (2021) Different environmental variables predict body and brain size evolution in Homo. Nature Communications 12, 4116.

  16. Will, M. (2021) The Role of Different Raw Materials in Lithic Technology and Settlement Patterns During the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa. African Archaeological Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-021-09446-6

  17. Hussain, S.T., Will, M. (2021). Materiality, agency and evolution of lithic technology: An integrated perspective for Palaeolithic archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 28, 617–670.

  18. Brennenstuhl, H., Will, M., Ries, E., Mechler, K., Garbade, S., Ries, M. (2021) Patterns of extreme temperature-related catastrophic events in Europe including the Russian Federation: a cross-sectional analysis of the Emergency Events Database. BMJ Open 11, e046359.

  19. Will, M., Conard, N.J. (2020) Regional patterns of diachronic technological change in the Howiesons Poort of southern Africa. PLoS ONE 15(9): e0239195.

  20. Will M., Mackay A. (2020). A matter of space and time: How frequent is convergence in lithic technology in the African archaeological record over the last 300 kyr? In: Groucutt H. (ed.) Culture history and convergent evolution. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, pp. 103-125. Springer, Cham.

  21. Will, M. (2020). Neanderthal surf and turf. Science 367, 1422-1423.

  22. Conard, N.J., Schmid, V.C., Bolus, M., Will, M. (2019). Lithic assemblages from the Middle Paleolithic of Geißenklösterle Cave provide insights on Neanderthal behavior in the Swabian Jura. Quartär 66, 51-80.

  23. Will, M. (2019). Sibudan. In: Chirikure, S. (Ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. New York: Oxford University, forthcoming.

  24. Will, M., El-Zaatari, S., Harvati, K., & Conard, N. J. (2019). Human teeth from securely stratified Middle Stone Age contexts at Sibudu, South Africa. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 11, 3491-3501.

  25. Will, M., Tryon, C., Shaw, M., Scerri, E.M.L., Ranhorn, K., Pargeter, J., McNeil, J., Mackay, A., Leplongeon, A., Groucutt, H.S., Douze, K., Brooks, A. (2019). Comparative analysis of Middle Stone Age artefacts in Africa (CoMSAfrica). Evolutionary Anthropology 28, 57-59.

  26. Will, M., Conard, N.J., Tryon, C.A. (2019). Timing and trajectory of cultural evolution on the African continent 200,000-30,000 years ago. In: Sahle, Y., Reyes-Centeno, H., Bentz, C. (Eds.) Modern Human Origins and Dispersal, pp. 25-72. Tübingen: Kerns Verlag.

  27. Will, M., Kandel, A.W., Conard, N.J. (2019). Midden or molehill: the role of coastal adaptations for human evolution and dispersal. Journal of World Prehistory 32, 33-72..

  28. Will, M., Conard, N. J. (2018). Assemblage variability and bifacial points in the lowermost Sibudan layers at Sibudu, South Africa. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 10, 389-414.

  29. Will, M., Pablos, A., Stock, J.T. (2017). Long-term patterns of body mass and stature evolution within the hominin lineage. Royal Society Open Science 4(11), 171339.

  30. Bader, G.D., Will, M. (2017). Recent Research on the MSA in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 23, 79-108.

  31. Will, M., Mackay, A. (2017). What factors govern the procurement and use of silcrete during the Stone Age of South Africa? Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports, 15, 630-645.

  32. Wragg-Sykes, R., Will, M., (2017). Silcrete as a lithic raw material in global context: geology, sourcing and prehistoric techno-economics. Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports, 15, 422-499.

  33. Will, M., Kandel, A.W., Kyriakou, K., Conard, N.J. (2016). An evolutionary perspective on coastal adaptations by modern humans during the Middle Stone Age of Africa. Quaternary International 404, 68-86.

  34. Will, M., Mackay, A., Phillips, N. (2015) Implications of Nubian-Like core reduction systems in southern Africa for the identification of early modern human dispersals. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0131824.

  35. Will, M., Stock, J.T. (2015). Spatial and temporal variation of body size among early Homo. Journal of Human Evolution 82, 15-33.

  36. Conard, N.J., Will, M. (2015). Examining the Causes and Consequences of Short-Term Behavioral Change during the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu, South Africa. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0130001.

  37. Kyriakou, K., Parkington, J.E., Will, M., Conard, N.J. (2015). Middle and Later Stone Age shellfish exploitation strategies and coastal foraging at Hoedjiespunt, Saldanha Bay, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 57, 197-206.

  38. Will, M., Kandel, A.W., Conard, N.J. (2015). Coastal adaptations and settlement systems on the Cape and Horn of Africa during the Middle Stone Age. In: N.J. Conard & A. Delagnes (Eds.) Settlement Dynamics of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, Vol. IV, pp. 61-89. Tübingen: Kerns Verlag.

  39. Conard, N.J., Schmid, V., Will, M. (2015). Sibudu und die kulturelle Evolution des modernen Menschen. Archäologie in Deutschland 31 (2), 12-17

  40. Conard, N.J., Bader, G.D., Schmid, V., Will, M. (2014). Bringing the Middle Stone Age into clearer focus. Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 23, 121-128.

  41. Will, M., Bader, G.D., Conard, N.J. (2014). Characterizing the Late Pleistocene MSA Lithic Technology of Sibudu, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. PLOS ONE, e98359. 

  42. Will, M., Parkington, J.E., Kandel, A.W., Conard, N.J. (2013). Coastal adaptations and the Middle Stone Age lithic assemblages from Hoedjiespunt 1 in the Western Cape, South Africa. Journal of Human Evolution 64, 518-537.

Publikationen (Abstracts)

Präsentationen (Konferenzvortrag)

Präsentationen (Poster)

Zuschüsse und 3rd-Party Finanzierung

2023-2025 “Investigating the relationship between human behavioral change and environmental conditions during the Late Pleistocene in the interior of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa”, with Dr. G. Bader (120,000 Euro)
2022–2024   DFG project “Landscape use, niche construction and cultural evolution of early Homo sapiens in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa” WI 4978/3-1 (172,270 Euro)
2019

Fonds National Suisse (SNF), “Comparative Analyses of Middle Stone Age Artefacts in Africa (CoMSAfrica)”, with Dr. K. Douze (18,960 CHF)

2018–2020

DFG project “Dynamics of subsistence and technology before and during the Still Bay at Sibudu, South Africa” with Prof. N. Conard; CO 226/34-1/WI 4978/1-1 (495,350 Euro)

2018

Accelerator Workshop, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University (USA), “Comparative Analyses of Middle Stone Age Artefacts in Africa (CoMSAfrica)”, with Prof. C. Tryon (20,000 $)

2015

Travel grant awarded by the German National Academic Foundation (420 Euro)

2015 Travel grant awarded by the Universitätsbund Tübingen e. V. (300 Euro)
2014

Travel grant awarded by the Pan-African Archaeological Association of Prehistory and Related Studies (1,500 Euro)

2013 Travel grant awarded by the Universitätsbund Tübingen e. V. (500 Euro)
2012

Travel grant awarded by Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (620 Euro)

2012

Travel grant awarded by Homerton College, University of Cambridge (150 Pound Sterling)

2012 Travel grant awarded by the Paleoanthropology Society (500 US Dollar)
2011

Research grant awarded by the Heidelberg Academy of      Sciences and Humanities for the conduction of lithic analyses at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (1000 Euro)

Stipendien und Preise

2017 Dissertation prize of the University of Tübingen (500 Euro)
2017

Prize for best dissertation in the Division of Geosciences (University of Tübingen)

2016–2020

Junior Research Fellowship (4-year) at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge UK (ca. 88,000 Pound Sterling)

2014–2016

Doctoral Dissertation Scholarship of the ‘Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes’ (German National Academic Foundation) (36,600 Euro)

Lehre

Universität Tübingen (Germany)

University of Cambridge (UK)

Akademische Tätigkeiten

Manuscript peer review


Grant reviews

 

Committees & Panels

2021

PhD defense committee of Dr. Marco. A. Vidal Cordasco (Universidad de Burgos), PhD Program: Evolución Humana, Paleoecología del Cuaternario y Técnicas Geofísicas aplicadas a la Investigación (Interuniversitario)

since 2021

Expert Evaluator for EU Horizon postdoctoral research fellowship program “Shaping European Research Leaders for Marine Sustainability” (SEAS), University of Bergen

since 2020

Study commission of Archaeological Sciences (BA), Archaeological Sciences and Human Evolution (MSc) and Paleoanthropology (BA), University of Tübingen

since 2018

Committee member (5x) of the German National Academic Foundation for admission of pupils and students


Workshop attendance and organization

Professionelle Mitgliedschaften

Seit 2022 Vertrauensdozent der Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
2016-2020 Fellow of The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge
Seit 2017  Cultural Evolution Society
Seit 2017 Member of the Institute of Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen
Seit 2013 South African Archaeological Society
Seit 2012 European Society for the Study of Human Evolution
Seit 2010 Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte e.V.

Sprachkenntnisse

Zusatzqualifikationen