LCA research asks What do Humans Eat and Why? To answer this question we 1) research problems at the intersection of anthropology, human evolutionary biology and ecology, and 2) develop computational tools to address these problems.
Current lab research revolves around three interrelated topics:
- The evolutionary ecology and behavior of modern and prehistoric foragers.
- Paleoenvironmental reconstructions contextualizing behavior.
- Theoretical and methodological development of models linking archaeological data to behavior and morphology.
PEOPLE
Meet the People
Erik Otárola-Castillo
Assistant Professor and Lab Director
I am an archaeologist, human evolutionary biologist and biometrician. My research revolves around the question: “What do people eat and why?” To answer it, I study the diversity, ecology, evolution and co-evolution of behavioral phenotypes in prehistoric and modern foraging populations (human an
RESEARCH
Research in the Laboratory for Computational Anthropology (LCA) asks “What do Humans Eat and Why?” We aim to answer this question by
1. researching and shedding light on problems at the intersection of anthropology, human evolutionary ecology and biology and,
2. developing computational and statistical tools to address these problem.
Current lab research addresses three general and interrelated areas:
1) The evolutionary ecology and behavior of modern and prehistoric foragers
2) Paleoenvironmental reconstructions contextualizing forager behavior, and
3) Theoretical and methodological development of models that link archaeological data to behavior and morphology.
Specifically, we are currently testing hypotheses about how climate, spatial and temporal variation, habitat variation, prey abundance, foraging strategies, and hunting weaponry affect the dietary composition of prehistoric and modern human small-scale populations.
PUBLICATIONS
[publication cat=7]
SOFTWARE
Below you can find software programs which I have written (in R) to conduct methods I developed or implemented. Programs are freely available to the scientific community. These programs have been tested and debugged but I cannot gurantee that they are completely bug free. If errors are found, please contact me.
[software_teaching cat=8]
TEACHING
Anthropology provides an excellent forum for the initiation of lifelong learning. I therefore strive to stimulate students’ intellectual capabilities and instill enthusiasm for learning about the variation in human evolutionary behavior and and how to successfully answer scientific questions about this topic.
I currently teach several courses in Archaeology and Quantitative/Computational Anthropology. Descriptions for my primary undergraduate and graduate courses are provided below.
[software_teaching cat=9]
CONTACT
Harvard Fellow
Department of human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
Where to find me
If you are interested in discussing research or a class, just drop by my office or lab. Making an appointment first, however, might ensure I am in my office and will be able to meet with you.
Physical Location:
Stone Hall Room 219C, Purdue University
Labs
Physical Location:
Stone Hall Room 218
Stone Hall Room 098
Anthropology Department, Purdue University
Mailing Information
