[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,1_2,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/anthropology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2024\/02\/Plummer-Faculty-Pic-scaled.jpg” alt=”Thomas Plummer” title_text=”Thomas Plummer” _builder_version=”4.25.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.0″ _module_preset=”default” module_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Professor<\/strong><\/p>\n Ph.D, Yale University 1991<\/em><\/p>\n CUNY Advanced Research Collaborative (Fall 2018) Recipient<\/span><\/p>\n Office:<\/strong> Powdermaker Hall 315M <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-35px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.25.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Thomas Plummer’s research focuses on reconstructing the behavior and ecology of extinct members of our biological family, the Hominidae. It includes a strong paleoecological component because paleoenvironmental information is integral to issues ranging from the origin of major morphological complexes (e.g. bipedalism), understanding adaptive shifts within and between hominid lineages (e.g. between hominids with gracile and robust chewing apparatuses) and elucidating the context of novel behaviors (e.g., the production of stone tools and the formation of the first archeological sites at ca. 2.6 million years ago).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n His fieldwork focuses on investigating archeological and paleontological occurrences in late Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments on the Homa Peninsula, southwestern Kenya. He is particularly interested in probing the adaptive significance of the earliest stone tool industry, known as the Oldowan. His on-going excavations at the ca. 2.0 million year old Oldowan site of Kanjera South, Kenya, have uncovered the largest assemblage of artifacts and archeological fauna from an Oldowan site outside of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Manuscripts describing and interpreting the finds from Kanjera are currently in preparation.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_accordion closed_toggle_text_color=”#E71939″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Research Focus” open=”on” open_toggle_text_color=”#E71939″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”Courses Taught” open_toggle_text_color=”#E71939″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” open=”off”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][\/et_pb_accordion][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.25.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.25.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.25.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Finestone, E., Plummer T.W. et al. (2025). Selective use of distant stone resources by the earliest Oldowan toolmakers. Science Advances 11:33: eadu5838. DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/sciadv.adu5838 (link to article<\/a>)<\/p>\n Plummer, T.W. et al. (2023). Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus. Science 379: 561-566. DOI:10.1126\/science.abo7452 (link to article<\/a>)<\/p>\n Forrest, F. L., Plummer, T. W., & R. L. Raaum (2018). Ecomorphological analysis of bovid mandibles from Laetoli Tanzania using 3D geometric morphometrics: Implications for hominin paleoenvironmental reconstruction.\u00a0Journal of Human Evolution\u00a0114: 20-34.<\/p>\n Ditchfield, P.W., Whitfield, E., Vincent, T., Plummer, T., Braun, D., Deino, A., Hertel, F.,Oliver, J.S., Louys, J. and L.C. Bishop (2018). Geochronology and physical context of Oldowan site formation at Kanjera South, Kenya.\u00a0Geological Magazine, pp.1-11.<\/i><\/p>\n Douglass, M. J., Lin, S. C., Braun, D. R., & T.W. Plummer (2018). Core Use-Life Distributions in Lithic Assemblages as a Means for Reconstructing Behavioral Patterns.\u00a0Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory\u00a025:254-288.<\/p>\n Plummer, T. W., &Finestone, E. (2017). Archeological sites from 2.6\u20132.0 Ma: Towards deeper understanding of the early Oldowan. In\u00a0Rethinking Human Evolution. MIT Press,Cambridge, pp. 267-296.<\/p>\n Plummer, T.W. & L. Bishop (2016)Oldowan hominin behavior and ecology at Kanjera South, Kenya. Journal of Anthropological Sciences\u00a094:29-40.<\/p>\n O\u2019Brien, H.D., Faith, J.T., Jenkins, K.E., Peppe, D.J., Plummer, T.W., Jacobs, Z.L., Li, B., Joannes-Boyau, R., Price, G., Feng, Y.X. & C.A. Tryon (2016). Unexpected Convergent Evolution of Nasal Domes between Pleistocene Bovids and Cretaceous Hadrosaur Dinosaurs.\u00a0Current Biology\u00a026:1-6.<\/p>\n Elton, S., Jansson, A. U., Meloro, C., Louys, J., Plummer, T., & L. C. Bishop (2016).Exploring morphological generality in the Old World monkey postcranium using an ecomorphological framework.\u00a0Journal of Anatomy\u00a0228: 534-560.<\/p>\n Plummer, T. W., Ferraro, J. V., Louys, J., Hertel, F., Alemseged, Z., Bobe, R., & L. C. Bishop(2015. Bovid ecomorphology and hominin paleoenvironments of the Shungura Formation, lower Omo River Valley, Ethiopia.\u00a0Journal of Human Evolution\u00a088: 108-126.<\/p>\n Parkinson,J.A.,Plummer, T. W. & A. Hartstone-Rose (2015). Characterizing felid tooth marking and gross bone damage patterns using GIS image analysis: An experimental feeding study with large felids.\u00a0\u00a0Journal of Human Evolution 80:114-134.<<\/i><\/p>\n Lemorini, C., Plummer, T.W., Braun, D., Crittenden, A., Marlowe, F., Bishop, L.C., Ditchfield,P., Hertel., F., Oliver, J., Schoeninger, M., & R. Potts (2014). Old stones song: functional interpretation of the Oldowan quartz and quartzite assemblage from Kanjera South (Kenya).\u00a0Journal of Human Evolution\u00a072:10-25.<\/p>\n Parkinson, J.A., Plummer, T.W. & R. Bose (2014).A GIS-based approach to documenting large canid damage to bones.\u00a0Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology\u00a0409:57-71.<\/p>\n Braun,D. R. & T.W. Plummer (2013). Oldowan technology at Kanjera South: Technological diversity on the Homa Peninsula. In: Sahnouni, M. (Ed)\u00a0Africa: Cradle of Humanity: Recent Discoveries, CNRPAH, Algeria, pp. 131-145.<\/p>\n Ferraro, J.V., Plummer, T., Pobiner, B., Oliver, J.S., Bishop, L., Braun, D.R., Ditchfield, P.W., Seaman III, J.W.,Binetti, K.M., Seaman Jr., J.W., Hertel, F.& R. Potts (2013). Earliest Archaeological Evidence of Persistent Hominin Carnivory.PLoS ONE\u00a08(4):e62174, 1-10.<\/p>\n Louys, J., Montanari,S., Plummer, T., Hertel, F. & L.C. Bishop (2013. Evolutionary divergence and convergence in shape and size within African antelope proximal phalanges.\u00a0Journal of Mammalian Evolution\u00a020:239\u2013248.<\/p>\n Swedell,L. & T. W. Plummer. (2012) A Papionin Multi-Level Society as a Model for Early Hominin Evolution.\u00a0International Journal of Primatology\u00a033:1165-1193.<\/i><\/p>\n Faith, J. T., Potts, R., Plummer, T. W., Bishop, L.C., Marean, C. W. & C. A. Tryon (2012). New perspectives on middle Pleistocene change in the large mammal faunas of East Africa: Damaliscus hypsodon sp. nov. (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from Lainyamok, Kenya.\u00a0Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology\u00a0361-362:84-93.<\/p>\n Luoys, J., Montanari, S., Plummer, T., Hertel, F. & L.C. Bishop (2012). Evolutionary divergence and convergence in shape and size within African antelope proximal phalanges.\u00a0Journal of Mammalian Evolution\u00a020:239-248.<\/p>\n Plummer, T.W. (2012). The Hard Stuff of Culture: Oldowan Archaeology at Kanjera South, Kenya.\u00a0Popular Archaeology\u00a0(online journal), volume 7.<\/p>\n Bishop, L.C., Plummer, T.W., Hertel, F. & K. Kovarovic (2011). Paleoenvironments of Laetoli, Tanzania as determined by antelope habitat preferences. In T. Harrison (ed.)\u00a0Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context. Vol. 2: Fossil Hominins and the Associated Fauna,\u00a0Springer. pp. 355-366. ISBN 978-90-481-9961-7.<\/p>\n T. W. Plummer, P. W. Ditchfield, L. C. Bishop, J. D. Kingston, J. V. Ferraro, D. R. Braun, F. Hertel, and R. Potts (2009).\u00a0Oldest Evidence of Toolmaking Hominins in a Grassland- Dominated Ecosystem.<\/a>\u00a0PLoS ONE<\/em>\u00a04:7199.<\/p>\n Plummer, T. W., L. C. Bishop, and F. Hertel (2008).\u00a0Habitat preference of extant African bovids based on astragalus morphology: operationalizing ecomorphology for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.<\/a>\u00a0Journal of Archaeological Science<\/em>\u00a035:3016-3027.<\/p>\n D. R. Braun, T. Plummer, P. Ditchfield, J. V. Ferraro, D. Maina, L. C. Bishop, and R. Potts (2008).\u00a0Oldowan behavior and raw material transport: perspectives from the Kanjera Formation.<\/a>\u00a0Journal of<\/em>\u00a0Archaeological Science<\/em>\u00a035:2329-2345.<\/i><\/p>\n Plummer, T. W. (2005). Discord after Discard. Reconstructing Aspects of Oldowan Hominin Behavior. In A. Stahl (ed)\u00a0African Archaeology<\/em>.\u00a0A Critical Introduction<\/em>, Blackwell Guides to Archaeology, Oxford, pp. 55-92.<\/i><\/p>\n Plummer, T. W. (2004).\u00a0Flaked stones and old bones: biological and cultural evolution at the dawn of technology.\u00a0<\/a><\/em>Yearbook of Physical Anthropology<\/em>\u00a047: 118-164.<\/i><\/p>\n Frost, S.R., Plummer, T.W., Bishop, L.C., Ditchfield, P., Ferraro, J., Hicks, J. (2003).\u00a0Partial cranium of\u00a0Cercopithecoides kimeui<\/em>\u00a0Leakey, 1982 from Rawi Gully, southwestern Kenya.<\/a>\u00a0American Journal of Physical Anthropology\u00a0<\/i>122: 191-199.<\/i><\/p>\n Plummer, T. W. & Stanford, C. B. (2000).\u00a0Analysis of a bone assemblage made by chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania.<\/a>\u00a0Journal of Human Evolution\u00a0<\/em>39: 345-365.<\/i><\/p>\n
Phone:<\/strong> (718) 997-5514
Fax:<\/strong> (718) 997-2885
Email:<\/strong> thomas.plummer@qc.cuny.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n
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Selected Publications<\/h5>\n