Dr Katarina Almeida-Warren

Research

I am a primate archaeologist and Leverhulme Early Career Fellow with a background in archaeology, primatology, and anthropology. I am interested in the archaeology of non-human primate tool-use and culture, with a focus on its exciting contributions to human origins research. My expertise spans chimpanzee plant technology (termite-fishing), stone technology (nut-cracking), and the formation of technological landscapes, using a range of archaeological and primatological approaches including raw material studies, landscape archaeology, behavioural ecology, and agent-based modelling.

For my current project “Primate Archaeology Beyond Technology: Delving Deeper into our Primate Heritage”, I am leading the very first investigation into the archaeology of non-technological chimpanzee behaviours, providing the first glimpse of what is yet to be unearthed from our distant past.

Through ongoing collaborations, I remain involved in the archaeological research of chimpanzee termite-fishing in Tanzania, which is contributing towards our knowledge of perishable tool use and its relevance to human evolution and our technological origins. I am a National Geographic Explorer, an active member of the IUCN SSC PSG SGA Working Group for Chimpanzee Cultures, and an associate researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour (ICArEHB) in Portugal.

Previous Education

DPhil in Anthropology, University of Oxford (2022)
Master of Science (MSc) in Human Evolution and Behaviour, UCL (2015)
Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Archaeological Science, University of Sheffield (2013)

Awards

Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship – The Leverhulme Trust (2022)
Early Careers Grant – The National Geographic Society (2018)
The Boise Trust Fund Award – University of Oxford (2017)
The Boise Trust Fund Award – University of Oxford (2016/2017/2019)
Foundation for Science and Technology Ph.D. scholarship – FCT, Portugal (2016)
Dean’s List for Academic Excellence – Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences, UCL (2015)
Daryll Forde Studentship – Department of Anthropology, UCL (2014)
Kay Harvey Prize in Archaeological Science – Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield (2013)
Emily Willey Prize in Archaeology and Prehistory - Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield (2013)

Publications

Almeida-Warren, K., Camara, H. D., Matsuzawa, T., & Carvalho, S. (2022). Landscaping the Behavioural Ecology of Primate Stone Tool Use. International Journal of Primatology, 43(5), 885–912. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-022-00305-y

Carvalho, S., Erin, W., Abwe, E. Almeida-Warren, K., et al. (2022) Using non-human culture in conservation requires careful and concerted action. Conservation Letters, e12860. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12860.

Pascual-Garrido, A., Almeida-Warren, K. (2021) Archaeology of the perishable: Ecological constraints and cultural variants in chimpanzee termite-fishing. Current Anthropology 62(3): 333-362. https://doi.org/10.1086/713766

Almeida-Warren, K., Braun, D. R., Carvalho, S. (2021) The DistoX2: A methodological solution to archaeological mapping in poorly accessible environments. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35:102688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102688

Carvalho, S., Almeida-Warren, K. (2019) Primate Archaeology. Encyclopaedia of Animal Behaviour, 2nd Ed. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809633-8.90156-0

Almeida-Warren, K., Sommer, V., Piel, A. and Pascual-Garrido, A. (2017) Raw material procurement for termite fishing tools by wild chimpanzees in the Issa valley, western Tanzania. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 164:292-304. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23269

Selected Presentations

Almeida-Warren, K. (2021) Bringing primate technological landscapes to life using computer simulation. Primate Conversations Seminar Series, University of Oxford. Available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoZJjHQWZic

Almeida-Warren, K., Braun, D. R., Carvalho, S. (2020) Disto X2: a methodological solution to the challenges of spatial mapping in Primate Archaeology. PRIMARCH Workshop: new methodologies in primate archaeology, Tübingen, Germany.

Almeida-Warren K., Matsuzawa T., Carvalho S. (2019) A Home Range approach to the ecology of site selection in wild chimpanzee nut-cracking. European Federation of Primatology/Primate Society of Great Britain Meeting, Oxford

Almeida-Warren, K., Carvalho, S. (2019) Primate technology in context: examining the broader ecological and foraging landscapes. Wenner-Gren Foundation Workshop: Primate adaptations to complex environments and implications for early human evolution. Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

Almeida-Warren K., Braun D. R., Matsuzawa T., Carvalho S. (2019) Landscaping chimpanzee and early hominin tool-use and resource exploitation – an ecological approach. Annual Meetings of the Paleoanthropological Society, Albuquerque, USA

Almeida-Warren, K., Braun, D. R., Regala, F. T., Curley, A., Matsuzawa, T., Carvalho, S. (2018) The ecology of chimpanzee technology: new approaches for modelling early hominin ranging patterns and resource exploitation. International Primatological Society Congress, Nairobi

Almeida-Warren, K. (2017) Ephemeral Technology: The archaeology of termite fishing. Evolutionary Anthropology Seminar Series, University of Liverpool

Media

Primate Conversations YouTube Seminar: Bringing primate technological landscapes to life using computer simulation

World Chimpanzee Day video series [collaborator]: https://tiny.cc/WCDayVideos

Cries of Our Ancestors [associate producer]: https://dceff.org/film/cries-of-our-ancestors/