Kathryn Ranhorn
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ISTB-7 294A 777 E University Drive Tempe, AZ 85287-8404
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Mail code: 2402Campus: Tempe
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I study how humans, technology, and social behavior have shaped each other over deep time. My work brings together archaeological science, experimental methods, and collaborative field research to explore the roots of human behavior and innovation.
Since 2008, I have led and participated in archaeological fieldwork across Eastern Africa, with a long-term focus on community-based research in Tanzania and Kenya. Fluent in Swahili, I currently direct the Kondoa Deep History Partnership and maintain active collaborations in paleoanthropology, heritage management, and community archaeology. My work aims to steward the deep history of human evolution both as data, and as a living resource for education, sovereignty, and shared knowledge.
At ASU, I direct the Ancient Technology Lab, Deep History Lab, and Archaeological Science Lab, where I use replicative and experimental approaches to investigate how cultural transmission impacts technological change, and how these processes might be studied in the later Quaternary. My lab functions as both a controlled research environment and a makerspace for public engagement, offering students and community partners hands-on experience with past technologies and present-day questions about innovation, knowledge, and human evolution.
Ph.D. Hominin Paleobiology, George Washington University
B.A. Anthropology, African Studies, University of Florida
Transdisciplinary human evolution science, biological anthropology, paleoanthropology, & Paleolithic archaeology; socio-technological evolution & cultural transmission; community-based & participatory research; heritage stewardship and humanizing practice; digital archaeology & public engagement; eastern African deep history
At ASU, I direct the Prehistoric Archaeology group, comprising undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral scholars studying technology and deep history. Our lab- and field-based research takes place across three spaces at ASU, described below. I also serve as the faculty advisor for the Experimental Archaeology Club which hosts regular events in the Ancient Technology Lab, including our annual Paleo Picnic.
Globally, I conduct field research in eastern Africa, including the Kondoa Deep History Partnership (KDHP). You can learn more about my field research here.
Deep History Lab
The Deep History Lab investigates the co-evolution of humans, technology, and environments over deep time, with a primary focus on Eastern Africa. Through interdisciplinary fieldwork in Kenya and Tanzania, including projects like the Kondoa Deep History Partnership, we explore the Middle and Late Pleistocene, focusing on lithic technology, symbolic behavior, and environmental change. Our collaborative approach integrates archaeological science, community engagement, and heritage management to steward the archaeological record as both scientific data and a living resource for education and shared knowledge. This lab contains no exported materials from Africa nor any human remains. [Read more about our fieldwork at ASU Now]
Ancient Technology Lab
The Ancient Technology Lab serves as a makerspace dedicated to experimental and replicative archaeology. Here, we recreate ancient technologies to study cultural transmission, technological innovation, and raw material effects. Our hands-on experiments with lithics, beads, and rock art provide insights into the social learning processes of past societies. The lab also functions as a public engagement platform, offering students and community members experiential learning opportunities that connect them directly with the material aspects of human history. [Read more about our lab work at ASU Now]
Archaeological Science Lab
The Archaeological Science Lab focuses on the material analysis of archaeological artifacts, emphasizing the creation of materials for experiments, with a focus on ceramics, as well as the thermal treatment of lithic materials. Equipped with electric kilns capable of reaching up to 650°C, we create sustainable materials for experimental archaeology in the form of standardized porcelain nodules for standardizing size and shape of raw materials. The lab also facilitates controlled experiments to understand the effects of heat treatment on stone tool production and ceramic properties. These studies shed light on the technological choices and innovations of ancient populations, contributing to our understanding of early human behavior and material culture.
Ranhorn, Kathryn L, Silindokuhle S Mavuso, Debra Colarossi, Tamara Dogandžić, Kaedan O'Brien, Mathilde Ribordy, Christopher Ssebuyungo, Shannon Warren, John WK Harris, and David R Braun. 2023. By the lakeshore: Multi-scalar geoarchaeology in the Turkana Basin at GaJj17, Koobi Fora (Kenya). Quaternary Science Reviews 317:108257.
Ranhorn, Kathryn L., Debra Colarossi, Sarah Molel, Myra F. Laird, Jason E. Lewis, Husna Mashaka, Elizabeth Niespolo, Samantha T. Porter, Elizabeth Sawchuk, Warren D. Sharp, Christian A. Tryon, and Ilaria Patania. 2023. Kisese II Rockshelter, Tanzania. In Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa : Hominin behavior, geography, and chronology, edited by A. Beyin, D. K. Wright, J. Wilkins and D. I. Olszewski. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Ranhorn, Kathryn L., and Mariam Bundala. 2023. Tanzanian Women in Archaeology. In Women in Archaeology, edited by S. L. L. Varela: Springer.
Pargeter, Justin, Alison Brooks, Katja Douze, Metin Eren, Huw S. Groucutt, Jessica McNeil, Alex Mackay, Kathryn Ranhorn, Eleanor Scerri, Matthew Shaw, Christian Tryon, Manuel Will, and Alice Leplongeon. 2023. Replicability in Lithic Analysis. American Antiquity.
Patania, Ilaria, Samantha T. Porter, William F. Keegan, Rukia Dihogo, Sara Frank, Jason Lewis, Husna Mashaka, Julius Ogutu, Elena Skosey-Lalonde, Christian A. Tryon, Elizabeth M. Niespolo, Debra Colarossi, and Kathryn L. Ranhorn. 2022. Geoarchaeology and Heritage Management: Identifying and Quantifying Multi-Scalar Erosional Processes at Kisese II Rockshelter, Tanzania. Frontiers in Earth Science 9 (Cave Deposits: Processes, Approaches and Environmental Significance).
Lipson, Mark, Elizabeth A. Sawchuk, Jessica C. Thompson, Jonas Oppenheimer, Christian A. Tryon, Kathryn L. Ranhorn, Kathryn M. de Luna, Kendra A. Sirak, Iñigo Olalde, Stanley H. Ambrose, John W. Arthur, Kathryn J. W. Arthur, George Ayodo, Alex Bertacchi, Jessica I. Cerezo-Román, Brendan J. Culleton, Matthew C. Curtis, Jacob Davis, Agness O. Gidna, Annalys Hanson, Potiphar Kaliba, Maggie Katongo, Amandus Kwekason, Myra F. Laird, Jason Lewis, Audax Z. P. Mabulla, Fredrick Mapemba, Alan Morris, George Mudenda, Raphael Mwafulirwa, Daudi Mwangomba, Emmanuel Ndiema, Christine Ogola, Flora Schilt, Pamela R. Willoughby, David K. Wright, Andrew Zipkin, Ron Pinhasi, Douglas J. Kennett, Fredrick Kyalo Manthi, Nadin Rohland, Nick Patterson, David Reich, and Mary E. Prendergast. 2022. Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragers. Nature 603 (7900):290-296.
Laird, Myra F, Elizabeth A Sawchuk, Amandus Kwekason, Audax ZP Mabulla, Emmanuel Ndiema, Christian A Tryon, Jason E Lewis, and Kathryn L Ranhorn. 2021. Human burials at the Kisese II rockshelter, Tanzania. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 175 (1):187-200.
Tryon, Christian A., and Kathryn L. Ranhorn. 2020. Raw material and regionalization in stone age eastern Africa. In Culture History and Convergent Evolution: Springer, Cham.
Ranhorn, Kathryn L, Justin Pargeter, Lukas S Premo, and PaST Network Collaborators. 2020. Investigating the evolution of human social learning through collaborative experimental archaeology. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 29 (2):53-55.
Niespolo, EM, WD Sharp, CA Tryon, JT Faith, J Lewis, K Ranhorn, S Mambelli, MJ Miller, and TE Dawson. 2020. Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes of ostrich eggshells provide site-scale Pleistocene-Holocene paleoenvironmental records for eastern African archaeological sites. Quaternary Science Reviews 230:106142.
Tryon, C. A., J. E. Lewis, and K. L. Ranhorn. 2019. Excavating the Archives: The 1956 Excavation of the Late Pleistocene-Holocene Sequence at Kisese II (Tanzania). In Modern Human Origins and Dispersal, edited by Y. Sahle, H. Reyes-Centeno and C. Bentz. Tübingen: Kerns Verlag.
Tryon, Christian A., Jason E. Lewis, Kathryn L. Ranhorn, Amandus Kwekason, Bridget Alex, Myra F. Laird, Curtis W. Marean, Elizabeth Niespolo, Joelle Nivens, and Audax Z.P. Mabulla. 2018. Middle and Later Stone Age chronology of Kisese II rockshelter (UNESCO World Heritage Kondoa Rock-Art Sites), Tanzania. PloS One 13 (2):e0192029.
Ranhorn, Kathryn L., and Christian A. Tryon. 2018. New Pleistocene radiocarbon dates from Nasera rockshelter, Tanzania. Journal of African Archaeology 16 (2):211-222.
Ranhorn, Kathryn L., David R Braun, Rebecca E Biermann Gürbüz, Elliot Greiner, Daniel Wawrzyniak, and Alison S Brooks. 2018. Evaluating prepared core assemblages with three-dimensional methods: a case study from the Middle Paleolithic at Skhūl (Israel). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences:1-14.
Courses
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 361 | Human Cultural Beginnings |
| ASB 361 | Human Cultural Beginnings |
2025 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 361 | Human Cultural Beginnings |
| ASB 361 | Human Cultural Beginnings |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 361 | Human Cultural Beginnings |
| ASB 361 | Human Cultural Beginnings |
| ASB 494 | Special Topics |
| ASB 591 | Seminar |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
2024 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASM 300 | Anthropological Sciences Sem |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASM 573 | Lithic Analysis |
| MAS 585 | Capstone Course |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 361 | Human Cultural Beginnings |
| ASB 361 | Human Cultural Beginnings |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
2023 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 222 | Buried Cities and Lost Tribes |
| ASB 361 | Human Cultural Beginnings |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2022 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 361 | Human Cultural Beginnings |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 222 | Buried Cities and Lost Tribes |
2021 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| ASB 584 | Internship |
| ASM 300 | Anthropological Sciences Sem |
2020 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
| ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
| ASB 592 | Research |
| ASB 361 | Pleistocene Archaeology |
2020 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ASB 799 | Dissertation |
| ASB 792 | Research |
| ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
Eastern African Association of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Treasurer
American Association of Biological Anthropology, Member
Postdoctoral Scholars
2022-present Aylar Abdolahzadeh; Institute of Human Origins and Center for Archaeology and Society
PhD Students
Current Committees - Chair or co-Chair
- Babalola Jacobs
- PhD in Anthropology, Funding: Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellowship, Role: co-chair; stage: MA
- Husna Mashaka
- PhD in Anthropology, Funding: Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellowship, Role: Chair; stage: PhD
- Sydney James
- PhD in Anthropology, Funding: School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Role: Chair; stage: PhD