Biography
Research & Supervisory Interests
Regionally I have two main research foci: (1) Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern prehistory, spanning the Epi-Palaeolithic to Late Bronze Age, i.e. hunter-gatherer to state-level societies, (2) The British Neolithic.
Materially, my research usually employs stone tool studies as a means of engaging with a range of major disciplinary debates.
Analytically I work in the McMaster Archaeological XRF Lab [MAX Lab] to elementally characterize archaeological and related materials, with a particular focus on obsidian sourcing studies.
Thematically I work on (a) Neolithisation, (b) the Eurasian dispersal of hominins and early Homo sapiens, (c) Aegean prehistory within its larger Eastern Mediterranean context, (d) mapping ‘communities of practice’ via obsidian sourcing studies, (e) the archaeology of social gathering spaces.
Current projects: (i) I am co-director of the Stelida Naxos Archaeological Project [SNAP] an early prehistoric chert source and later Bronze Age ritual site in the Cyclades, (ii) I am director of the Freston Archaeological Research Mission [FARM] a large Early Neolithic monument in the East of England, (iii) I am a long-term publishing member of projects in Crete (Knossos, Malia, Mochlos inter alia), and the Cyclades (Keros), (iv) I am collaborating with various scholars for the sourcing of obsidian assemblages from Israel, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Turkey.
I enjoy long-term research collaborations with the Université Bordeaux Montaigne, France.
Supervision
Dr. Carter might accept graduate students for entry into the program in September 2021, but will be away that academic year on sabbatical so this may not be the best situation for you. In general he is interested in hearing from potential applicants at both the Masters and PhD level.
He has ongoing field projects in Greece (Lower Palaeolithic – Late Bronze Age) and England (Early Neolithic) within which he hopes to create space for graduate research (material culture, thematic, geo-spatial, regional oriented projects).
In general he is interested in supervising projects from Eastern Mediterranean / SW Asian prehistory, lithics, elemental characterization studies, all of which he tends to approach from a social-cultural perspective.
Please get in touch with a basic outline of the type of research you would like to undertake for a thesis project.
Areas of Interest:
Archaeology, British Prehistory, Early Humans, Eastern Mediterranean Prehistory, Lithics, Politics, Pop Culture.