Directory

Courtneay Hopper, PhD

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts - Anthropology Dept
Contact Overview Courses Publications

Contact

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts - Anthropology Dept
Email
chopper@ualberta.ca
Address
13-10 Tory (H.M.) Building
11211 Saskatchewan Drive NW
Edmonton AB
T6G 2H4

Overview

Area of Study / Keywords

Zooarchaeology Biomolecular analyses Adoption of herding & food production Subsistence Migration southern Africa Holocene

Research

I am interested in how past people responded to the kinds of environmental challenges we face today and how understanding these past responses can contribute to the broader discussion on human resilience in unpredictable environments. I combine traditional archaeological field methods (e.g., excavation, faunal analysis) with biomolecular analyses (e.g., ceramic bound lipids and stable isotopes) to investigate the complex interplay between the adoption of herding by (some) ancient foragers in northwestern South Africa (Namaqualand) and the accompanying social shifts related to interactions between archaeological foragers, food producers, and their environment.

Courses

ANTHR 386 - Topics in Biological Anthropology or Archaeology

Consult the Department for the specific topics offered and any recommended courses to be completed prior to registering.

Winter Term 2026

ANTHR 391 - Hominid Evolution

A survey of the fossil evidence for human evolution. Prerequisite: ANTHR 209 or consent of Department.

Winter Term 2026

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Featured Publications

Boiling Energy: Socioecological and Spiritual Dimensions of Pottery Emergence in Later Stone Age Southern Africa

Brian A. Stewart, Genevieve Dewar, Courtneay Hopper

Early Pottery Technologies among Foragers in Global Perspective. 2024 November; 10.1007/978-3-031-71777-2_5

Making connections: ostrich eggshell beads as indicators of precolonial societal interaction in southeastern southern Africa

Peter J. Mitchell, Brian A. Stewart, Courtneay Hopper, Genevieve Dewar, Michael A. Schillaci

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa. 2024 October; 10.1080/0067270X.2024.2411138

Chemical evidence for milk, meat, and marine resource processing in Later Stone Age pots from Namaqualand, South Africa

Courtneay Hopper, Julie Dunne, Genevieve Dewar, Richard P. Evershed

Scientific Reports. 2023 January; 10.1038/s41598-023-28577-1

A preliminary report of the excavation at Spitzkloof D rockshelter, Namaqualand, South Africa

Courtneay Hopper, Genevieve Dewar

Southern African Field Archaeology. 2023 January; 10.36615/safa.18.2667.2023

Later stone age herd management strategies in western South Africa: Evaluating sheep demographics and faunal composition

Courtneay Hopper, Genevieve Dewar

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 2022 June; 10.1016/j.jaa.2022.101414

Little Ice Age drought event reconstructed from isotopic analysis of archaeological springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) teeth

Courtneay Hopper, Judith C. Sealy, Genevieve Dewar

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 2018 April; 10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.09.019

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