Steven Mithen (born 16 October 1960) is a British archaeologist. He is noted for his work on the evolution of language, music and intelligence, prehistoric hunter-gatherers, and the origins of farming. He is professor of early prehistory at the University of Reading.
Early life and education Mithen was born on 16 October 1960. In 1983 he graduated with a BA in Prehistory and Archaeology from Sheffield University, followed by a MSc degree in biological computation from York University in 1984 and undertook a PhD in archaeology at Cambridge University, graduating in 1987.
Academic career Mithen began his academic career as a research fellow in archaeology at Trinity Hall, Cambridge from 1987 to 1990. He was additionally a Cambridge University lecturer in archaeology (1989–1991), and then a research associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research from 1991 to 1992. In 1992, he joined the University of Reading as a lecturer in archaeology. He was promoted to senior lecturer in 1996, made Reader in Early Prehistory in 1998, and has been Professor of Early Prehistory since 2000.
Honours In 2004, Mithen was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (FSA Scot) in 1993 and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) in 1998.
Publications
General academic books Mithen, S. J. (2024) The Language Puzzle: How we Talked Our Way Out of the Stone Age. London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-80081-158-4 Mithen, S. J. (2020) Land of the Ileach: Archaeological Journeys into Islay’s Past. Edinburgh & London: Birlnn Books. ISBN 978-1-912476-82-4 Mithen, S. J. (2012) Thirst: Water and Power in the Ancient World. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-86479-0 Mithen, S. J. (2005) The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2006. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London. ISBN 978-0-674-02559-2 Mithen, S. J. (2003) After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000-5000 BC. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2004. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London ISBN 978-0-674-01999-7 Mithen, S. J. (ed. 1998) Creativity in Human Evolution and Prehistory, London; New York: Routledge, 1998. ISBN 0-415-16096-0 Mithen, S. J. (1996) The Prehistory of the Mind: A Search for the Origins of Art, Religion, and Science, London: Thames and Hudson, 1996. ISBN 978-0-7538-0204-5 Mithen, S. J (1990) Thoughtful Foragers: A Study of Prehistoric Decision Making Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-521-35570-2
Research monographs Mithen, S. J. & Black, E. (eds) (2011). Water, Life & Civilisation: Climate, Environment and Society in the Jordan Valley. Cambridge University Press/UNESCO International Hydrology Series. ISBN 978-0-521-76957-0 Mithen, S. J., Finlayson, B., al-Najjar, M., Smith, S., Jenkins, E. & Maričević, D. (2018). WF16, The Excavation of an Early Neolithic Settlement in Southern Jordan. Volume 1 : Architecture, Stratigraphy and Chronology. London: CBRL Research Monograph ISBN 978-0-9539102-3-6 Mithen, S. J. & Finlayson, B. (Eds. (2006) The Early Prehistory of Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan: Archaeological Survey of Wadis Faynan, Ghuwayr and Al Bustan and Evaluation of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A site of WF16. Oxford: Oxbow, 2006-7. ISBN 1-84217-212-3 Mithen, S. J. (2000) Hunter-gatherer Landscape Archaeology: The Southern Hebrides Mesolithic project, 1988-98 Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 2000. 2 volumes. ISBN 1-902937-12-0
Faynan Guides Mithen, S. J., Khoury, F., Greet, B., White, J. & Meslamani, N. (2020). The Birds of Faynan: Past and Present. Reading: University of Reading/Amman: Jordan Birdwatch Mithen, S. J., Najjar, M. & Finlayson, B. (2019). The Archaeology of Faynan: A Celebration and Guide. Reading: University of Reading.
Selected journal articles Mithen, S.J., Richardson, A., & Finlayson, B. (2023). The flow of ideas: shared symbolism during Neolithic emergence in Southwest Asia: WF16 and Göbekli Tepe. Antiquity 97, 829-849. Maričević, D. & Mithen, S.J. (2023). Excavation and survey at the Giant’s Grave, Slochd Measach, Nereabolls, a Neolithic chambered cairn on the Isle of Islay, Argyll & Bute: chronology, architecture, reuse and demise. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 152, 9-52. Mithen, S.J. (2022). How long was the Mesolithic-Neolithic overlap in Western Scotland? Evidence from the 4th millennium BC on the Isle of Islay and the evaluation of three scenarios for Mesolithic-Neolithic interaction. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 88, 53-77 doi:10.1017/ppr.2023 Mithen, S.J., White, J., Finlayson, B., Greet, B. & Khoury, F. (2022). Birds as indicators of early Holocene biodiversity and the seasonal nature of human activity at WF16, an early Neolithic site in Faynan, Southern Jordan. Journal of Quaternary Science 37, 1148-1163. Mithen, S.J. (2022). Shamanism at the transition from foraging to farming in Southwest Asia: sacra, ritual, and performance at Neolithic WF16 (southern Jordan), Levant, doi:10.1080/00758914.2022.2104559 Mithen, S.J. & Wicks, K. (2021). Population level models for testing hunter-gatherer resilience and settlement response to the combined impact of abrupt climatic events and sea level change: A case study from the Holocene of northern Britain. Quaternary Science Reviews 265, 107027. Jin, G., Chen, S., Li, H., Fan,X., Yang, A. & S.J. Mithen. (2020). The Beixin Culture: Archaeobotanical evidence from Guanqiaocunnan indicates a population dispersal of hunter-gatherer/cultivators into and across the Haida region of northern China. Antiquity, 94, 1426-1443. doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.63 Mithen, S.J. (2019). Mesolithic fireplaces and the enculturation of Early Holocene landscapes in Britain, with a case study from Western Scotland. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 85, pp. 131–159 doi:10.1017/ppr.2019.6 Mithen, S.J. (2018). Becoming Neolithic in words, thoughts and deeds. Journal of Social Archaeology doi:10.1177/1469605318793958
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