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Temp. Lecturer
Name: Matt G. Lotter
Location: House 4, Humanities Research Village Bunting Road Campus
Palaeo-Research Staff & Members Staff Members
Contact Details:
Tel: 011 559 1938
About Dr Matt G. Lotter
My research is primarily focused on landscape-based geoarchaeological studies, as well as understanding the cultural materials that are preserved within these types of environments. As a geoarchaeologist, my interest lies in understanding how landscapes have formed and evolved through time, and how they have been shaped and modified by both cultural and natural processes. This multidisciplinary research involves aspects of archaeology, geology, geography, geomorphology and other earth sciences, and when applied it provides vital contextual information that improves our ability to correctly interpret archaeological sites and residues. I have conducted research of this nature both locally, at several Stone Age sites across southern Africa, and internationally, at sites in China. I am currently involved in research projects at sites in Gauteng and in the Northern and Eastern Cape Provinces, and I am investigating artefact use-wear patterns, aspects of site formation, and lithic technology. Two of these projects are specifically concerned with understanding technological advancements during the final phases of the Acheulean, a prolific form of Earlier Stone Age technology that spans multiple continents.
Major projects:
Hu-MAP (Humans of the Magaliesberg Archaeological Project) Principal Investigator, with Dr Matthew Caruana, in collaboration with Prof Marlize Lombard
Wonderboom Acheulean site, Tshwane, South Africa, co-permit holder with Dr Matthew Caruana, and in collaboration with Prof Marlize Lombard and Dr Tebogo Makhubela
Keimoes Kite Landscape, Northern Cape Province, South Africa, in collaboration with Prof Marlize Lombard and Dr Matthew Caruana
Baise Basin, South China, in collaboration with Prof Hao Li (Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Sundays River Valley Archaeological Project Principal Investigator, in collaboration with Profs Kathleen Kuman & Darryl Granger
Research profiles:
Scopus:
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57189688846
Google Scholar:
https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?hl=en&user=F6uW_EwAAAAJ
Academia:
https://johannesburg.academia.edu/MattLotter
ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matt-Lotter
Publications:
Lotter, M.G., Caruana, M.V. & Lombard, M. 2022. The large cutting tools from Wonderboom, South Africa. Lithic Technology 47: 117-132. ISSN: 0197-7261 (https://doi.org/10.1080/01977261.2021.1973782)
Caruana, M.V., Lotter, M.G. 2022. Comparing morphological variability in handaxes from Penhill Farm and Amanzi Springs, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Southern African Field Archaeology 1: 1-18. ISSN: 2789-1844 (https://doi.org/10.36615/safa.1.1246.2022)
Li, H., Zhang, M., Lotter, M.G., Lei, L., Li, D. & Kuman, K. 2022. Mobility and settlement dynamics of Large Cutting Tool makers in the subtropical forests of South China: a simulated ecological approach. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 42: 103353. ISSN: 2352-409X (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103353)
Lotter, M.G. & Caruana, M.V. 2021. Exploring core reduction preferences at Penhill Farm, lower Sundays River Valley, South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 76: 140-150. ISSN: 0038-1969 (https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.338052329973840)
Bradfield, J. & Lotter, M.G. 2021. The current occupation of Kruger Cave, a Later Stone Age site, South Africa. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology 8: 1-20. ISSN: 2051-3437 (https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.43377)
Mesfin, I., Lotter, M.G. & Benjamim, M. 2021. A new approach to quantifying raw material selectivity in the African Acheulean: perspectives from Angola and South Africa. Journal of African Archaeology 19: 205-234. ISSN: 1612-1651 (https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-20210013)
Lombard, M., Lotter, M.G., van der Walt, J. & Caruana, M.V. 2021. The Keimoes Kite Landscape of the trans-Gariep, South Africa. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 13: 1-22. ISSN: 1866-9565 (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01328-x)
Lombard, M., Lotter, M.G. & Caruana, M.V. 2021. Wonderboompoort, South Africa: a natural game funnel for meat harvesting during the later Acheulean. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 39: 103193. ISSN: 2352-409X (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103193)
Li, H., Lotter, M.G., Kuman, K., Lei, L. & Wang, W. 2021. Population dynamics during the Acheulean at ~0.8 Ma in East and Southeast Asia: considering the influence of two geological cataclysms. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 562: 109927 ISSN: 0031-0182 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109927)
Li, H., Lei, L., Li, D, Lotter, M.G., & Kuman, K. 2021. Characterising the shape of Large Cutting Tools at the Baise Basin (South China) with a 3D geometric morphometric approach. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 36: 102820. ISSN: 2352-409X (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102820)
Lei, L., Lotter, M.G., Li, D. & Kuman, K & Li, H. 2021. Refining the understanding of Large Cutting Tool technology in the Baise Basin, South China. Lithic Technology 46: 87-103. ISSN: 0197-7261 (https://doi.org/10.1080/01977261.2020.1841958)
Lotter, M.G. 2020. An introduction to the formal tools from the Acheulean site of Penhill Farm, Lower Sundays River Valley, South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 75(213): 146-155. ISSN: 0038-1969 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/26978077)
Lotter, M.G. 2020. Stuck in a loop: investigating fabric patterns in the Stone Age gravel sequence at Canteen Kopje, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 75(1): 64-77. ISSN: 0035-919X (https://doi.org/10.1080/0035919X.2019.1682082)
Lotter, M.G. 2020. A preliminary assessment of Large Cutting Tool production at the Acheulean site of Penhill Farm, lower Sundays River Valley, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 75(212): 58-69. ISSN: 0038-1969 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/26978058)
Forssman, T., Lotter, M.G. & Caruana, M.V., Stratford, D.J. 2020. A Tswana stone-walled settlement near Sterkfontein Caves in the Cradle of Humankind. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 75(213): 137-145.ISSN: 0038-1969 (https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.657725271069654)
Kuman, K., Lotter, M.G. & Leader, G.M. 2020. The Fauresmith of South Africa: a new assemblage from Canteen Kopje and significance of the technology in human and cultural evolution. Journal of Human Evolution. ISSN: 0047-2484 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102884)
Forssman, T., Lotter, M.G., Parkington, J., Hollmann, J., Angel, J. & Fourie, W. 2020. An introduction to the Stone Age archaeology of the Polihali Dam Area, Mokhotlong District, Lesotho. Journal of African Archaeology 18(1): 1-18. ISSN: 1612-1651 (https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-20190016)
Li, H. & Lotter, M.G. 2019. Lithic production strategies during the late Middle Pleistocene at Dali, Shaanxi Province, China: implications for understanding late archaic humans. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 11: 1701-1712. ISSN: 1866-9565 (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0626-6)
Lotter, M.G. & Kuman, K. 2018. Atmar and Bernol Farms: New Acheulean sites in the lower Sundays River Valley, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 73: 64-74. ISSN: 0038-1969 (https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.200925033893757)
Lotter, M.G. & Kuman, K. 2018. The Acheulean in South Africa, with announcement of a new site (Penhill Farm) in the lower Sundays River Valley, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Quaternary International 480: 43-65. ISSN: 1040-6182 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.08.065)
Li, H., Zhan-yang, L., Lotter, M.G. & Kuman, K. 2018 Formation processes at the Late Pleistocene archaic human site of Lingjing, China. Journal of Archaeological Science 96: 73-84. ISSN: 0305-4403 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2018.05.004)
Li, H., Kuman, K., Lotter, M.G., Leader, G.M. and Gibbon, R.J. 2017. The Victoria West: earliest prepared core technology at >1Ma and implications for the cognitive evolution of early hominids. Royal Society Open Science 4(6): 170288. ISSN: 2054-5703 (https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170288)
Lotter, M.G., Gibbon, R.J., Kuman, K., Leader, G.M., Forssman, T. & Granger, D.E. 2016 A geoarchaeological study of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene levels at Canteen Kopje, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 31: 304-323. ISSN: 1520-6548 (https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21541)