An interview with Jeff Stivers by Gabrielle
Lyon
Carefully buried
at least 5000 years ago, the skull and skeleton
of a stone age human are exposed by wind
erosion
in the southern Sahara.
“Upon arriving
at the archeological site, my eyes widened.
A few steps out of the car and I stumbled
across a hammer stone… then a beautiful
stone point. But this was only the beginning.
As we continued our search, my excitement
rose until I found myself kneeling next
to the face of a 5,000-plus-year-old skeleton.
My hands were jittery
as I blew sand off a cranium peeking out
of its grave. This is what I had trained
for! Shouts from other team members logged
skeleton after skeleton—it was an
unbelievable graveyard, a pristine archaeological
site--again, how did I get here? Last year
I spent time in Tanzania at Laetoli studying
stone tools from the Middle Stone Age. I
didn’t dream of seeing an untouched
site like this for years. All I can think
about these days is how did I get here?
Is this a dream?
My transformation, from
“water boy” to “chief
archaeologist,” was swift, but I’m
managing! Instead of asking questions, I’m
answering them. My desire to learn more
about the lives of this ancient people fuels
my excitement. I can’t help grinning
as I map a field of skeletons and artifacts
with Paul Sereno. Getting turned on by a
bunch of stones and bones may not be everyone’s
ball of wax, but feeling this thrill reassures
me that I’m headed in the right direction
in life. Who would have thought that all
this was possible on a DINOSAUR expedition?”
-Jeff Stivers, Journal Entry, November,
2003
When Jeff Stivers took
an intro archaeology class his freshman
year at Colorado State College, he didn’t
realize it would change his life. That course
led him to sign up for a field course on
Easter Island, and he has never looked back.
Now, four years later, he is finishing his
senior thesis on stone tools from Tanzania
and has joined an expedition to the Sahara
led by well known University of Chicago
paleontologist Paul Sereno.
At 21, Jeff is one of
the youngest of the 10-person team. When
he signed on for the mission, he knew he’d
get experience prospecting for, and excavating,
dinosaurs. What he didn’t know was
that the expedition would take him to one
of the most significant archeological discoveries
in the Sahara.
I talked with Jeff after
a day spent mapping the habitation and burial
site that records the lives of a Stone Age
people known as the Tenere Culture.
What’s the most exciting thing you’ve
found on the expedition so far?
Finding the croc skull
at our second campsite was great. But this
archeological site is is an incredible high
point for me. To walk around and get a look
at numerous skeletons, try to guess their
age at death, look at the wear on their
teeth, or spot their injuries– it’s
absolutely outstanding. And to see the wealth
of artifacts –harpoons, beads, and
all sorts of stone tools -- as an archeologist,
I start to get hot!
Have you ever
heard of a site like the one you’re
at right now? Is there anything comparable?
There are other sites
as rich– but they aren’t of
Neolithic age in the Sahara documenting
the Tenere Culture. Judging from the number
of complete skeletons we have here, this
site would blow any other one out of the
water. There’s so much we could learn
about the people and their lives from the
dozens of skeletons buried here. I think
that these different hills are graves and
burial sites, but there may also have been
several levels of habitation, given all
of the work tools and pottery.
When you went
to college did you know you wanted to pursue
archeology?
I come from a large
family - I have four brothers and two sisters.
Most of them have gone to business school,
and I always envisioned myself pretty much
sticking to that path. When I went to college,
I didn’t know a single archeologist
or anthropologist.
My freshman year I took
a field class that took me to Easter Island
in the Pacific Ocean and once I got into
archeology. I knew it was for me. I continued
taking classes and my interest just kept
compounding. At times it’s been tough,
because I strayed from the family norm.
As an unpaid volunteer on this expedition,
for example, there aren’t many usual
benefits. On the other hand, there are a
lot of incurable diseases you could get.
That can be hard to explain to the folks
sometimes.
What’s
the difference between paleontology, anthropology,
and archeology?
Paleontology is the
study of all kinds of ancient life –
except humans. Anthropologists study human
culture, behavior and language; archaeologists
study artifacts. If you’re an archeologist,
you study artifacts -the things humans left
behind - to paint a picture of how ancient
humans lived.
If you’re
an archeology major, why did you join a
dinosaur expedition?
Aside from just studying
humans, I’ve always been fascinated
by past life in general. Since I was a little
kid, I’ve always been interested in
dinosaurs. For me, the whole concept that
there were animals and entire ecosystems
that were thriving without humans really
spurs my imagination. I like stepping back
in time to wonder, “What was going
on back then?”
Right now, at this site,
I walk around wondering “What would
it have been like to live around ancient
Lake Chad? What was it really like?”
When I pick up a spearhead, I try to imagine
what it was used for. Were they going around
shooting small mammals or small fish? Every
artifact conjures new images. It’sfascinating.
I love to think in that way.
When you pick
up an artifact, how can you tell it’s
not just a rock?
Most of the rocks around
here are rounded on the edges from years
of abrasion by sand blown by strong winds
of the Sahara, so first off you need to
look for rocks that look out of place or
freshly broken. If I see one and pick it
up, then I look for what are called “negative
scars” - marks that are caused from
when someone strikes the rock and a flake
comes off. The strike leaves a scar. Then
I examine the edges to see if there’s
any pattern in the scars. Color doesn’t
really matter. Usually no matter where you
are, there are certain rock types that are
preferable for making stone tools. At this
site the preferred material is a hard green
stone that looks a bit like jade. We have
no idea where they got this kind of stone—yet.
How do you know
the age of an artifact, especially in a
place that may have been occupied for a
long period of time, or occupied more than
once?
Archaeologists have separated stone tools
into categories, starting with old chunky
chopper tools that look almost unworked.
They’re rounded on one edge and on
the other end the edge of the rock has been
struck from two different sides to make
a kind of edge. These were probably used
for breaking apart bones. As you slowly
move up the category scale, tools become
more and more refined. During the Neolithic,
many of tools are small, like the tiny arrowheads
we have found here. Creating tiny tools
requires more sophisticated techniques,
like using bone to flake off smaller pieces.
It takes real talent to make something this
small. I’ve tried to make stone tools
myself, but they look like tools 200,000
years old and after making a few, my hands
are usually bruised and bleeding!
How do you like the
expedition team?
The other members of the team are absolutely
phenomenal. Everyone out here is a team
player. Everyone pulls for each other. We’re
all trying to be 100% at all times, but
that’s not always possible. Numerous
people have gotten sick but have rebounded.
Spirits have been really high. I love working
with everyone out here. Many of us don’t
have PhD’s, but we can hack it out
here in the Sahara and make the big discoveries.
That is impressive.
Read
more about the teams archeological
finds in the Stones and Bones field update
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