Professor, Department of Anthropology
B.A., M.Sc. (Montréal), DEA (Paris-X Nanterre), Ph.D. (Michigan)
Life & Health Sciences DNA C216, ext.7682, eugenemorin@trentu.ca
Research Interests: hunters-gatherers, archaeology, Paleolithic of Europe, methods and theory in faunal analysis, ethnohistory, prehistory of Northeastern North America
Current Projects
Professor Morin is looking for students to start graduate work in 2024-25 who are interested in the Paleolithic of Europe or the prehistory of Northeastern North America. More specifically, his current projects include:
- The demographic expansion of early modern humans into Western Europe
The project aims at investigating behavioural variability within and between late Neandertal and early modern human populations by analyzing the material culture, logistical organization and subsistence strategies of these groups. The data that will be gathered in this project will also help in refining the chronological and climatic framework for the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. Learn more about Eugene Morin's research in Western Europe - Analysis of behavioural change in Eastern Europe
Not much is known about human adaptation for the Middle Paleolithic and early Upper Paleolithic of the Balkans. A new project at Crvena Stijena (Montenegro, former Yugoslavia), a cave with a 18m-deep stratigraphy characterized by excellent faunal preservation, should shed new light on Neandertal and early modern human societies in this part of Europe. Learn more about Eugene Morin's research in Eastern Europe - Diet Breadth in Northeastern North America
This last project focuses on dietary change in pre- and post-contact Northeastern North America. The analysis of several prehistoric assemblages from Ontario should provide new knowledge about the subsistence strategies of the First Nations in the past and how they contributed to the spread of agriculture in the region.
Students interested in conducting field and laboratory based graduate research in association with these projects can contact Eugène Morin directly to discuss opportunities.
Selected Publications
Morin E., Bird D., Winterhalder B., and R. Bliege Bird. 2022. Why do humans hunt cooperatively? Ethnohistoric data reveal the contexts, advantages and evolutionary importance of communal hunting. Current Anthropology, in press.
Morin E., Soppela P., and Y. Chouinard. 2022. Thermal adaptation and fatty acid profiles of bone marrow and muscles in mammals: implications of a study of caribou (Rangifer tarandus). PLoS ONE, in press.
Speth J.D. and E. Morin. 2022. Putrid meat in the tropics: it wasn’t just for Inuit. PaleoAnthropology 2022:2: 327−383.
Baumann M., Ready E., Plisson H., Maury S., Vanderesse N., Coqueugniot H., Kolobova K., and Morin, E. 2022. Not so unusual Neanderthal bone tools: new examples from Abri Lartet, France. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 14: article 200.
Morin E., Bird D., Winterhalder B., and R. Bliege Bird. 2021. Deconstructing hunting returns: Can we reconstruct and predict payoffs from pursuing prey? Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-021-09526-6.
Morin E., Bird D. and R. Bliege Bird. 2020. Mass procurement and prey rankings: insights from the European rabbit. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 12: Article number: 262.
Morin E. 2020. Rethinking the emergence of bone grease procurement. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 59: article number: 101178.
Morin E. 2020. Revisiting bone grease rendering in highly fragmented assemblages. American Antiquity 85:535–553.
Morin E., Meier J., El Guennouni K., Moigne A.-M., Lebreton L., Rusch L., Valensi P., Conolly J. and D. Cochard. 2019. New evidence of broader diets for archaic Homo populations in the northwestern Mediterranean. Science Advances 5, eaav9106.
Morin E. 2019. Revue de “Préhistoire Béringienne. Étude archéologique des Grottes du Poisson-Bleu (Yukon)” par Lauriane Bourgeon. Archéologiques 32:123–124.
Morin E., Beauval C., Boileau A., Ready E., and V. Laroulandie. 2019. The Number of Distinct Elements: Extending a landmark-based counting unit to other taxa. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 24:773–784.
Morin E., Ready E., Boileau A., Beauval C., and M.-P. Coumont. 2017. Problems of identification and quantification in archaeozoological analysis, part I: Insights from a blind test. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 24:886–937.
Morin E., Ready E., Boileau A., Beauval C., and M.-P. Coumont. 2017. Problems of identification and quantification in archaeozoological analysis, part II: Presentation of an alternative counting method. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 24:938–973.
Morin E. and M.-C. Soulier. 2017. New criteria for the archaeological identification of bone grease processing, American Antiquity 82:96–122.
Morin E. and M.-C. Soulier. 2017. The Paleolithic faunal remains from Crvena Stijena. In: Crvena Stijena in Cultural and Ecological Context. Multidisciplinary Archaeological Research in Montenegro. R. Whallon (ed.). National Museum of Montenegro Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, pp. 266–294.
Morin E., Speth J.D., and J. Lee-Thorp. 2016. Middle Palaeolithic diets: A critical examination of the evidence. In: Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Diet. J. Lee-Thorp and M.A. Katzenberg (eds.). Oxford University Press, pp. 1–33.
Soulier M.-C. and E. Morin. 2016. Cutmark data and their implications for the planning depth of Late Pleistocene societies, Journal of Human Evolution 97:37–57.
Morin E., Delagnes A., Armand D., Castel J.-C. and J. Hodgkins. 2014. Centennial- to millennial-scale change in archaeofaunas and their implications for Mousterian lithic variability in southwest France. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 36:158–180.
Higham T.F.G., Douka K., Wood R., Bronk Ramsey C., Brock F., Basell L., Camps M., Arrizabalaga A., Baena J., Barroso-Ruíz C., Bergman C., Boitard C., Boscato P., Caparrós M., Conard N.J., Draily C., Froment A., Galván B., Gambassini P., Garcia-Moreno A., Grimaldi S., Haesaerts P., Holt B., Iriarte-Chiapusso M-J., Jelinek A., Jordá Pardo J.F., Maíllo-Fernández J-M., Marom A., Maroto J., Menéndez M., Metz L., Morin E., Moroni A., Negrino F., Panagopoulou E., Peresani M., Pirson S., de la Rasilla M., Riel-Salvatore J., Ronchitelli A., Santamaria D., Semal P., Slimak L., Soler J., Soler N., Villaluenga A., Pinhasi R. and R. Jacobi. 2014. The timing and spatio-temporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance. Nature 512:306–309.
Morin E. and E. Ready. 2013. Foraging goals and transport decisions in Western Europe during the Paleolithic and early Holocene. In: Zooarchaeology and modern human origins: Human hunting behavior during the later Pleistocene. J. L. Clark and J. D. Speth (eds.). Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series, Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 227–269.
Cochard D., Brugal J.-P., Morin E., and L. Meignen. 2012. Evidence for small fast game exploitation in the Middle Paleolithic of Les Canalettes, Aveyron, France. Quaternary International 264:32–51.
Morin E. and V. Laroulandie. 2012. Presumed symbolic use of diurnal raptors by Neandertals. PLoS ONE 7:1–5
Morin E. 2010. Taphonomic implications of the use of bone as fuel. Palethnologie 2:209–217.
Morin E. 2008. Evidence for declines in human population densities during the early Upper Paleolithic in Western Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 105:48-53.
Morin E. 2007. Fat composition, skeletal part selection, and Nunamiut decision-making. Journal of Archaeological Science 34:69–82.
Morin E. 2006. Beyond stratigraphic noise: Unraveling the evolution of stratified assemblages in bioturbated sites. Geoarchaeology 21:541–565.
Morin E., Tsanova T., Sirakov N., Rendu W., Mallye J.-B. and F. Lévêque. 2005. Bone refits in stratified deposits: Testing the chronological grain at Saint-Césaire. Journal of Archaeological Science 32:1083–1098.
Morin E. 2004. An experimental model for interpreting Levallois patterning and toolkit transport. In: Settlement Dynamics of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age. N. Conard (ed.). Tübingen: Kerns Verlag, pp. 317–341.
Morin E. 2001. Early Late Woodland social networks in the St. Lawrence River Valley. Archaeology of Eastern North America 29:65–100.