Dr James Cole

James Cole is a Principal Lecturer in Archaeology and the Admissions Tutor for the Geography, Geology and Environment Division within the School of Environment and Technology. James is primarily interested in Human Evolution with particular emphasis on the development of symbolism and language within hominin ancestors. In order to further his research along these themes James conducts a number of fieldwork projects in East Africa and the United Kingdom. James is a member of the Past Human and Environment Dynamics and Society Space and Environment research groups.

Doctor Cole’s has authored a number of publications including refereed journal papers and book chapters. Doctor Cole’s research has been supported by the British Academy, AHRC, Society of Antiquaries and the University of Brighton.

How I like to teach

My teaching is focused around student engagement and discussion using specific case studies and the latest published research. I try to get my students to think for themselves, to question the status quo and engage with a wide range of published literature to formulate and support their own opinions. This is exemplified in my module ‘Human Origins and Evolution’ where students are expected to engage in class discussions on the ever changing evidence for human evolution involving Palaeogenetics, the fossil record, and the archaeological record.

I also like to encourage practical components to my teaching which is also evidenced with the ‘Human Origins and Evolution’ module where we visit the Brighton Museum collections to look at and learn from the amazing range of Palaeolithic artefacts stored there. In my first year module ‘Introduction to Archaeology’ I encourage my students to think critically on set themes and discuss their opinions and positions within an active online discussion forum. Whilst my final year module ‘Humans of Ice Age Britain’ assesses my students across a range of mediums including a presentation and extended essay on a site in Britain that plays a significant role in understanding the past behaviours of our human ancestors.

My research interests

My research interests focus around understanding the fundamental question of what it means to be human. I am interested in knowing whether certain abilities that we all take for granted such as language, symbolism, and abstract thought are unique to our species (Homo sapiens) or were present in other ancient human species such as Homo heidelbergensis or the Neanderthals. In order to ascertain this I look at a range of evidence strands but I primarily focus on the stone tools left behind by our ancestors for clues to their mental capabilities.

In order to try and understand our curious hominin ancestors I am involved with a number of archaeological projects here in the UK and in East Africa. My main research project is the Isimila Stone Age Project where I am the Director of a multi-institutional and international research collaboration between academic institutions in the UK and Tanzania.

Research activity

Current research projects

Research centres and groups

Read Dr James Cole's article in The Conversation – Our ancestors were cannibals and probably not because they needed the calories

Social media

Twitter

Academia.edu

ResearchGate

Past Preservers Expert

Contact me

Dr James Cole
Principal Lecturer

Environment and Technology
Moulsecoomb
Brighton
BN2 4GJ

Telephone: +44 (0)1273 641831

Email: J.N.Cole@brighton.ac.uk

Biography

I was born in Harare, Zimbabwe where I always had an interest in finding out more about the past people who lived in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. It was this interest that led me to undertake an Archaeology degree where I graduated from the University of Southampton in 2004 with a BA (Hons) first class distinction. I then did my Masters in Human Origins graduating in 2006 followed by a PhD in Archaeology funded by the British Academy Centenary Project ‘Lucy to Language: the Archaeology of the Social Brain’ in 2011.

Since attaining my PhD I have lectured at the Universities of Southampton, Bournemouth, Royal Holloway and Oxford, before taking up a Lectureship and then Senior Lectureship at the University of Brighton. Since joining the University of Brighton I have become an active member of the School of Environment and Technology holding positions on the School Management Board, the School Board and becoming Admissions Tutor for the Geography, Geology and Environment Division

Research output

Number of items: 19.

Hosfield, Robert, Cole, James and McNabb, John (2018) Less of a bird’s song than a hard rock ensemble Evolutionary Anthropology, 27 (1). pp. 9-20. ISSN 1060-1538

Hosfield, Robert and Cole, James (2018) Early hominins in north-west Europe: a punctuated long chronology? Quaternary Science Reviews, 190. pp. 148-160. ISSN 0277-3791

Cole, James (2018) Knapping in the Dark: Stone Tools and a Theory of Mind In: Coolidge, F.L. and Overman, K.A., eds. Squeezing Minds from Stones: Cognitive Archaeology and the Evolution of the Human Mind. Oxford University Press, New York.

Hamilakis, Yannis, Kyparissi-Apostolika, Nina, Loughlin, Thomas, Carter, Tristan, Cole, James, Facorellis, Yorgos, Katsarou, Stella, Kaznesi, Aggeliki, Pentedeka, Areti, Tsamis, Vasileios and Zorzin, Nicolas (2018) Koutroulou Magoula in Phthiotida, Central Greece: A Middle Neolithic Tell Site in Context In: Sarris, A., Kalogiropoulou, E., Kalayci, T. and Karimali, L., eds. Communities, Landscapes, and Interaction in Neolithic Greece. Archaeological Series . International Monographs in Prehistory, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, pp. 81-96. ISBN 9781879621473

McNabb, John, Cole, James and Hoggard, Christian (2017) From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 17. pp. 293-310. ISSN 2352-409X

Cole, James (2017) Assessing the calorific significance of episodes of human cannibalism in the Palaeolithic Scientific Reports, 7. ISSN 2045-2322

Galanidou, Nena, Athanassas, Constantin, Cole, James, Iliopoulos, Giorgos, Katerinopoulos, Athanasios, Magganas, Andreas and McNabb, John (2017) The Acheulian Site at Rodafnidia, Lisvori, on Lesbos, Greece: 2010–2012 In: Harvati, K. and Roksandic, M., eds. Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia: Human Evolution and its Context. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series . Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 119-138. ISBN 9789402408737

Cole, James (2016) Accessing Hominin Cognition: Language and Social Signaling in the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic In: Cognitive Models in Palaeolithic Archeology. Oxford University Press, New York., pp. 157-195. ISBN 9780190204112

Conneller, Chantal, Bates, Martin, Bates, Richard, Schadla-Hall, Tim, Blinkhorn, Edward, Cole, James, Pope, Matthew, Scott, Beccy, Shaw, Andrew and Underhill, David (2016) Rethinking Human Responses to Sea-level Rise: The Mesolithic Occupation of the Channel Islands Proceedings of The Prehistoric Society, 82. pp. 27-71. ISSN 0079-497X

Cole, James (2015) Examining the Presence of Symmetry within Acheulean Handaxes: A Case Study in the British Palaeolithic Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 25 (4). pp. 713-732. ISSN 0959-7743

McNabb, John and Cole, James (2015) The mirror cracked: Symmetry and refinement in the Acheulean handaxe Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 3. pp. 100-111. ISSN 2352-409X

Cole, James (2015) Hominin language development: a new method of archaeological assessment Biosemiotics, 8 (1). pp. 67-90. ISSN 1875-1342

Cole, James (2015) Handaxe symmetry in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic: implications for the Acheulean gaze In: Coward, F., Hosfield, R., Pope, M. and Wenban-Smith, F.F., eds. Settlement, Society and Cognition in Human Evolution: Landscapes in Mind. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 234-257. ISBN 9781107026889

Cole, James (2014) The Identity Model: a theory to access visual display and hominin cognition within the Palaeolithic In: Dunbar, R.I.M., Gamble, C. and Gowlett , J.A.J., eds. Lucy to Language: Benchmark Papers. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 90-107. ISBN 9780199652594

Galanidou, Nena, Cole, James, Iliopoulos, Giorgos and McNabb, John (2013) East meets West: The Middle Pleistocene site of Rodafnidia on Lesvos, Greece Antiquity, 87 (336). ISSN 0003-598X

Cole, James (2012) The Identity Model: a theory to access visual display and hominin cogntition within the Palaeolithic Human Origins, 1. pp. 24-40. ISSN 2041-403X

Cole, James and Ruebens, Karen (2012) Papers from the British Academy Lucy to Language: the Archaeology of the Social Brain Seminar Series on Visual Display in the Palaeolithic [Edited Collections]

Pope, Matthew, Bates, Martin, Cole, James, Conneller, Chantal, Ruebens, Karen, Scott, Beccy, Shaw, Andrew, Smith, Geoff, Underhill, David and Wragg-Sykes, Rebecca (2012) Quaternary Environments and Archaeology of Jersey: A New Multidisciplinary project looking at the early prehistoric occupation of the English Channel Region In: Unravelling the Palaeolithic Ten years of research at the Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins (CAHO, University of Southampton), University of Southampton, 28-29 Jan 2011.

McNabb, John, Hosfield, Robert, Dearling, Kevin, Barker, Dominic, Strutt, Kristian, Cole, James, Bates, Martin and Toms, Phillip (2012) Recent work at the Lower Palaeolithic site of Corfe Mullen, Dorset, England Proceedings of The Prehistoric Society, 78. pp. 35-50. ISSN 0079-497X

This list was generated on Wed Sep 5 17:41:31 2018 BST.

Consultancy

I have consulted for Heritage England

Roles

Admission Tutor – Division of Geography, Geology and Environment

Member of the School of Environment and Technology, School Management Group