Lawrence H. Keeley's contributions to the use of microwear analysis in reconstructions of past human behavior (1972–2017)

Abstract

While a doctoral student at Oxford University in the early 1970s, Lawrence H. Keeley refined the high powered technique for microwear analysis. When the results of his “blind test” with Mark Newcomer were published, even skeptical researchers realized that it was possible to determine the function of ancient stone implements from microscopic examination of use wear traces. Beginning with his first student, Patricia Anderson, his Lithic Analysis Workshop in 1980, and until his death, Keeley's influence on microwear analysis extended to the far corners of the world. Keeley's contributions are outlined, and a few highlights of his distinguished career are summarized here. In his research on Lower Paleolithic assemblages and collaborations with numerous colleagues and students, Keeley engaged in cutting-edge research that combined rigorous experimental replication, refitting, residue analyses, and microscopic examination of ancient artifacts. His results provided remarkable new details and insights about the lives of ancient people, from ancient hominins at Koobi Fora, Kenya to foragers and farmers in the Old and New Worlds. In 1995, he received the Society for American Archaeology's Award for Excellence in Lithic Studies, however his real legacy is the outstanding research conducted by the new generation of scholars that he inspired.