Zachary C. Dunseth

Zachary C. Dunseth is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and the Kershaw Chair of the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands at UCSD. An experienced field archaeologist, he also specializes in geoarchaeology and phytolith science, particularly in the desert environments of the ancient southern Levant.

Dunseth is interested in exploring the long-term trajectories of human-animal-environmental interactions in deserts—essentially, how people lived, thrived and adapted to arid environments during climatic, environmental and social change. His research focuses on the microscopic physical and chemical fingerprints we leave behind in archaeological sediments, using this information to explore various questions about mobility, subsistence, and plant, animal and metal economies at both local and regional scales.

His primary regional focus is the eastern Mediterranean, where he has supervised or directed excavations at world-famous sites in modern Israel including Megiddo, Kiriath Jearim and Arad since 2012, along with more than a dozen sites in the Negev Highlands. He also has ongoing interdisciplinary collaborations with active and legacy projects working in Jordan, Syria, Cyprus, Sardinia (Italy), and the southwestern United States.