Gayle J. Fritz

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Gayle J. Fritz is an American paleoethnobotanist working out of Washington University in St. Louis. She is a world expert on ancient crops.[1] Fritz runs the Paleoethnobotany Lab at Washington University in St. Louis under the auspices of the Anthropology Department.

Biography

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Fritz received her M.A at the University of Texas at Austin, 1975. She received her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1986.[2]

Her work focuses on crops other than maize, such as chenopodium and amaranth, and emphasizes the importance of direct radiocarbon dating when establishing the models of early agriculture.[3] She also proposes a diversity of pathways from hunting-gathering to agriculture, highly dependent on regional variations and the intricacies of local cultures, and explores the role of women in early societies, often challenging a "Big Chief" model of hierarchical dominance. Her research interests include grain amaranth, chenopod, maygrass, tobacco, and hickory nuts.[2]

Selected works

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References

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  1. ^ McGinn, Susan Killenberg (20 November 2013). "McMillan Hall Addition Enhances Anthropology Teaching, Research". Washington University in Saint Lous.
  2. ^ a b "Gayle Fritz - Department of Anthropology". anthropology.artsci.wustl.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-04-07. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  3. ^ Fritz, Gayle J. (1994). "Are the First American Farmers Getting Younger?". Current Anthropology. 35 (3): 305–309. doi:10.1086/204280. JSTOR 2744208. S2CID 145706166.
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