Ofer Bar-Yosef

Ofer Bar-Yosef, born in Jerusalem, received his Ph.D. in 1970 from the Hebrew University, Israel and taught there from 1968 in and from 1988-2013 at Harvard University. Since 1959, he was involved as excavator in a wide range of prehistoric sites illuminating phases of human cultural evolution. The list includes open-air and caves located in Israel, Sinai (Egypt), Turkey, Czech Republic, Republic of Georgia, and recently in the People’s Republic of China. In these excavations Lower, Middle and Upper Paleolithic as well as Neolithic occupations were exposed, analyzed and published. The main issues concern the dispersals of humans from Africa, Neanderthals and modern humans, and the transition from hunting and gathering to farming. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (2001) and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy (2005). He co-edited 18 volumes  and authored, or co-authored with many colleagues some 360 papers and book chapters.