Rate My Professor Tristan Carter

Tristan Carter is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at McMaster University in the Faculty of Social Sciences. He earned his PhD in 1999 from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London with a thesis titled 'Obsidian and society in the southern Aegean Early Bronze Age.' His research focuses on prehistoric archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean, emphasizing lithic technology, obsidian characterization and sourcing, early human occupation of the Aegean, and material culture studies. Carter directs the Stélida Naxos Archaeological Project (SNAP), an ongoing excavation since 2013 at a major chert source and prehistoric quarry on Naxos, Greece, revealing Middle Paleolithic artifacts and evidence of the earliest human activity in the central Aegean. He also oversees the McMaster Archaeological XRF Lab (MAX Lab), facilitating provenance analyses of archaeological materials such as obsidian from sites like Göbekli Tepe.

Carter's career at McMaster University includes teaching courses in world archaeology and archaeologies of identity, and leadership as Department Chair since July 1, 2025. His publications have significantly influenced understanding of prehistoric exchange networks, technological adaptations, and behavioral patterns in Eurasia. Key works include 'Earliest occupation of the Central Aegean (Naxos), Greece' published in Science Advances (2019), 'Middle Paleolithic Behavioral Insights from the Stelida Naxos Archaeological Project' in the Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies (2025), 'Obsidian consumption, supra-regional connectivity, and social complexity in prehistoric Crete' in PLOS ONE (2025), and contributions to volumes on sourcing Oldowan and Acheulean tools (Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2023). Carter has presented public lectures on SNAP findings and Minoan-Cycladic relations, contributing to broader dissemination of archaeological research.