Marcel Kornfeld
Department of Anthropology
Professor Emeritus - Archaeology
Executive Committee: Suyanggae International Symposium (SISEC)
Distinguished Researcher of the Institute of Korean Prehistory (IKP)
Born in Zagreb, Croatia, I spent my early years vacationing among Roman ruins of the Adriatic, stumbling among medieval castles or their ruins around Zagreb, and nearly fell into Veternica Cave soon after its discovery! Perhaps this predisposed me to the past.
Now I pursue my research interests through a number of archeology projects investigating Paleoindian occupations and human adaptations to Plains, Foothills, and Mountainous areas of the western United States. Specific sites and projects include: Plains and Mountains Paleoindian Study-focusing on Hell Gap and Agate Basin sites, as well as the high mountain "parks" of Colorado; and Closed Site Archeology-focusing on human use of rock shelters-when, why, and how do humans use closed sites.
On the personal side, I enjoy road trips, mountain biking and hiking in the summer, and cross country and downhill skiing in the winter. I also enjoy automechanics--especially working on air cooled VWs, Types I and II. Other hobbies include chainsaw wood sculpting.
Recent Publications:
Marcel Kornfeld. Are all the Bone Rods the Same? Hell Gap Specimen and More. 2025. Plains Anthropologist https://doi.org/10.1080/00320447.2025.2529120.
Marcel Kornfeld and Mary Lou Larson. Hell Gap Then and Now. 2025. In Current Studies of Diversity and
Pattern in World Prehistory: In Commemoration of the Suyanggae and Her Neighbours for the Last Quarter Century and In Dedication to Prof. Yung-jo LEE’s 60 Years of Archaeology, edited by Kidong Bae, Jong-Yung Woo, and Ju-Yong Kim, pp. 292-302. Institute of Korean Prehistory, Chungbuk, Cheongju, Korea.
Julie Francis, Lawrence L. Loendorf, Marcel Kornfeld, Mary Lou Larson, and J.M Adovasio, 2022. Down the Rabbit Hole: Comment on Sundstrom and Walker. American Antiquity 87(3):620-622.
Marcel Kornfeld, J.M. Adovasio, Mary Lou Larson, 2022. Fencing is Perishable: A reply to “Don’t Fence Me In.” Plains Anthropologist 67(262):197-203.
Todd A. Surovell, Sarah A. Allaun, Barbara A. Crass, Joseph A. M. Gingerich, Kelly E. Graf, Charles E. Holmes, Robert L. Kelly, Marcel Kornfeld, Kathryn E. Krasinski, Mary Lou Larson, Spencer R. Pelton, Brian T. Wygal. 2022. Late Date of Human Arrival to North America: Continental Scale Differences in Stratigraphic Integrity of pre-13,000 BP Archaeological Sites. PLOSOne. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264092.
Marcel Kornfeld, Kathleen Holen, and Steven Holen. 2022. A Rediscovered Beveled Osseous Rod: Clarification of the Archaeological Record. Plains Anthropologist 67(261):19-32. DOI:10.1080/00320447.2021.1934254
Marcel Kornfeld, J.M. Adovasio, Mary Lou Larson. 2021. Perishable Artifacts from Last Canyon Cave, Pryor Mountains, Montana. Plains Anthropologist, 66(260):373-389. doi.org/10.1080/00320447.2021.1895042
Books
Marcel Kornfeld, Mary Lou Larson, Yung-Jo Lee, Jong-yoon Woo, and Mackenzie Cory (Organizers and Editors), 2016. Program and Proceedings of the 21st Suyanggae and Her Neighbors International Symposium: Suyanggae and Hell Gap: Pleistocene-Holocene Archaeology from the Cape of Good Hope to Tierra del Fuego. 26 July - 3 August, 2016. Paleoindian Research Lab, Department of Anthropology, University of Wyoming.
Marcel Kornfeld and Bruce Huckell (editors), 2016. Stones, Bones, and Profiles: Exploring Archaeological Context, Early American Hunter-Gatherers, and Bison. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
Marcel Kornfeld, 2013. The First Rocky Mountaineers: Coloradans Before Colorado. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. [2013 IndieFab Bronze Award Winner for the Rocky Mountains]
Marcel Kornfeld, George C. Frison, and Mary Lo Larson, 2010, Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers of the High Plains and Rockies. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek.
Mary Lou Larson, Marcel Kornfeld, and George C. Frison (editors). 2009, Hell Gap: A Stratified Paleoindian Campsite at the Edge of the Rockies. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
Marcel Kornfeld, Sergey Vasil'ev, and Laura Miotti (editors), 2007, Prés du bord d'un Abri: Les Histoires, Théories et Méthodes de Recherches sur les
Abris sous Roche/On Shelter's Ledge: Histories, Theories and Methods of Rockshelter
Research. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 1655. Oxford, England.
Marcel Kornfeld and Alan J. Osborn (editors), 2003, Islands on the Plains: Ecological, Social, and Ritual Use of Landscapes. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Marcel Kornfeld, 2003, Pull of the Hills, Landscape Archaeology and Great Plains Foraging Economy. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 1106, Oxford, England.
Marcel Kornfeld, George C. Frison, and Mary Lou Larson (editors), 1995, Keyhole Reservoir Archeology, Glimpses of the Past from Northeast Wyoming. Occasional Papers on Wyoming Archeology No. 5. Laramie, Wyoming.
Marcel Kornfeld (editor), 1991. Approaches to Gender Processes on the Great Plains. Plains Anthropologist Memoir 26.
Marcel Kornfeld and Lawrence C. Todd (editors), 1985. McKean - Middle Plains Archaic: Current Research. Occasional Papers on Wyoming Archeology No. 4. Laramie, Wyoming.
Marcel Kornfeld and Julie E. Francis (editors), 1984. South Pass City: Changing Perspectives of a 19th Century Frontier Town. Occasional Papers on Wyoming Archeology No. 3. Laramie, Wyoming.
Research Interests:
cultural evolution, cultural ecology, foraging societies, chipped stone technology, regional distributions archeology, gender, peopling of continents, Paleoindian prehistory, closed sites, computerized field techniques
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