New Publication: A Foraging Nexus by Brian A. Stewart

The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press is proud to announce the publication of A Foraging Nexus: Space, Food, and Magic at Dunefield Midden, South Africa by Brian A. Stewart, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan.

As part of our Monographs series, this book presents the results of a comprehensive spatial analysis and refitting program of an array of meticulously mapped subsistence materials from Dunefield Midden— one of the world’s largest and best-preserved campsites of past foragers on South Africa’s west coast. Ceramic cooking vessels, ostrich eggshell flasks, tortoiseshell bowls, and the bones of three differently sized ungulates, both wild and domesticated, are reassembled and their distributions compared to understand the cultural flows and natural forces that structured this exceptional site. Resulting patterns are interpreted with reference to diverse ethnoarchaeological, ethnographic, and ethnohistoric observations from Africa and beyond. What emerges is a uniquely detailed spatial reconstruction of hunter-gatherer material use-histories, social organization, group identity, and spirituality.  

Series: Monographs 86
ISBN: 978-1-950446-77-3
Publication Date: Feb 2026
Price: Hb $96.00, eBook $76.00

Order this book here!

• Print: Order from our distributor

The table of contents can be found on the Cotsen Institute Press website. 

About the author

Brian A. Stewart is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he is also Curator of African Archaeology at the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology. His research focuses on the evolution of human adaptive plasticity, with an emphasis on southern African hunter-gatherers. Currently he investigates the deep time development of socioeconomic strategies and religious traditions in southern Africa’s deserts and mountains. Beyond Africa, he is involved in research projects in East Asia and the Mediterranean. He obtained his doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Oxford in 2008 after previously studying there (MSt, 2001) and at the University of Vermont (BA, 2000).

About the series

Book in the Monographs series focus on contributions in synthetic field research and current issues in archaeological method and theory. Recent publications include People of Ancient Daunia: Voicing the Statue-Stelae by Camilla Norman and Village Potters of the Troodos Mountains: Ceramic Production in Agios Demetrios, Cyprus 1891–2002 by Gloria London.

Author Spotlight

We were glad to host Dr. Stewart at UCLA on February 25, 2026 for an Author Spotlight. You can watch a recording of the event on our Youtube to learn more about the book!