Humans have an amazing capacity to innovate and maintain complex technologies and ideas through cumulative culture. This allows us to adapt rapidly to environmental change and inhabit ecosystems that are typically outside of our biological capacity. These are key features that led to our dispersal out of Africa and ultimately, across the globe. My research focuses on better understanding when and in what context these features arose in Homo sapiens by integrating fieldwork, lithic analysis, and experimental archaeology. 

My dissertation research investigates the emergence of pyrotechnology as a central part of the human adaptative landscape. The systematic control of fire in diverse contexts sets our lineage apart from other species. An early form of pyrotechnology is lithic heat treatment, where stone raw material was heated in different ways to increase its quality for toolmaking. Studying lithic heat treatment can shed light on debates regarding the origins of complex cognition, the special forms of social learning exhibited by humans, and possibly language. My research analyzes the earliest known evidence for lithic heat treatment at the site of Pinnacle Point in South Africa.

Peer Reviewed Publications

2025. Hirniak, Jayde N., John K. Murray, and Andrew M. Zipkin. A microanalytical source discrimination study of South African silcrete using a minimally invasive technique. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105332

2024. Beller, Jeremy A., John K. Murray, and Amer S. al-Souliman. Lithic procurement and provisioning at the Palaeolithic site of Shishan Marsh 1 in the Azraq Basin, Jordan. Jordan Journal of History and Archaeology. https://jjournals.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/view/1273

2023. Benitez, Robert Acio, John K. Murray, Susan C. Antón. Introduction to the Special Issue: Rethinking human origins with the extended evolutionary synthesis Part I. PaleoAnthropology. https://paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.php/paleo/article/view/1089

2022. Murray, John K., Simen Oestmo, and Andrew M. Zipkin. Portable, non-destructive colorimetry and visible reflectance spectroscopy paired with machine learning can classify experimentally heat-treated silcrete from three South African sources. PLOS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266389 . Data availability: https://osf.io/3qkd2/.

2022. Gravel-Miguel, Claudine, Jan De Vynck, Colin D. Wren, John K. Murray, and Curtis W. Marean. Were prehistoric coastal sites more intensively occupied? Using an agent-based model to understand the intensity of prehistoric coastal occupation and what it means for the evolution of coastal adaptation. Quaternary International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2022.02.003.

2021. Gravel-Miguel, Claudine, John K. Murray, Benjamin Schoville, Colin Wren, and Curtis W. Marean. Exploring variability in lithic armature discard in the archaeological record. Journal of Human Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102981.Data availability: https://osf.io/w2f9q/

2021. Murray, John K., Robert Acio Benitez, and Michael J. O’Brien. The extended evolutionary synthesis and human origins: Archaeological perspectives. Evolutionary Anthropology. 1-4.https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21837

2020. Murray, John K., Jacob A. Harris, Simen Oestmo, Miles Martin*, and Curtis W. Marean.  A new approach to identify heat treated silcrete near Pinnacle Point, South Africa using 3D microscopy and Bayesian modeling. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 34, 102622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102622 Data availability: https://osf.io/fvw2k/

Edited Volumes

2023. Robert Acio Benitez, John K. Murray, and Susan Antón. Niche construction, developmental plasticity, and inclusive inheritance: Rethinking human origins with the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. Special issue in PaleoAnthropology.

2021. Murray, John K., Robert Acio Benitez, and Michael J. O’Brien. The extended evolutionary synthesis and human origins: archaeological perspectives. Special issue in Evolutionary Anthropology.

• NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant ($30,216): Award #2321951. Variability in silcrete heat treatment technology across ~125,000 years on the south coast of South Africa and it's implications for the origins of modern humans 

• Society for Archaeological Sciences Eurofins/EAG Laboratories Pilot Research Award ($3000)

• NSF/GSA Graduate Student Geoscience Grant ($2,500) 

• The Society for Archaeological Sciences ECR and Student Support Award ($500)

Research Experience

Selected Public Outreach

Letters to a Pre-Scientist | Letter Writer

Arizona State University LEGO League: Archaeology Kick-Off Event | Keynote Speaker 

Arizona Museum of Natural History (AZMNH) THRIVE Exhibit Reveal | Flintknapping Demonstration

AZMNH Meet the Scientist Event | Volunteer Scientist

AZMNH I Love Science Day | Flintknapping Demonstration

Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve | Flintknapping Workshop Instructor