Faculty bio | 541-346-9380
Scott Fitzpatrick is an academic expert in the archaeology of islands and coastal regions, particularly in the Pacific and Caribbean. Scott’s research focuses on how humans got to islands prehistorically using different seafaring and navigational techniques and the methods used for boat construction. He is also interested in what happened once humans reached islands and the impact they had on ancient environments. He is the founding co-editor of the Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, an associate editor for Archaeology in Oceania, and on the editorial boards for the Caribbean Journal of Science and Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
Recent Media:
How did humans survive alone for 1000 years on desert islands off Africa? (Science Magazine, Feb. 8, 2024)
Is Yap stone money the link to bitcoin's origins? (Pacific Island Times, July 15, 2022)
Possible Evidence of Leprosy Found on Caribbean Island (Archaeology, Nov. 17, 2021)
Sustainability may have roots in Palau 3,000 years ago (World Economic Forum, Oct. 7, 2021)
Early Pacific islanders may have been the first conservationists (Around the O, Sept. 29, 2021)
Cannibal marauders' terrorized the Caribbean in the 15th century has 'no basis in scientific fact', scientists say (Daily Mail, Aug. 25, 2021)
Modern humans not to blame for island extinctions, study finds (Around the O, May 4, 2021)
Researchers turn to stones to find the ancient origin of Bitcoin (Around the O, Jan. 28, 2021)
Archaeologists determined the step-by-step path taken by the first people to settle the Caribbean islands (The Conversation, Sept. 29, 2020)
Archaeologists develop a new picture of the human footprint (Around the O, Sept. 2, 2019)
UO team puts an ancient spin on a new digital currency (Around the O, June 11, 2019)
Ancient hallucinogens found in 1,000-year-old shamanic pouch (National Geographic, May 6, 2019)
What was the first recreational drug? (Gizmodo, Dec. 31, 2018)
Rock and rolling in it: The island that uses two-ton, 12ft high, limestone discs as MONEY (Daily Mail, May 10, 2018)
Weather And Ocean Explorers (Jefferson Public Radio, Jan. 6, 2017)
Digging for glory (The New Yorker, June 27, 2016)
Yap's stone money: The largest and heaviest currency in the world (Radio Australia, May 11, 2016)
Ancient animal bones pose a West Indies mystery (Live Science, Dec. 1, 2011)
The Island Of Stone Money (National Public Radio, Dec. 10, 2010)
Pacific "dwarf" bones cause controversy (Nature, March 10, 2008)