Dr. Emily Yuko Hallett

Assistant Professor

Emily Yuko Hallett received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University in 2018 with a focus on Homo sapiens origins in Africa. She is an archaeologist researching prehistoric human ecology and diet, and she studies animal remains from archaeological sites to reconstruct past habitats and hunting patterns. Her most recent fieldwork is in Morocco and Italy, where she focuses on caves that have early human archaeological deposits from the Late Pleistocene. Dr. Hallett also uses computational modelling to reconstruct the ecological niche of early humans.

Research Opportunities for Students

Dr. Hallett encourages students interested in archaeological fieldwork, zooarchaeology, or computational archaeology to contact her for research opportunities.

Courses Taught

ENVS 101: The Scientific Basis of Environmental Issues
ANTH 104: The Human Ecological Footprint
ANTH/BIOL 246: Ancient Human-Animal Interactions
ANTH 241: Principles of Archaeology
ANTH 365: Archaeology Lab Methods

Publications/Research Listings

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

2025 Hallett, EY*, Leonardi, M*, Cerasoni, JN, Will, M, Beyer, R, Krapp, M, Kandel, AW, Manica, A*, Scerri, EML* Major expansion in the human niche preceded out of Africa dispersal. Nature 644, 115–121. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09154-0

2025 - Padilla-Iglesias, C., Z. Xue, M. Leonardi, J. L. A. Paijmans, M. Colucci, A. Hovhannisyan, P. Maisano-Delser, J. Blanco-Portillo, A. G. Ioannidis, G. Lucarini, J. N. Cerasoni, A. W. Kandel, M. Will, E. Y. Hallett, K. Lupo, E. M. L. Scerri, I. Crevecoeur, L. Vinicius, A. B. Migliano and A. Manica (2025). Pan-African metapopulation model explains Homo sapiens genetic and morphological evolution. bioRxiv 2025.2005.2022.655514. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.05.22.655514

2025 - Arous, EB; Blinkhorn, JA; Elliott S; Kiahtipes, CA; N’zi, CD; Bateman, MD; Duval, M; Roberts, P; Patalano, R; Blackwood, AF; Niang, K; Kouamé, EA; Lebato, E; Hallett, E; Cerasoni, JN; Scott, E; Ilgner, J; Escarza, MJA; Guédé, FY; and Scerri, EML. “Humans in Africa’s wet tropical forests 150 thousand years ago.” Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08613-y

2025 - Steele, TE, Álvarez-Fernández, E, Hallett, EY “Coastal Foraging and the Archaeofauna of Northern Africa” in Oxford Handbook of Island & Coastal Archaeology, Eds. S.M. Fitzpatrick and Erlandson, J.M. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197607770.013.30

2023 - Cerasoni, JN; Giudici, CM; Ehler, KM; Befeler, L; Benson, JS; Bieri, CL; Elliott, E; Fess, EL; Lenz, K; Majetich, OL; McGuire, ZE; and Hallett, EY. “Report: Pedagogy and skill acquisition in flint knapping.” In Journal of Lithic Studies 10(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.8897

2023 - Cerasoni, JN; Hallett, EY; Orijemie, EA; Ashastina, K; Lucas, M; Farr, L; Höhn, A; Kiahtipes, CA; Blinkhorn, J; Roberts, P; Manica, A; and Scerri, EML. “Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria.” iScience 26(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106153

2023 - Olszewski, DI; Aldeias, V; Álvarez-Fernández, E; Blackwell, BAB; El Hajraoui, MA; Hallett, EY; Jacobs, Z; Rezek, Z; Richter, D; Skinner, AR; Steele, TE; and Talamo, S. “Contrebandiers (Grotte des Contrebandiers), Morocco.” In Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa: Hominin Behavior, Geography, and Chronology (Beyin, Wright, Wilkins, and Olszewski (eds.), pp 739-764. Springer.

2023 - Cerasoni, JN; Orijemie, EA; Hallett, EY; Farr, L; and Scerri, EML. “Ihò Eléérú (Iwo Eleru), Nigeria.” In Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa: Hominin Behavior, Geography, and Chronology (Beyin, Wright, Wilkins, and Olszewski (eds.), pp. 915-925. Springer.

2023 - Thompson, JC; Bertacchi, A; Keller, HM; Hallett, EY; and Pobiner, B. “The Zooarchaeology of Pleistocene Africa.” In Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa: Hominin Behavior, Geography, and Chronology (Beyin, Wright, Wilkins, and Olszewski (eds.), pp. 1955-2087. Springer.

2023 - Leonardi, K; Hallett, EY; Beyer, R; Krapp, M; and Manica, A. “Pastclim 1.2: an R package to easily access and use paleoclimatic reconstructions.” Ecography. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.06481

2022 - Leonardi, M, Hallett, EY, Beyer, R, Krapp, M, and Manica, A. (2022) Pastclim: an R package to easily access and use paleoclimatic reconstructions. bioRxiv, DOI: 10.1101.2022.05.18.492456.

2022 - Cerasoni, JN*; do Nascimento Rodrigues, F; Tang, Y; and Hallett, EY. "Do-It-Yourself Digital Archaeology: Introduction and Practical Applications of Photography and Photogrammetry for the 2D and 3D Representation of Small Objects and Artifacts." PLOS One.

2022 - Cerasoni, JN *; Hallett, EY; Ben Arous; E, Beyer, R; Krapp, M; Manica, A; and Scerri, EML. “Archaeological sites and palaeoenvironments of pleistocene West Africa.” Journal of Maps. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2022.2052767

2021 - Hallett, EY*, Marean, CW, Steele, TE, Alvarez-Fernandez, E, Jacobs, Z, Cerasoni, JN, Aldeias, V, Scerri, EMI, Olszewski, DI, El-Hajraoui, M, and Dibble, HL. "A worked bone assemblage from 120,000-90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco." iScience 24(9), p. 102988. DOI: 10.1016/j/isci.2021.102988.

2019 - Steele, T.E., Álvarez-Fernández, E., & Hallett-Desguez, E. (2019). Special Issue: Early Personal Ornaments --- A Review of Shells as Personal Ornamentation during the African Middle Stone Age. PaleoAnthropology, 2019, 24-51.

2013 - Dibble, H.L., Aldeias, V., Jacobs, Z., Olszewski, D.I., Rezek, Z., Lin, S.C., Alvarez-Fernández, E., Barshay-Szmidt, C., Hallett-Desguez, E., Reed, D., Reed, K., Richter, D., Steele, T.E., Skinner, A., Blackwell, B., Doronicheva, E., El-Hajraoui, M. (2013). On the Industrial Attributions of the Aterian and Mousterian of the Maghreb. Journal of Human Evolution, 64, 194-210.

2012 - Dibble, H.L., Aldeias, V., Alvarez-Fernández, E., Blackwell, B.A., Hallett-Desguez, E., Jacobs, Z., Goldberg, P., Lin, S.C., Morala, A., Meyer, M.C., Olzsewski, D.I., Reed, K., Reed, D., Rezek, Z., Richter, D., Roberts, R.G., Sandgathe, D., Schurmans, U., Skinner, A.R., Steele, T.E. and El-Hajraoui, M. (2012). New Excavations at the Site of Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco. PaleoAnthropology, 2012, 145-201.

2012 - Hallett-Desguez, E. (2012). Analyse Archéozoologie de la Macrofaune. In Préhistoire de la région de Rabat-Témara, Eds. M.A. El Hajraoui, A. Debénath, R. Nespoulet, and H. Dibble. Villes et Sites Archéologiques du Maroc (VESAM) Volume III. pp. 239-248.

2012 - Amani, F., Reed, K., Hallett-Desguez, E., Bougariane, B., & Reed, D. (2012). Faunes et Paléoenvironnements. In Préhistoire de la région de Rabat-Témara, Eds. M.A. El Hajraoui, A. Debénath, R. Nespoulet, and H. Dibble. Villes et Sites Archéologiques du Maroc (VESAM) Volume III. pp. 211-222.

Published Code

2025 - Calibration of radiocarbon ages. DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.16860619

2025 - Filtering archaeological sites. DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.16860616

2023 - Leonardi, M., Manica, A., Hallett, E.Y. Code supporting: pastclim 1.2: an R package to easily access and use paleoclimatic reconstructions. Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge.