Pobiner, Briana
Research Scientist and Museum Educator
0000-0001-5051-9175
Pobiner, Briana
Research Scientist and Museum Educator
Briana Pobiner is a paleoanthropologist whose zooarchaeological and taphonomic research centers on meat-eating in the evolution of Stone Age human diets, using bone surface modifications such as human butchery marks and predator tooth marks on modern and fossil bones. She has conducted fieldwork, experimental studies, and collections-based research in Indonesia, Kenya, Romania, South Africa, Tanzania, and the United States. She joined the Smithsonian in 2005 as a research fellow to help put together the Hall of Human Origins, and now leads the Human Origins Program’s education and outreach efforts while continuing her scientific research.
Geographic Focus
Background And Education
Education And Training
- Ph.D. in Anthropology, Rutgers University 2002 - 2007
- M.A. in Anthropology, Rutgers University 1999 - 2002
- B.A. in Evolutionary Studies, Bryn Mawr College 1993 - 1997
Awards And Honors
- Communication and Outreach Award, conferred by American Association of Physical Anthropologists and Leakey Foundation, 2021
- Sinai and Synapses Fellowship, conferred by Sinai and Synapses , 2019
- NMNH Science Achievement Award , conferred by NMNH Senate of Scientists, 2013
- NMNH Outreach Achievement Award, conferred by National Museum of Natural History, 2011
- NMNH Peer Recognition Award, conferred by National Museum of Natural History, 2010
- Student Paper Prize, conferred by Society for American Archaeology, 2004
- Ruth First Graduate Research Prize, conferred by Center for African Studies, Rutgers University, 2000
Public Biography
- Briana Pobiner is a paleoanthropologist whose research centers on the evolution of human diet (with a focus on meat-eating), but has included topics as diverse as human cannibalism and chimpanzee carnivory. She has done fieldwork in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Indonesia and has been supported in her research by the Fulbright-Hays program, the Leakey Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation, Rutgers University, the Society for American Archaeology, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation. Her favorite field moments include falling asleep in a tent in the Serengeti in Tanzania while listening to the distant whoops of hyenas, watching a pride of lions eat a zebra carcass on the Kenyan equator, and discovering fossil bones that were last touched, butchered and eaten by one of her 1.5-million-year-old ancestors. Since joining the Smithsonian in 2005 to help put together the Hall of Human Origins, in addition to continuing her active field, laboratory, and experimental research programs, she leads the Human Origins Program’s education and outreach efforts which includes managing the Human Origins Program's public programs, website content, social media, and exhibition volunteer training. Briana has also more recently developed a research program in evolution education and science communication.
Credentials
- Quaternary Studies, 2007
Publications
Selected Publications
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Article
- Curran, Sabrina C., Drăgușin, Virgil, Pobiner, Briana L., Pante, Michael, Hellstrom, John, Woodhead, Jon, Croitor, Roman, Doboș, Adrian, Gogol, Samantha E., Ersek, Vasile, Keevil, Trevor L., Petculescu, Alexandru, Popescu, Aurelian, Robinson, Chris, Werdelin, Lars, and Terhune, Claire E. 2025. "Hominin presence in Eurasia by at least 1.95 million years ago." Nature Communications, 16, (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56154-9. 2025
- Egeland, Charles P., Pobiner, Briana L., Merritt, Stephen R., and Kunitz, Suzanne. 2024. "Actualistic butchery studies in zooarchaeology: Where we’ve been, where we are now, and where we want to go." Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101565. 2024
- Kunitz, Suzanne, Pobiner, Briana L., Yellen, John, Faith, J. T., and Brooks, Alison S. 2023. "An ethnoarchaeological comparison of observed butchery actions to bone surface modifications of the Dobe !Kung San." Historical Biology, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2023.2278151. 2023
- Pobiner, Briana L., Pante, Michael, and Keevil, Trevor. 2023. "Early Pleistocene cut marked hominin fossil from Koobi Fora, Kenya." Scientific Reports, 13, (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35702-7. 2023
- Croitor, Roman, Robinson, Chris, Curran, Sabrina, Terhune, Claire, Drăgușin, Virgil, Pobiner, Briana, Popescu, Aurelian, and Petculescu, Alexandru. 2023. "Early pleistocene ruminants (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from the Dacian Basin (South Romania) before and after the Pachycrocuta event: implications for hominin dispersals in Western Eurasia." Historical Biology, https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2023.2167602. 2023
- Norwood, Alexandra L., Pobiner, Briana L., Shedden, Kerby, and Kingston, John D. 2023. "Modeling periodicity in equid serial enamel isotopes as a proxy for precipitation seasonality." Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111666. 2023
- Pobiner, Briana. 2022. "Lunch break science: digestible human origins videos by the Leakey Foundation." American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 177, (1) 186–187. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24416. 2022
- Fleming, Alyson H., Pobiner, Briana, Maynor, Savannah, Webster, David, and Pyenson, Nicholas D. 2022. "New Holocene grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) material from North Carolina: the most complete North Atlantic grey whale skeleton to date." Royal Society Open Science, 9, (7). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220441. 2022
- Barr, W. A., Pobiner, Briana, Rowan, John, Du, Andrew, and Faith, J. Tyler. 2022. "No sustained increase in zooarchaeological evidence for carnivory after the appearance of Homo erectus." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119, (5). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115540119. 2022
- Curran, Sabrina, Terhune, Claire, Croitor, Roman, Drăgușin, Virgil, Fox, David L., Garrett, Niki, Ironside, Lydia B., Petculescu, Alexandru, Pobiner, Briana, Robinson, Chris, Robu, Marius, Tanţău, Ioan, and Ungar, Peter. 2021. "Multiproxy paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Early Pleistocene sites from the Olteţ River Valley of Romania." Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110445. 2021
- Pobiner, Briana, Dumouchel, Laurence, and Parkinson, Jennifer. 2020. "A New Semi-Quantitative Method for Coding Carnivore Chewing Damage with an Application to Modern African Lion-Damaged Bones." Palaios, 35, (7) 302–315. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2019.095. 2020
- Eller, Andrea R., Pobiner, Briana, Friend, Sadie, Austin, Rita M., Hofman, Courtney A., and Sholts, Sabrina B. 2020. "A chomped chimp: New evidence of tooth marks on an adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus)." American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 172, (1) 140–147. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24049. 2020
- Hatala, Kevin G., Harcourt-Smith, William, Gordon, Adam D., Zimmer, Brian W., Richmond, Brian G., Pobiner, Briana L., Green, David J., Metallo, Adam, Rossi, Vince, and Liutkus-Pierce, Cynthia. 2020. "Snapshots of human anatomy, locomotion, and behavior from Late Pleistocene footprints at Engare Sero, Tanzania." Scientific Reports, 10, (1) 7740. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64095-0. 2020
- Richmond, B. G., Green, D. J., Lague, M. R., Chirchir, Habiba, Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Bobe, R., Bamford, M. K., Griffin, N. L., Gunz, P., Mbua, E., Merritt, S. R., Pobiner, Briana L., Kiura, P., Kibunjia, M., Harris, J. W. K., and Braun, D. R. 2020. "The upper limb of Paranthropus boisei from Ileret, Kenya." Journal of human evolution, 141 Article 102727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102727. 2020
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2020. "The zooarchaeology and paleoecology of early hominin scavenging." Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 29, (2) 68–82. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21824. 2020
- Bertka, Constance M., Pobiner, Briana, Beardsley, Paul, and Watson, William A. 2019. "Acknowledging students' concerns about evolution: a proactive teaching strategy." Evolution: Education and Outreach, 12, (3). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12052-019-0095-0. 2019
- Alemseged, Zeresenay, Njau, Jackson, Pobiner, Briana, and Ndiema, Emmanuel. 2019. "Connecting palaeoscientists in eastern Africa and the wider world." Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3 330–331. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0800-y. 2019
- Dunk, Ryan D. P., Barnes, M. E., Reiss, Michael J., Alters, Brian, Asghar, Anila, Carter, B. E., Cotner, Sehoya, Glaze, Amanda L., Hawley, Patricia H., Jensen, Jamie L., Mead, Louise S., Nadelson, Louis S., Nelson, Craig E., Pobiner, Briana, Scott, Eugenie C., Shtulman, Andrew, Sinatra, Gale M., Southerland, Sherry A., Walter, Emily M., Brownell, Sara E., and Wiles, Jason R. 2019. "Evolution education is a complex landscape." Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3 327–329. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0802-9. 2019
- Pobiner, Briana L., Higson, Charles P., Kovarovic, Kris, Kaplan, Robert S., Rogers, Jacklyn, and Schindler, William. 2018. "Experimental butchery study investigating the influence of timing of access and butcher expertise on cut mark variables." International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 28, (4) 377–387. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2661. 2018
- Pobiner, Briana, Beardsley, Paul M., Bertka, Constance M., and Watson, William A. 2018. "Using human case studies to teach evolution in high school A.P. biology classrooms." Evolution: Education and Outreach, 11, (1) 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12052-018-0077-7. 2018
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2017. "The Quest to Understand Human Evolution: A Magical Mystery Tour." The American Biology Teacher, 79, (2) 77. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2017.79.2.77. 2017
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2016. "Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities." American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 159, (Supplement S61) S232–S274. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22910. 2016
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2016. "Meat-Eating Among the Earliest Humans Evidence of meat-eating.among our distant human ancestors is hard to find and even harder to interpret, but researchers are beginning to piece together a coherent picture." American Scientist, 104, (2) 110–117. https://doi.org/10.1511/2016.119.110. 2016
- Liutkus-Pierce, C., Zimmer, B. W., Carmichael, S. K., McIntosh, W., Deino, A., Hewitt, S. M., McGinnis, K. J., Hartney, T., Brett, J., Mana, S., Deocampo, D., Richmond, B. G., Hatala, K., Harcourt-Smith, W., Pobiner, Briana L., Metallo, Adam, and Rossi, Vince. 2016. "Radioisotopic age, formation, and preservation of Late Pleistocene human footprints at Engare Sero, Tanzania." Palaeogeography palaeoclimatology palaeoecology, 463 68–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.09.019. 2016
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2015. "New actualistic data on the ecology and energetics of hominin scavenging opportunities." Journal of Human Evolution, 80 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.06.020. 2015
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2014. "Stone tools and fossil bones: debates in the archaeology of human origins." Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 49, (1) 117–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2013.873197. 2014
- Ferraro, Joseph V., Plummer, Thomas W., Pobiner, Briana L., Oliver, James S., Bishop, Laura C., Braun, David R., Ditchfield, Peter W., Seaman, John W., III, Binetti, Katie M., Seaman, John W., Jr., Hertel, Fritz, and Potts, Richard. 2013. "Earliest Archaeological Evidence of Persistent Hominin Carnivory." Plos One, 8, (4) e62174. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062174. 2013
- Indriati, Etty, Swisher, Carl C., III, Lepre, Christopher, Quinn, Rhonda L., Suriyanto, Ruswad A., Hascaryo, Agus T., Feibel, Craig S., Pobiner, Briana L., Auber, Maxime, Lees, Wendy, and Antón, Susan C. 2012. "The age of the 20 meter Solo River Terrace, Central Java, Indonesia, and the survival of Late Homo erectus in Asia." PLoS ONE, 6, (6) e21562. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021562. 2012
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2012. "Use human examples to teach evolution." American Biology Teacher, 74, (2) 71–72. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2012.74.2.2. 2012
- Johnson, Norman A., Smith, James J., Pobiner, Briana L., and Schrein, Caitlin. 2012. "Why Are Chimps Still Chimps?" The American Biology Teacher, 74, (2) 74–80. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2012.74.2.3. 2012
- Tryon, Christian, Pobiner, Briana L., and Kauffman, Rhonda. 2010. "Archaeology and Human Evolution." Evolution: Education and Outreach, 3, (3) 377–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12052-010-0246-9. 2010
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2010. "Teacher's Corner: Resources from the SI Human Origins Program." AnthroNotes, 31, (1) 16–18. https://doi.org/10.5479/10088/22448. 2010
- Njau, Jackson, Mbua, Emma, Alemseged, Zeresenay, and Pobiner, Briana L. 2009. "Second conference of the East African association for paleoanthropology and paleontology: Fifty years after discovery of Zinjanthropus." Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 18, (6) 235–236. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.20241. 2009
- Braun, David R., Pobiner, Briana L., and Thompson, J. C. 2008. "An experimental investigation of cut mark production and stone tool attrition." Journal of Archaeological Science, 35, (5) 1216–1223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2007.08.015. 2008
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2008. "Apples and oranges again: comment on Conceptual premises in experimental design and their bearing on the use of analogy: an example from experiments on cut marks." World Archaeology, 40, (4) 466–479. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438240802451199. 2008
- Pobiner, Briana L., Rogers, M. J., Monahan, C. M., and Harris, J. W. K. 2008. "New evidence for hominin carcass processing strategies at 1.5 Ma, Koobi Fora, Kenya." Journal of Human Evolution, 55, (1) 103–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.02.001. 2008
- Pobiner, Briana L., DeSilva, Jeremy, Sanders, William J., and Mitani, John C. 2007. "Taphonomic analysis of skeletal remains from chimpanzee hunts at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda." Journal of Human Evolution, 52, (6) 614–636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.11.007. 2007
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Chapter
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2023. "Teaching Biological Anthropology: Pedagogy of Human Evolution and Human Variation." In A Companion to Biological Anthropology. 2nd ed. Larsen, Clark Spencer, editor. 603–631. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. In Wiley Blackwell Companions to Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119828075.ch36. 2023
- Thompson, Jessica C., Bertacchi, Alex, Keller, Hannah M., Hallett, Emily Y., and Pobiner, Briana L. 2023. "The Zooarchaeology of Pleistocene Africa." In Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa. Beyin, Amanuel, Wright, David K., Wilkins, Jayne, and Olszewski, Deborah I., editors. 1955–2087. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20290-2_126. 2023
- Schneider, Carrington S., Pokines, James T., L'Abbé, Ericka N., and Pobiner, Briana. 2022. "Reptile Taphonomy." In Manual of Forensic Taphonomy. Pokines, James T., L'Abbé, Ericka N., and Symes, Steven A., editors. 667–693. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003171492-19. 2022
- Pobiner, Briana, Watson, William A., Beardsley, Paul M., and Bertka, Constance M. 2019. "Using Human Examples to Teach Evolution to High School Students: Increasing Understanding and Decreasing Cognitive Biases and Misconceptions." In Evolution Education Reconsidered: Understanding What Works. Harms, Ute and Reiss, Michael J., editors. Springer, Cham. (https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14698-6) 2019
- Pobiner, Briana and Terry, Mark. 2018. "Intelligent Design." In International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology. Trevathan, Wenda, editor. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118584538. 2018
- Blumenschine, R. J., Andrews, P., Capaldo, S. D., Njau, J. K., Peters, C. R., and Pobiner, Briana L. 2007. "Vertebrate taphonomic perspectives on Oldowan hominid land use in the Plio-Pleistocene Olduvai basin, Tanzania." In Breathing Life into Fossils: Taphonomic Studies in Honor of C. K. (Bob) Brain. Pickering, T. R., Schick, K., and Toth, N., editors. 161–179. Gosport: Stone Age Institute Press. 2007
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Review
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2021. [Book review] "Human Evolution, Then and Now." Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14236. 2021
- Pobiner, Briana. 2019. [Book review] "Edible Insects and Human Evolution." Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 3, (2), 109–112. 2019
- Pobiner, Briana. 2019. [Book review] "Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures." The American Biology Teacher, 81, (6), 454–455. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2019.81.6.454b. 2019
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2014. [Book review] "Living the paleofantasy?" Evolution: Education and Outreach, 7, (1), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12052-014-0030-3. 2014
- Pobiner, Briana L. 2014. [Book review] "Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins, edited by John Gurche." American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 154, (2), 317. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22508. 2014
Contact
Location
- National Museum of Natural History Academic Department
