Personal profile
Personal profile
Abay Namen is a Postdoctoral Scholar investigating Palaeolithic archaeology of Kazakhstan and Central Asia at Nazarbayev University. His research focuses on reconstructing early human behaviour at Palaeolithic sites through the analysis of stone tools and raw materials. Dr. Namen is currently focused on the excavation of several open-air loess sites in the piedmonts of the Ile Alatau range, south-eastern Kazakhstan. He is also part of the international team investigating cave sites in Turkestan Province.
Research interests
Dr. Abay Namen is a Paleolithic archaeologist interested in human evolution, their adaptation strategies to climatic changes, stone tools and the raw materials used to produce them.
Teaching
2023 Fall Semester
- ANT 233 – Cavemen, Mammoths, and Sabertooths: Stone Age archaeology of Eurasia
2024 Spring Semester
- ANT 160 - Introduction to Biological Anthropology
2024 Fall Semester
- ANT 140 - World Prehistory
2025 Spring Semester
- ANT 160 - Introduction to Biological Anthropology
2025 Fall Semester
- ANT 240 - Laboratory Methods in Archaeology
2026 Spring Semester
- ANT 140 - World Prehistory
Education/Academic qualification
Palaeolithic Archaeology, Dr.rer.nat, Raw material variability in the Palaeolithic of the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor of Kazakhstan, University of Tübingen
Nov 15 2018 → Dec 31 2022
Award Date: Jul 19 2022
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 2 Active
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Hominin occupation of the northern Tian Shan foothills during the Late Pleistocene climatic fluctuations
Namen, A. (PI) & Iovita, R. (Co-PI)
4/1/26 → 12/31/28
Project: FDCRGP
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Hominin adaptations to climatic instabilities in mid-altitude regions of the northern Tian Shan piedmonts during the Late Pleistocene
Namen, A. (PI)
1/1/24 → 12/31/26
Project: International
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The Impact of Cooperation Under Climate Constraints: An Agent-Based Model for Exploring Paleolithic Behavioral Adaptations in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor
Coto-Sarmiento, M., Namen, A., Varis, A. & Iovita, R., Mar 2026, In: Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 33, 1, 8.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Human occupations at the Alpysbaev Cave (western Tian Shan): Bioarchaeological insights from the Iron Age burial cluster
Namen, A., Hernandez Burgos, S. C., Varis, A., Coco, E., Kalisher, R., Gaul, E., Gnecchi-Ruscone, G. A., Spyrou, M. A., Posth, C., Lindauer, S., Naumann, D., Williams, S. A., Taimagambetov, Z. & Iovita, R., Dec 2025, In: PLoS ONE. 20, 12 December , e0333708.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Stone tool knapping quality and raw material selection behaviour in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor
Namen, A. & Schmidt, P., Nov 2025, In: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 67, 105388.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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New stratified Stone Age sites at Tikenekti-2 and Yntymaq in the Ile Alatau piedmonts (Southeastern Kazakhstan)
Namen, A., Taimagambetov, Z., Varis, A., Coco, E., Coto-Sarmiento, M., Baigunakov, D., Zhumatayev, R. & Iovita, R., Jun 30 2024, In: Kazakhstan Archeology. 2024, 2, p. 160-175 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access2 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Ochre-based compound adhesives at the Mousterian type-site document complex cognition and high investment
Schmidt, P., Iovita, R., Charrié-Duhaut, A., Möller, G., Namen, A. & Dutkiewicz, E., Feb 2024, In: Science advances. 10, 8, eadl0822.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access19 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)