Miriam Belmaker, Ph.D.

About

Miriam Belmaker, Ph.D., is an archaeologist specializing in the influence of environmental changes on human evolution. She is an associate professor at The University of Tulsa and associate curator at the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History in Tel Aviv, Israel. At UTulsa, she directs the museum science management program. As someone who grew up in Israel and has long been emersed in the archaeology of the region, she also coordinates the minor in Judaic and Near Eastern studies.

Belmaker earned her B.A. in prehistoric archaeology and ecology from Haifa University in Israel. She then completed her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in evolution and ecology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard and a visiting position at the College of William & Mary, she joined the faculty at UTulsa in 2012.

Belmaker’s research involves analyzing fossils and animal skeletal remains from archaeological sites to reconstruct ancient environments and examine how these environments influenced human behavior and biology. She has pioneered the use of tooth shape and microwear—the marks left on food by teeth—of small mammals as innovative paleoecological markers. Her research employs 3D imaging techniques, including white light confocal imaging and 3D laser scanning, which are conducted in the tribology and imaging laboratory that she established. Additionally, Belmaker oversees an extensive comparative zoological collection in the paleoecology and zooarchaeology laboratory. This collection is unique in the tri-state area for its inclusion of Eurasian species, which complements the North American specimens. This diversity allows her and her students to identify fossils from various global regions right here in Tulsa.

Belmaker conducts archaeological excavations in Israel, Jordan, the Caucasus, and Central and East Asia, often inviting students to participate in these fieldwork opportunities. The sites she works on span a wide range of ages, from 2 million years old to as recent as 1,500 years old. Notably, she is the co-director of the excavation at the early Pleistocene site of ‘Ubeidiya, Israel, collaborating with Omry Barzilai from Haifa University. This site is among the oldest human settlements outside Africa and is crucial for understanding human evolution. However, her research spans more than deep time. She is fascinated by how climate may have affected large urban societies in later historical periods and has worked on sites such as Hazor and Tel Dan.

Her research has received funding from prestigious grants, including those from the National Science Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the Irene Levy Sala CARE Foundation. Belmaker’s work has been published in respected scientific journals, including Scientific Reports, the Journal of Human Evolution, Quaternary Science Reviews, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, and the Journal of Archaeological Sciences.

Awards and Honors

• Outstanding TURC mentor, The University of Tulsa, 2025