KURT WILSON portrait
  • PhD Researcher, Anthropology Department
  • Postdoc Paid Direct, Geography Department
801-585-0885

Publications

  • Magargal, Kate E., Wilson, Kurt M., Chee, Shaniah, Campbell, Michael J., Bailey, Vanessa, Dennison, Philip E., Anderegg, William R. L., Cachelin, Adrienne, Brewer, Simon & Codding, Brian F. (2023). The impacts of climate change, energy policy, and traditional ecological practices on firewood availability for Diné (Navajo) people. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Published, 09/20/2023.
    https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0394
  • Wilson, Kurt M., McCool, Weston C. & Brenner-Coltrain, Joan (2023). Climate and oceanic condition changes influence subsistence economic adaptation through intensification on the Central Andean coasts. Quaternary International. Published, 07/27/2023.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2023.07.002
  • Kievman, Hayley T., Wilson, Kurt M., Lamson, Roxanne Lois F., Gyumushyan, Arthur, Codding, Brian F. & Greenwald, Alexandra M. (2023). Exploring how human-environment interactions impact mussel size during the Late Period of Northern CA. California Archaeology. Published, 07/12/2023.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/1947461X.2023.2223494
  • Wilson, Kurt M., Cole, Kasey E. & Codding, Brian F. (2023). Identifying key socioecological factors influencing the expression of egalitarianism and inequality among foragers. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Accepted, 03/17/2023.
    https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0311
  • Wilson, Kurt M. & McCool, Weston C. (2023). The environmental null: Documenting the changing influence of physical and social environments on Prehistoric Andean diets. Foodways of the ancient Andes: Transforming diet, cuisine, and society. Edited by Marta P. Alfonso-Durruty and Deborah E. Blom. University of Arizona Press. Published, 02/01/2023.
  • Baitzel, Sarah I., Folk, Maureen E., Diaz, Lucia M., Wilson, Kurt M., Rivera Infante, Arturo F. & Langlie, BriaAnna S. (2023). Diasporic foodways and the transformation of Andean agropastoralism in the wake of Tiwanaku collapse (11th-12th century CE) at Los Batanes, Sama Valley. Foodways of the ancient Andes: Transforming diet, cuisine, and society. Edited by Marta P. Alfonso-Durruty and Deborah E. Blom. University of Arizona Press. Published, 02/01/2023.
  • McCool, Weston C., Wilson, Kurt M. & Vernon, Kenneth B. (2022). Ecological constraints on violence avoidance tactics: An explanation for high rates of lethal and sublethal violence in the Prehispanic Andean Highlands. Environmental Archaeology. Published, 11/01/2022.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2022.2137652
  • Codding, Brian F., Cole, Kasey E. & Wilson, Kurt M. (2022). Socioecological factors influence hunter-gatherer group size, lifetime interactions, and emergent properties of culture. In Scale Matters: The Quality of Quantity in Research on Social Relations edited by Thomas Widlok, Dores Cruz, and Souhayb Zaryah. Published, 07/27/2022.
    https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839460993
  • McCool, Weston C., Codding, Brian F., Vernon, Kenneth B., Wilson, Kurt M., Yaworsky, Peter M., Marwan, Norbert & Kennett, Douglas J. (2022). Climate change induced population pressure drives high rates of lethal violence in the Prehispanic central Andes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 119. Published, 04/18/2022.
    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117556119
  • Wilson, Kurt M. & McCool, Weston C., Brewer, Simon C., Zamora-Wilson, Nicole, Schryver, Percy J., Lamson, Roxanne Lois F., Huggard, Ashlyn M., Brenner Coltrain, Joan, Contreras, Daniel A., Codding, Brian F. (2022). Climate and demography drive 7,000 years of dietary change in the Central Andes. Scientific Reports. Published, 02/07/2022.
    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05774-y
  • Wilson, Kurt M. & Codding, Brian F. (2020). The Marginal Utility of Inequality: A Global Examination across Ethnographic Societies. Human Nature. Vol. 31, 361-386. Published, 12/31/2020.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-020-09383-4
  • Wilson, Kurt M. & Hill, Matthew G. (2020). Synthesis and assessment of the flat-headed peccary record in North America. Quaternary Science Reviews. Vol. 248. Published, 10/01/2020.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106601

Research Keywords

  • Quantitative Analysis
  • North American Prehistory
  • Computational Analysis
  • Inequality
  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Agent-Based Modeling
  • Andean Prehistory
  • Stable Isotopes

Presentations

  • Wilson, Kurt M., **Cole, Kasey E., and Codding, Brian F. “Modeling key socioecological factors influencing the expression of egalitarianism and inequality among foragers” Podium Presentation: Society of American Anthropology Annual Meeting 88, Portland, OR – organized session Behavioral Ecology and Archaeology. Conference Paper, Presented, 03/31/2023.
  • Wilson, Kurt M. “Socioecological Dynamics of Climate Change, Subsistence Change, and Inequality” Invited Talk: GROW Presentation, Department of Geography, Salt Lake City, UT. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 01/27/2023.
  • Wilson, Kurt M., McCool, Weston C., Brewer, Simon C., Zamora-Wilson Nicole, Schryver, Percy J., Lamson, Roxanne Lois F., Huggard, Ashlyn M., Brenner Coltrain, Joan, Contreras, Daniel A., and Codding, Brian F. “Climate Change Drives 7,000 Years of Dietary Variation in the Central Andes” Podium Presentation: Society of American Anthropology Annual Meeting 87, Chicago, IL – organized session Climatic Influences on Diet, Demography, and Conflict. Conference Paper, Presented, 03/31/2022.
  • Codding, Brian F., Magargal, Kate E., Wilson, Kurt M., Cole, Kasey E., Parker, Ashley K., Smith, Erik A. “Ecological and economic factors scale cooperative group size across foraging activities in western North America” Podium Presentation: Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies (CHAGS) XIII, Dublin, Ireland – organized session. Conference Paper, Presented, 06/28/2022.
  • McCool, Weston C., Codding, Brian F., Vernon, Kenneth B., Wilson, Kurt M., Yaworsky, Peter M., Marwan, Norbert, Kennett, Douglas J. “Divergent Climactic and Demographic Stressors Predict High Rates of Morbidity in the Prehispanic Central Andes” Podium Presentation: Society of American Anthropology Annual Meeting 87, Chicago, IL – organized session Climatic Influences on Diet, Demography, and Conflict . Conference Paper, Presented, 03/31/2022.
  • Kievman, Hayley T., Wilson, Kurt M., Lamson, Roxanne Lois F., Codding, Brian F., Greenwald, Alexandra M. “Exploring Links between Late Holocene Environmental Change and Indigenous Mussel Harvesting Strategies on the Northwest Coast of California” Podium Presentation: Society for California Archaeology Annual Meeting, Visalia, CA . Conference Paper, Presented, 03/04/2022.
  • Wilson, Kurt M., Contreras Daniel A., Brenner Coltrain, Joan, Yaworsky, Peter M., Vernon Kenneth Blake, Allgaier, Paul E., Lamson, Roxanne Lois F., Young, D. Craig, Louderback, Lisbeth, Brewer, Simon C., Spangler, Jerry D., Codding, Brian F. Society of American Anthropology Annual Meeting (2021 virtual) – invited session Poster Presentation: “Evaluating the Impacts of Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Past Climate Change on Demographic and Subsistence Patterns in the Bonneville Basin of Western North America”. Poster, Accepted, 04/14/2021.
  • Codding, Brian F., Contreras Daniel A., Wilson, Kurt M., Brenner Coltrain, Joan, Yaworsky, Peter M., Vernon, Kenneth Blake, Allgaier, Paul E., Lamson, Roxanne Lois F., Young, D. Craig, Louderback, Lisbeth, Brewer, Simon C., Spangler, Jerry D. American Geophysical Union (virtual). Poster Presentation: “Evaluating the Impacts of Past Climate Change on Demographic and Subsistence Patterns in the Basin-Plateau Region of Western North America”. Poster, Presented, 12/07/2020.
  • Wilson, Kurt M., Codding, Brian F., & Coltrain, Joan. Exploring the Intersection of Climate, Society, and Diet in the Prehistoric Andes. Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting, Austin, TX. Conference Paper, Submitted, 04/24/2020.
  • Wilson, Kurt M. & Codding, Brian F. The Marginal Utility of Inequality. Society of American Archaeology Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM. Conference Paper, Presented, 04/11/2019.
  • Wilson, Kurt M. & Codding, Brian F. Testing the Marginal Utility of Inequality Model Ethnographically. University of Utah Environment and Sustainability Research Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT. Poster, Presented, 02/28/2019.
  • Wilson, Kurt M. & Codding, Brian F. The Marginal Utility of Inequality: A BE Informed Approach to the Emergence of Social Inequality. Northwest Evolution, Ecology, and Human Behavior Symposium, Boise, ID. Conference Paper, Presented, 10/21/2018.
  • Wilson, Kurt M. (2018). An Ethnographic Test of the Marginal Value of Inequality. Poster at the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Day, Salt Lake City, UT. Poster, Presented, 04/18/2018.
  • Wilson, Kurt M. (2018). The Marginal Value of Inequality. Poster at the Global Change and Sustainability Center Environment & Sustainability Research Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT. Poster, Presented, 02/2018.
  • Wilson, Kurt M. (2017). Late Pleistocene Extinction of the Flat-Headed Peccary on the Ozark Plateau: Paleozoological Insights from Peccary Cave, Arkansas. Presentation at the Iowa State University Anthropology Symposium, Ames, IA. Presentation, Presented, 05/2017.
  • Wilson, Kurt M., Matthew G. Hill, & Chris Widga. (2016). Taphonomy and Paleozoology of the Flat-Headed Peccary and Dire Wolf Assemblage from Peccary Cave, Arkansas. Presentation at The Plains Anthropological Conference, Lincoln, NE. Conference Paper, Presented, 10/2016.
  • Wilson, Kurt M. (2015). Exploitation of Bighorn Sheep at a Late Prehistoric Site in Northwestern Wyoming. Poster at the Plains Anthropological Conference, Iowa City, IA. Poster, Presented, 10/2015.

Grants, Contracts & Research Gifts

  • Socioecological System Dynamics and the Emergence of Inequality: Evaluating the Impacts of Climate Change, Demography, and Privatization - NSF SPRF #2203767. PI: Kurt Wilson. Co-PI(s): Simon Brewer. National Science Foundation, 09/01/2022 - 08/31/2024. Total project budget to date: $138,000.00
  • Ideal Despotism: An Agent-Based Modeling Analysis of Emergence of, and Interventions to Lessen, Despotic Behavior. PI: Kurt M. Wilson. Marriner S. Eccles Endowment, 08/17/2020 - 04/30/2021. Total project budget to date: $18,900.00
  • Archaeological Survey of Cottonwood Wash, San Rafael Desert, Emory County, Utah. PI: Brian F. Codding. Co-PI(s): Jerry Spangler. Bureau of Land Management Award L20AC00267, 08/01/2020 - 11/30/2021. Total project budget to date: $18,698.00
  • Hidden Research Skills: Developing a Capstone Course to Address Research and Resiliency. PI: Wilson, Kurt M. University of Utah Graduate College, 08/12/2019 - 05/01/2020. Total project budget to date: $18,000.00
  • Climatic and Dietary Drivers of Land Cover Change in the Peruvian Andes. PI: Codding, Brian F. Co-PI(s): Wilson, Kurt M.. Global Change and Sustainability Center, the Society, Water and Climate Research Group, and Nexus: Interdisciplinary Exchange for Utah Science, University of Utah, 05/01/2019 - 03/02/2020. Total project budget to date: $10,000.00
  • Origins of Social Inequality: Developing and Testing a Novel Ecological Model in Prehistoric Peru. PI: Codding, Brian F. Co-PI(s): Wilson, Kurt M.. University of Utah Research Foundation, Vice President for Research, 08/13/2018 - 03/31/2020. Total project budget to date: $34,946.00
  • The Marginal Value of Inequality: Pre-Dissertation Field-Work. PI: Wilson, Kurt M. Center for Latin American Studies, University of Utah, 06/01/2018 - 08/13/2018. Total project budget to date: $1,900.00