World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Social Sciences and Humanities

D-Index
57
Citations
10944
World Ranking
1809
National Ranking
860

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2013 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2009 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 1998 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Overview

David J. Meltzer is affiliated with Southern Methodist University in the United States. Their research spans multiple fields, primarily focusing on Earth and Planetary Sciences, Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities.

The scientist's work encompasses several subfields including Paleontology, Anthropology, Archeology, Genetics, and Atmospheric Science. Key topics addressed in their research include Archaeology and ancient environmental studies, Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology, Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology studies, Geology and Paleoclimatology research, Indigenous Studies and Ecology, Yersinia bacterium and related research on plague and ectoparasites, as well as broader Evolution and Paleontology studies.

David J. Meltzer has published extensively, with frequent appearances in notable venues such as Nature, the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PaleoAmerica, and the Journal of Field Archaeology.

  • Nature (6 publications)
  • Journal of Archaeological Science Reports (6 publications)
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2 publications)
  • PaleoAmerica (2 publications)
  • Journal of Field Archaeology (2 publications)

Collaborations with other researchers feature prominently in their work. Frequent coauthors include Metin I. Eren, Brian N. Andrews, Briggs Buchanan, Michelle R. Bebber, and Lasse Vinner.

  • Metin I. Eren (13 coauthored papers)
  • Brian N. Andrews (13 coauthored papers)
  • Briggs Buchanan (8 coauthored papers)
  • Michelle R. Bebber (7 coauthored papers)
  • Lasse Vinner (6 coauthored papers)

Among recent publications are:

  • "Dog domestication and the dual dispersal of people and dogs into the Americas" (2021), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • "Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics" (2021), Nature
  • "Peopling of the Americas as inferred from ancient genomics" (2021), Nature
  • "Overkill, glacial history, and the extinction of North America's Ice Age megafauna" (2020), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • "On the efficacy of Clovis fluted points for hunting proboscideans" (2021), Journal of Archaeological Science Reports

David J. Meltzer has contributed to academic monographs published by Cambridge University Press and the University Press of Colorado eBooks. Titles include "First Peoples in a New World" (2021) and "The Mountaineer Site: A Folsom Winter Camp in the Rockies" (2021).

  • First Peoples in a New World, Cambridge University Press, 2021
  • The Mountaineer Site: A Folsom Winter Camp in the Rockies, University Press of Colorado eBooks, 2021

The scientist's recognitions include election as a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2009, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2013, and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1998.

Best Publications

  • The genome of a Late Pleistocene human from a Clovis burial site in western Montana

    Morten Arendt Rendt Rasmussen;Sarah L. Anzick;Michael R. Waters;Pontus Skoglund

  • Genomic evidence for the Pleistocene and recent population history of Native Americans

    Maanasa Raghavan;Matthias Steinrücken;Matthias Steinrücken;Kelley Harris;Stephan Schiffels

  • First Peoples in a New World: Colonizing Ice Age America

    David J. Meltzer

  • The population history of northeastern Siberia since the Pleistocene

    Martin Sikora;Vladimir V. Pitulko;Vitor C. Sousa;Vitor C. Sousa;Vitor C. Sousa;Morten E. Allentoft

  • A requiem for North American overkill

    Donald K. Grayson;David J. Meltzer

  • Terminal Pleistocene Alaskan genome reveals first founding population of Native Americans

    J. Víctor Moreno-Mayar;Ben A. Potter;Lasse Vinner;Matthias Steinrücken

  • Early human dispersals within the Americas.

    J. Víctor Moreno-Mayar;Lasse Vinner;Peter De Barros Damgaard;Constanza De La Fuente

  • Ancient genomes show social and reproductive behavior of early Upper Paleolithic foragers

    Martin Sikora;Andaine Seguin-Orlando;Vitor Martins Conde e Sousa;Vitor Martins Conde e Sousa;Vitor Martins Conde e Sousa;Anders Albrechtsen

  • Clovis hunting and large mammal extinction: A critical review of the evidence

    Donald K. Grayson;David J. Meltzer

  • The ancestry and affiliations of Kennewick Man

    Morten Rasmussen;Morten Rasmussen;Martin Sikora;Anders Albrechtsen;Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen

  • Climate Change and the Integrity of Science

    Jennifer Sills;P. H. Gleick;R. M. Adams;R. M. Amasino

  • On the Pleistocene Antiquity of Monte Verde, Southern Chile

    David J. Meltzer;Donald K. Grayson;Gerardo Ardila;Alex W. Barker

  • Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics

    Yucheng Wang;Yucheng Wang;Mikkel Winther Pedersen;Inger Greve Alsos;Bianca De Sanctis

  • Dog domestication and the dual dispersal of people and dogs into the Americas.

    Angela R. Perri;Tatiana R. Feuerborn;Laurent A. F. Frantz;Laurent A. F. Frantz;Greger Larson

  • Late pleistocene human adaptations in eastern North America

    David Jeffrey Meltzer

  • Early Paleoindian foraging: examining the faunal evidence for large mammal specialization and regional variability in prey choice

    Michael D. Cannon;David J. Meltzer

  • Peopling of the Americas as inferred from ancient genomics.

    Eske Willerslev;David J. Meltzer

  • On a Pleistocene human occupation at Pedra Furada, Brazil

    David J. Meltzer;James M. Adovasio;Tom D. Dillehay

  • Human Responses to Middle Holocene (Altithermal) Climates on the North American Great Plains

    David J. Meltzer

  • Folsom: New Archaeological Investigations of a Classic Paleoindian Bison Kill

    David J. Meltzer

  • Would North American Paleoindians have Noticed Younger Dryas Age Climate Changes

    David J. Meltzer;Vance T. Holliday

  • The First Americans: Search and Research

    Tom D. Dillehay;David J. Meltzer

  • Paleoamerican Origins: Beyond Clovis

    Robson Bonnichsen;Bradley T. Lepper;David J. Meltzer

Frequent Co-Authors

Rasmus Nielsen
Rasmus Nielsen University of California, Berkeley
Vance T. Holliday
Vance T. Holliday University of Arizona
Donald K. Grayson
Donald K. Grayson University of Washington
Simon Rasmussen
Simon Rasmussen University of Copenhagen
Richard Durbin
Richard Durbin University of Cambridge
Laurent Excoffier
Laurent Excoffier University of Bern
Thomas W. Stafford
Thomas W. Stafford Aarhus University
Anders Albrechtsen
Anders Albrechtsen University of Copenhagen
Cathy Whitlock
Cathy Whitlock Montana State University
Carlos Bustamante
Carlos Bustamante Stanford University

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