I am interested in explaining past and present variation in human behavior through the lens of behavioral ecology. My current work is focused on: (1) the spatial distribution of gender-specific foraging strategies and their material (i.e., archaeologically visible) residues; (2) the dynamics of past and present human-environment interactions; and (3) the behavioral processes associated with food acquisition, transport and deposition that lead to the creation of archaeological faunal assemblages. At this time I am involved in research projects with Terry L. Jones looking at prehistoric human ecology on California’s central coast and with Douglas W. Bird and Rebecca Bliege Bird examining contemporary subsistence and land management strategies among Martu in the Western Desert of Australia.


I received my bachelor’s degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and my master’s degree from Stanford University, where I am currently pursuing a PhD.

Research Interests:


human behavioral ecology

ethnoarchaeology

spatial analysis

zooarchaeology

stable isotope ecology

California and Western Australia

Publications


Bliege Bird, Rebecca, Brian F. Codding, and Douglas W. Bird (2009) What explains differences in men’s and women’s production? Determinants of gendered foraging inequalities among Martu. Human Nature (in press). (pdf)


Bird, Douglas W., Rebecca Bliege Bird, and Brian F. Codding (2009) In pursuit of mobile prey: Martu hunting strategies and archaeofaunal interpretation. American Antiquity 74:3-29. (pdf)


Bliege Bird, Rebecca, Douglas W. Bird, Brian F. Codding, Christopher H. Parker and James Holland Jones (2008) Anthropogenic fire mosaics, biodiversity and Australian Aboriginal foraging strategies: a test of the “Fire Stick Farming” hypothesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105(39):14796-14801. (pdf) (supporting information)


Bird, Douglas W. and Brian F. Codding (2008) Human Behavioral Ecology and the use of Ancient Landscapes. In Handbook of Landscape Archaeology, edited by Bruno David and Julian Thomas. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek. (pdf)


Jones, Terry L., Douglas J. Kennett, James A. Kennett, and Brian F. Codding (2008) Seasonal Stability in Late Holocene Shellfish Harvesting on the Central California Coast. Journal of Archaeological Science. 35:2286-2294. (pdf)


Jones, Terry L., Judith F. Porcasi, Jereme Gaeta, and Brian F. Codding (2008) The Diablo Canyon Fauna: A Coarse-grained Record of Trans-Holocene Foraging from the Central California Mainland Coast. American Antiquity 73:289-316. (pdf)


Codding, Brian F., and Terry L. Jones (2007) History and Behavioral Ecology during the Middle-Late Transition on the Central California Coast: Findings from the Coon Creek Site (CA-SLO-9), San Luis Obispo County. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 27:23-49. (pdf) (associated information)


Codding, Brian F., and Terry L. Jones (2007) Man the Showoff? Or the Ascendance of a Just-So Story: A Comment on Recent Applications of Costly Signaling in American Archaeology. American Antiquity 72:349-357. (pdf) (reply)