Devin Pettigrew, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Center for Big Bend Studies
Sul Ross State University
Ferguson Hall, Suite 114F, Box C-71
Alpine, TX 79832
Phone: 432-837-8221
Fax: (432) 837-8381
Email: devin.pettigrew@sulross.edu
Devin Pettigrew, PhD
Devin researches the tools and tactics of ancient hunting cultures worldwide. He received an M.A. at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 2015 and a Ph.D. at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2021. Devin’s primary research involves experimental replication and testing of ancient combat and hunting weapons, including the atlatl and dart, bow and arrow, and straight-flying boomerang (“rabbit stick”). These experiments inform archaeologists about the ballistic potential of ancient projectile weapons as well as the signatures they leave behind in the archaeological record. Devin’s research interests also include the ecology of ancient and contemporary hunting, the factors that lead to hunter success, and how ancient hunting practices can better inform us about conservation and wildlife management policies in the modern world. Devin has taken part in archaeological surveys and excavations of early paleo through historic period sites in Arkansas, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.
Upcoming Courses:
Spring 2024: ANTH 2311 (The Anthropology of Hunting)
Selected Publications
Pettigrew, Devin B., and William Taylor
2023 Reassessing the terminal ballistic performance of trilobate and quadrilobate arrow points on Iron Age battlefields. PLOS ONE 18(7):e0288483.
Pettigrew, Devin B., Justin Garnett, Caden Ryals-Luneberg, and Eric A. Vance
2023 Terminal Ballistics of Stone-Tipped Atlatl Darts and Arrows: Results From Exploratory Naturalistic Experiments. Open Archaeology 9(1):20220299.
Pettigrew, Devin B., and Douglas B. Bamforth
2023 On the (Non-)scalability of target media for evaluating the performance of ancient projectile weapons. Open Archaeology 9(1):20220295.
Pettigrew, Devin B.
2018 Ozark Atlatls and Darts: Old Finds and New Interpretations. Plains Anthropologist 63:245(4-25).
Whittaker, John C., Devin B. Pettigrew, and Ryan Grohsmeyer
2017 Atlatl Dart Velocity: Accurate Measurements and Implications for Paleoindian and Archaic Archaeology. PaleoAmerica 3(2):161-181.
Pettigrew, Devin B., John C. Whittaker, Justin Garnett, and Patrick Hashman
2015 How Atlatl Darts Behave: Beveled Points and the Relevance of Controlled Experiments. American Antiquity 80(3):590-601.