Alastair Key

1.7k total citations
69 papers, 1.4k citations indexed

About

Alastair Key is a scholar working on Anthropology, Paleontology and Social Psychology. According to data from OpenAlex, Alastair Key has authored 69 papers receiving a total of 1.4k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 57 papers in Anthropology, 35 papers in Paleontology and 24 papers in Social Psychology. Recurrent topics in Alastair Key's work include Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (57 papers), Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (25 papers) and Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (22 papers). Alastair Key is often cited by papers focused on Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (57 papers), Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (25 papers) and Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (22 papers). Alastair Key collaborates with scholars based in United Kingdom, United States and Spain. Alastair Key's co-authors include Stephen J. Lycett, Christopher J. Dunmore, Tomos Proffitt, Metin I. Eren, Tracy L. Kivell, W. James Stemp, Ignacio de la Torre, David L. Roberts, Ivan Jarić and Michael R. Fisch and has published in prestigious journals such as SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología, PLoS ONE and Scientific Reports.

In The Last Decade

Alastair Key

63 papers receiving 1.3k citations

Peers

Alastair Key
Justin Pargeter United States
Sam Lin Australia
Željko Režek Germany
Metin I. Eren United States
Veerle Rots Belgium
Marie Soressi Germany
Benjamin J. Schoville South Africa
William Archer Germany
Tomos Proffitt United Kingdom
Bruce Hardy United States
Justin Pargeter United States
Alastair Key
Citations per year, relative to Alastair Key Alastair Key (= 1×) peers Justin Pargeter

Countries citing papers authored by Alastair Key

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Alastair Key's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Alastair Key with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Alastair Key more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Alastair Key

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Alastair Key. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Alastair Key. The network helps show where Alastair Key may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Alastair Key

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Alastair Key. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Alastair Key based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Alastair Key. Alastair Key is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Key, Alastair, Stephen J. Lycett, & J. A. J. Gowlett. (2025). What is a ‘Giant’ Handaxe? Ergonomic Thresholds, Functional Impacts and Acheulean Social Signalling Potential. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 35(4). 690–705. 1 indexed citations
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Buchanan, Briggs, et al.. (2023). Clovis bone versus stone weapon tip penetration: Thinking about relative costs and benefits, experimental assumptions, and archaeological unknowns at Sheriden Cave, Ohio, U.S.A. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports. 52. 104295–104295. 7 indexed citations
4.
Roberts, David L., et al.. (2023). Homo floresiensisandHomo luzonensisare not temporally exceptional relative toHomo erectus. Journal of Quaternary Science. 38(4). 463–470. 2 indexed citations
5.
Eren, Metin I., Michelle R. Bebber, Briggs Buchanan, et al.. (2023). Antarctica as a ‘natural laboratory’ for the critical assessment of the archaeological validity of early stone tool sites. Antiquity. 97(392). 472–482. 1 indexed citations
6.
Mika, Anna, A. C. Smith, Briggs Buchanan, et al.. (2023). Hafted technologies likely reduced stone tool-related selective pressures acting on the hominin hand. Scientific Reports. 13(1). 15582–15582. 2 indexed citations
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Key, Alastair & Tomos Proffitt. (2023). Revising the oldest Oldowan: Updated optimal linear estimation models and the impact of Nyayanga (Kenya). Journal of Human Evolution. 186. 103468–103468. 4 indexed citations
9.
Key, Alastair. (2022). The Acheulean is a temporally cohesive tradition. World Archaeology. 54(3). 365–389. 8 indexed citations
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Key, Alastair, David L. Roberts, & Ivan Jarić. (2021). Statistical inference of earlier origins for the first flaked stone technologies. Journal of Human Evolution. 154. 102976–102976. 18 indexed citations
12.
Key, Alastair, Tomos Proffitt, & Ignacio de la Torre. (2020). Raw material optimization and stone tool engineering in the Early Stone Age of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). Journal of The Royal Society Interface. 17(162). 20190377–20190377. 35 indexed citations
13.
Mika, Anna, Michael C. Wilson, Alastair Key, et al.. (2020). Miniaturization optimized weapon killing power during the social stress of late pre-contact North America (AD 600-1600). PLoS ONE. 15(3). e0230348–e0230348. 35 indexed citations
14.
Key, Alastair. (2019). Handaxe shape variation in a relative context. Comptes Rendus Palevol. 18(5). 555–567. 31 indexed citations
15.
Key, Alastair, Stephen R. Merritt, & Tracy L. Kivell. (2018). Hand grip diversity and frequency during the use of Lower Palaeolithic stone cutting-tools. Journal of Human Evolution. 125. 137–158. 41 indexed citations
16.
Key, Alastair, et al.. (2017). Form and function in the Lower Palaeolithic: history, progress, and continued relevance.. PubMed. 95. 67–108. 45 indexed citations
17.
Key, Alastair, et al.. (2016). Predictions for an osteological signature of stone tool behaviors in hard tissue anatomy. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 335–335. 1 indexed citations
18.
Key, Alastair. (2016). Manual Loading Distribution During Carrying Behaviors: Implications for the Evolution of the Hominin Hand. PLoS ONE. 11(10). e0163801–e0163801. 14 indexed citations
19.
Key, Alastair & Stephen J. Lycett. (2015). Reassessing the Oldowan-Acheulean transition from a functional perspective. 1 indexed citations
20.
Keane, F. B. V., et al.. (1979). General discussion to papers of F. X. Keane, J. C. Chawla et al., A. G. Key et al., H. W. F. Jones and A. Evans. Spinal Cord. 16(4). 423–427. 1 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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