He specialises in the Palaeolithic era, with particular focus on claims of art and burial practices of the Neanderthals and Pleistocene Homo sapiens, and methods of determining the age of artefacts from this time.
Pettitt studied ancient history and archaeology at the University of Birmingham and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1991.
[1] He undertook postgraduate research at the University of Cambridge and graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1999.
His doctoral thesis was titled "Tool reduction models, primary flaking, and lithic assemblage variability in the Middle Palaeolithic of southwest France".
From 1997, he was additionally a research fellow and tutor in Archaeology and Anthropology at Keble College, Oxford.