Michigan State University’s department of anthropology was very well represented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The meeting was held April 18-22, 2012, in Memphis, TN.
Jennifer Bengtson presented a paper co-authored by Dr. Jodie O’Gorman and Ryan M. Tubbs entitled: “Impacts of Social Interaction among Women in the Past: A Central Illinois River Valley Case Study.”
Charlotte Cable presented a poster entitled: “A Multitude of Monuments: Characterizing and Interpreting the Distribution of 3rd Millennium BC Monuments in North – Central Oman.”
Adrianne Daggett presented a poster entitled: “Preliminary Spatial Analysis of Early Agricultural Settlements at Sowa Pan, Botswana.”
Sylvia Deskaj organized and chaired a symposium entitled: “Recent Trends in Albanian Archaeology: A Decade in Review.” Sylvia also presented a co-authored paper in this symposium entitled: “The 2011 Field Season of the Projekti Arkeologjikë Shkodrës.” A total of nine scholars from both American and European universities participated.
Sean Dunham presented his award-winning paper entitled: “Late Woodland Landscapes in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan.”
Sarah Surface – Evans, an MSU alum, co-organized and co-chaired a symposium entitled: “Resources, Networks, Landscapes, and Family: Recent Directions in Hunter-Gatherer Research.” In this symposium, Marieka Brouwer presented a paper entitled: “Dynamic Landscapes, Dynamic Decision-Making: Hunter-Gatherer Land Use Strategies in the Central River Valley of the Netherlands.” Also in this symposium, Dr. William A. Lovis presented a paper entitled: “Network Maintenance in Big Rough Spaces with Few People: The Labrador Naskapi or Inuu.”
Kate Frederick presented a co-authored poster entitled: “When the Wild Strawberries are in Bloom: Pre – Contact Food Caching in Northern Michigan.”
Katy Meyers presented a paper entitled: “Co-Occurrence of Cremation and Inhumation in Cemeteries: A Case Study at Isola Sacra, Italy.”
Amy Michael presented a co-authored paper entitled: “Mortuary Patterns and Use of Space at the Sapodilla Rockshelter, Belize.” This paper was co-authored with Dr. Gabe Wrobel et al.
Dr. Helen Pollard presented a paper entitled: “Ruling ‘Purépecha Chichimeca’ in a Tarascan World.”
Duane Quates presented a co-authored paper entitled: “The Magic Box and the Gravestones of the Displaced: Using Remote Sensing for the Enhancement, Inventory, and Public Investment of the Historic Fort Drum Cemeteries.”
Frank Raslich presented a paper entitled “Testing Applications of LA – ICP – MS in Lithic Analysis.”
Maria Raviele, MSU alum, co-organized a symposium entitled: “Reflecting on the Role of Women in Archaeology.” In addition, Maria presented a poster entitled “Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall?: Palynological Evidence for Seasonal Mound Construction of Angel Mound A.”
Karin Rebnegger and MSU Alum Amy Hirshman co-organized and co-chaired a symposium entitled: “Mesoamerican Tarascans, Their Forbearers and Neighbors: Essays in Honor of Helen Pollard.” Karin presented a paper in this symposium entitled: “Obsidian Sources used by the Tarascan Empire Elites and Commoners in the Pátzcuaro Basin, Michoacán, Mexico.” Christopher Stawski authored a paper entitled: “Modeling Settlement in the Prehispanic Lake Pátzcuaro Basin, Michoacán, Mexico.”
Beverley Smith, MSU alum, organized and chaired a symposium entitled: “Stone Street Ancestral Recovery & Reburial Project, Flint, MI.” In this symposium, Nicole Raslich presented a paper entitled: “Artifact Analysis of Stone Street Burial Ground.” Frank Raslich co-authored a paper entitled: “Mitigation through Collaboration.”
Andy Upton presented a paper co-authored by Dr. Jodie O’Gorman entitled: “A Statistical Approach to Mississippian and Oneota Ceramics at Morton Village.”
Dr. Ethan Watrall was a discussant in a forum entitled: “Capacity-Building for Archaeology in the 21st Century: How Will People Manage the Information Explosion?”