Department of Anthropology

  • 3rd Annual Endowed Alumni & Friends of Archaeology Lecture

    Greg Hare in the Yukon
    Dr. Greg Hare

    Greg Hare, the former Yukon Archaeologist and Senior Projects Archaeologist with the Government of Yukon, Canada, recently retired after 30 years of service, visited MSU from March 11-15th, 2019 as the 3rd Annual Alumni and Friends of Archaeology Endowed Lecture Series. While here, Dr. Hare gave a department talk entitled, “Global Warming and Melting Ice Looking into the Past – Preparing for the Future” where he discussed how increasing global temperatures have created both serious challenges and unique opportunities for archaeology in the circumpolar north. He also gave a public talk entitled, “The Yukon Ice Patch Project Ancient Artifacts Melting from Alpine Ice.” This talk provided an overview of the Yukon Ice Patch Project and explored the collaborative working relationship with indigenous communities and implications for heritage management. His talk reviewed the challenges posed by environmental change, the newly developing field of glacial archaeology and possible implications for international research agendas.

    Dr. Hare is an editor of the Journal of Glacial Archaeology, Sheffield, U.K. and in 2012 he was program chair for Frozen Pasts – the 3rd International Glacial Archaeology Conference, in Whitehorse Yukon. He studied anthropology and archaeology at the University of Victoria and University of Alberta, Canada and lives in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.

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  • Alumni & Friends of Archaeology Research Award

    Jeff Painter in an archaeology lab studying ancient pottery
    Jeff Painter collecting pottery metrics in the MSU archaeology lab

    The Alumni and Friends of Archaeology Expendable Fund, established to enhance research and learning of undergraduate and graduate students in the archaeology program through the MSU Department of Anthropology, awarded Jeff Painter funds for his dissertation research during the Summer of 2018. This was the second year for the Alumni and Friends of Archaeology Research Enhancement Award and Jeff was able to complete two trips to the Dickson Mounds Museum in west-central Illinois in order to gather data for his dissertation.

    Mr. Painter’s proposed dissertation seeks to better understand the role of cooking and foodways within social interaction by examining vessel use-wear and the distribution of vessels, cooking techniques, and cooking-related features across the site of Morton Village in central Illinois, a site of known prehistoric interaction between different cultural groups, the Larson site in central Illinois and the Tremaine Complex in western Wisconsin. By using the comparative sites, he hopes to document the traditions of cooking and foodways a local Mississippian group and an Oneota group outside the area of interaction.

    The allocated funds helped Jeff to defray the cost of gas, food, and necessary supplies to travel to The Dickson Mounds Museum (DMM), which houses the Larson site materials. On Mr. Painter’s first trip to the museum, he examined ceramics for use-wear and also collected morphological measurements. On the subsequent trip, he collaborated with Alan Harn, the site director of the 1970 Larson excavations, and obtained digital copies of excavation maps from the 1966 and 1970 excavations.

    Jeff is still in the process of data collection and has yet to start analyzing this data. Mr. Painter wanted to stress that the support provided by the Alumni and Friends of Archaeology Research Enhancement Award has been essential in continuing work on his proposed dissertation research.

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  • Alumni & Friends of Archaeology Fund Update

    Kate Frederick excavating
    Kate Frederick excavating at the UMBS

    The Alumni and Friends of Archaeology Expendable Fund, established to enhance research and learning of undergraduate and graduate students in the archaeology program through the MSU Department of Anthropology, provided two student awards Spring 2017. This was the inaugural year for the Alumni and Friends of Archaeology Research Enhancement Award. The Enhancement Award was granted to two doctoral students, Kate Frederick and Susan Kooiman. Dr. Bill Lovis serves as the doctoral advisor for both students.

    Ms. Frederick was able to complete the fieldwork/data collection portion of her dissertation using these funds, which allowed her to spend two weeks in the field. She is now completing her data analysis. Kate’s research examines prehistoric food storage as a risk management strategy and the landscapes suitable for caching along inland waterways in Northern Michigan.

    Kate’s interdisciplinary field research, carried out at the University of Michigan’s Biological Research Station, was completed with the assistance of graduate and undergraduate students from the Department of Anthropology, and Dr. Randy Schaetzl from the Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences.

    Becca Alberts performing macrobotanical analysis
    Undergraduate Becca Alberts analyzing macrobotanicals for Susan Kooiman

    Ms. Kooiman was able to fund the processing of additional laboratory samples for her dissertation. She sent out samples for laboratory analysis of Carbon to Nitrogen stable isotope ratios and lipid residue analysis. Some of these results allowed her to confidently say that predatory fish were consistently cooked in the ceramic vessels she is using. Her dissertation research examines dietary and technological change through time (200 BC – AD 1700) for precontract Native Americans. Her research takes place in Northern Michigan waterways, along Lake Huron.

    Susan’s interdisciplinary work involved Department of Anthropology undergraduate student Becca Alberts, Dr. Frank Telewski from the Department of Plant Biology, Dr. Catherine Yansa from the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences and Dr. Ryan Tubbs from the Department of Radiology, Division of Human Anatomy here at MSU.

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