Archaeology

Upcoming Events

Native sustenance is about reading the land and the resources it provides. It is about sensing how the plants and animals are reacting to the year as it develops. It is about seeing and knowing and respecting the wisdom of your ancestors.

Join us as we explore this topic with Cynthia Wilson, Traditional Foods Program Expert from Utah Diné Bikéyah, Orlando White, Poet and Professor at Diné College, and Lisbeth Louderback, NHMU's Curator of Archaeology on Thursday, April 18 at the Marmalade Library. In addition to a poetry reading, participants will learn about the unique work of each presenter.

The Department Of Anthropology Is Pleased to Announce our 2019 Field Schools:

Range Creek Archaeological Field School

This eight-week field course is designed to teach basic archaeological field methods. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in a variety of experimental projects using traditional methods to farm small plots and/or collect wild resources. No previous experience is necessary.

Mirador Basin Mayan Archaeology FIeld School

The University of Utah Guatemala Archaeological and Ecological Research Program is located in the remote Mirador Basin in the northern department of Peten. The research encompasses one of the most exciting research projects on the ancient Maya, and is focusing on the origins, incipient dynamics, and collapse of the pre-classic Maya civilization.

Eagle Lake Zooarchaeology Field School

This novel, hands-on, laboratory- and field-based course is designed not only to train students in the identification and analysis of fragmentary vertebrate remains but to provide them with a rich background in the natural history of vertebrate animals that is essential to conducting zooarchaeological research.

Congratulations Undergraduate Journey Bly!

Congratulations to Journey Bly (Anthropology) for being selected for the 2019 Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award in the College of Social and Behavioral Science. Journey, along with her faculty mentor and nominator Leslie Knapp, will be honored at the Undergraduate Research Awards Luncheon on April 8, 2019. Journey’s name will also be engraved on the plaque listing the previous CSBS Undergraduate Researcher Awardees housed in the dean’s office.

What is Anthropology?

Anthropology is the comparative, evolutionary and historical study of humankind. Our department takes a theoretically driven, empirically-informed approach to this study, and has special expertise in archaeology, genetics, behavioral ecology, demography, hunter-gatherers, and evolutionary approaches to human and nonhuman primate behavior. Our regional expertise is strongest in Africa, Australia, New Guinea, Latin America and western North America. We have a small but influential faculty, three of whom (Hawkes, O'Connell, Wiessner) are members of the National Academy of Sciences. Many faculty members do research that crosses disciplinary and sub-disciplinary lines, and we encourage students to do the same.

Anthropology News

Scientists at NHMU complete harvest of Solanum jamesii (Four Corners Potato)

Four Corners Potato

Researchers Bruce Pavlic and Lisbeth Louderback shared their modern harvest of an ancient food source utilized by ancient Utah populations as far back as 11,000 years ago. See the full news story here.

Anthropology Faculty Dr. Tyler Faith Was Recently Published in Science
Anthropology Faculty Member Dr. Tyler Faith Published new findings in Science. These findings potentially exonerate early humans as the driving force behind the mass extinction of ancient African megafauna.
Anthropology Collections
Exciting news from the Natural History Museum: thanks to the very hard work of our Collections & Research staff, our Anthropology collections are now searchable through their website!
DiPaolo Receives Bar Award
Congratulations to Marianna DiPaolo, Associate Professor of Anthropology who will be receiving a Utah Bar Association Award on November 10th for her work on the Committee on Model Jury Instructions-Civil. She has been an active member of the Committee since it began 14 years ago.

Job Opportunities

Post Doctoral Fellow
Department of Anthropology,
University of Utah

This NSF-funded postdoctoral position focuses on fertility and economic decision-making and is part of the Risk-Sensitive Decision Making among Maya Farmers: Subsistence Diversification in Response to Novel Environments project. This project builds on longitudinal life history research in a small-scale society.

This job posting can be found Here

Anthropology Events

CSBS Events

Alumni, Emeriti and Friends

Congratulations Jim O'Connell, receiver the the Great Basin Anthropological Association's Lifetime Achievement Award!

Spotlight: Parry Mead Murray

Parry is a third-generation grape grower in Napa Valley, Calif. The family property, known as "Mead Ranch," is 1300 acres – 590 acres are in grapes, 30 acres for home sites and roads and the rest under a conservation easement with the Napa County Land Trust.
Read more...

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