College of Liberal Arts

Department of Anthropology

Geoarchaeology Laboratory

ANTH 570 Geoarchaeology students processing samples.
Geoarchaeology students working in the lab

 

The Department of Anthropology provides a large suite of labs for earth science research.  The Dry Lab has facilities for sample sorting and particle size analysis as well as a reference collection of rocks and minerals.  The Wet Lab is for chemical analyses such as organic matter, carbonate and phosphorus determination.

The Microscope Room has a new Leica DMDP polarizing (mineralogy) microscope linked by digital camera to a computer for analysis and photomicrography.  This microscope is used for thin section analysis of soils, sediments, minerals and ceramics.  We house a large reference collection of soil thin sections from archaeological sites around the world.  There are three other microscopes available in the lab.

Geoarchaeological research is introduced in Anth 570 through seminars and lab practice. All facilities are available to Anthropology graduates students for research.  We also have a storeroom for soil and sediment samples.

Current Research in The Geoarchaeology Lab

 

Dr. Melissa Goodman Elgar (Lab Director)Climate and fire patterns, Sevilleta National Wildlife Reserve and Cibola National Forest – Magdalena District, New Mexico; Paleoclimate reconstruction at Cox Ranch (see Dr. Duff’s webpage); Formative occupation surfaces, Taraco Archaeological Project, Bolivia;soil micromorphology (thin sections) and sediment analyses.

Laboratories in College Hall

Research Projects:

Department Publications

Archaeology site records and department reports are available in the Northwest Reading Room.

Theses & Dissertations

Browse through the title listing of our theses and dissertations.

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Department of Anthropology, PO Box 644910, Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-4910, 509-335-3441, Contact Us