Geoarchaeology Laboratory
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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 Geoarch Lab
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Ian Buvit Doctoral candidate. Dissertation: Culture Change and Late Pleistocene
Environmental Evolution in Southwestern Transbaikal, Russia.Analyses of sediments from Paleolithic sites in Siberia.
Diane Curewitz Doctoral candidate. Dissertation: Exchange and Social Complexity in the Northern Rio Grande: Changes in Culinary Ware Production between the Coalition (A.D. 1150-1325) and Classic Periods (A.D. 1325-1600). Thin section analysis of ceramics.
Judson Finley Doctoral candidate. Dissertation: Rockshelter Stratigraphy, Environmental Change, and Prehistoric Foraging in the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming; Geoarchaeology of Pliestocene-Holocene sediments.
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.
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Marcia Peterson Master’s candidate. Thesis: tba. Sediment analysis from lakeside sites with the Taraco Archaeological Project, Bolivia.
Laboratories in College Hall
- Geoarchaeology Lab
- Lithics Lab
- Pollen and Paleoethno-botany Lab
- Physical Anthropology Lab
- Zooarchaeology Lab
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.
Heading using the h3tag
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