Dr. Melissa Goodman Elgar
Ph.D., University of Cambridge
Assistant Professor
Archaeology
Interests
Andean archaeology, human impact on landscapes, geoarchaeology, archaeological theory, agriculture.
Courses
Anth 101 General Anthropology, Anth 309 Cultural Ecology; Anth 570 Geoarchaeology, Anth 549 Settlement and Food Production.
How do people shape the land where they live?
Dr. Goodman Elgar's research addresses processes that transform natural land into anthropogenic landscapes. This work takes her to Peru and Bolivia as well as closer to home in Montana and New Mexico. Geoarchaeology is her primary specialism and she also focuses on theoretical aspects of settlement and landscape change.
Representative Publications and Reports
Forthcoming Construction and decomposition: Geoarchaeological investigations of the 2003 excavations. In C. Hastorf and M. Bandy (eds), Taraco Archaeological Project Report on 2003 Excavations at Kala Uyuni. Berkeley, CA: Archaeological Research Facility Monographs.
Forthcoming Places to partake: Chicha in the Andean landscape. In J. Jennings and B. Bowser (eds), Drink, Power, and Society in the Andes. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
2004 Seeking fire and human impact in the Rocky Mountains: Prospecting in Montana and New Mexico. Report submitted to the USDA Forest Service.
1999 (with Brück, J., eds). Making places in the prehistoric world: themes in settlement archaeology. London: UCL Press (Routledge).
Current Research
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Dr. Goodman Elgar’s research concentrates on Geoarchaeological applications to both settlement and landscape studies. Her primary technique is soil micromorphology or thin section analysis, which allows for the assessment of microstratigraphy of intact soils and sediments under the microscope. The photo below is a thin section of deposits from a Formative dwelling in Bolivia and helped reveal the history of use and abandonment of her structure. Dr. Goodman Elgar’s collection of thin sections include reference slides of archaeological projects from around the world including sites in Britain, Spain, India, Bolivia and Peru.
Since 1996, Dr. Goodman Elgar has worked on the shores of Lake Titicaca with the Taraco Archaeological Project. This project is supported by NSF (Prof. C. Hastorf, PI) and our research addresses the advent of complex social and religious communities on the Taraco Peninsula, Bolivia using a multidisciplinary excavation and analysis methodology to address Formative life in the region. Dr. Goodman Elgar uses soil micromorphology to study ancient occupation surfaces and conducts enthoarchaeological studies in abandoned modern houses.
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Arroyo wall Rio Puerco (near Cuba), NM |
WSU New Faculty Seed grant allowed her to start a new project in the Cajamarca region of Peru. This research will test models of culture development along the spine of the Andes with particular emphasis on the development of agriculture and state level society. Preliminary reconnaissance was conducted in 2005 and several potential study areas were located for continued research.
In the US, she works on fire and palaeoclimate change in the Rocky Mountain region with a project initiated by the USDA Forest Service. The focus of this research is on arroyo deposits in the Cuba, Socorro and Magdalena areas of New Mexico and bogs in northwest Montana. Preliminary results indicate that fire records are well preserved in both contexts. Preliminary evidence from New Mexico has revealed periodic large and very hot fires, which may indicate that the periodicity of very large is largely governed by climate and vegetation rather than people.
Heading using the h3tag
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