University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology

12/23/2020

Congratulations to UMMAA first year graduate student Kara Larson, who just had TWO articles published in Palestine Exploration Quarterly incorporating data from her work on Early Bronze Age contexts at Tell el-Hisi.

The first article explores evidence for a workshop specializing in the production of incised bone tubes at the site.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00310328.2020.1848085

The second article uses modified faunal remains and as a proxy for provisioning strategies and use of space.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00310328.2020.1855383

Way to go, Kara!

#UMMAA #UMich #Archaeology #zooarchaeology #earlybronzeage #bronzeage #bone #bones #craft #craftproduction #craftspecialization #specialization #fauna #faunal #provision #provisioning #subsistence #food #palestine #israel #article #publication

12/18/2020

Our final graduate student spotlight of the semester (and year!) is one of our second-year students, Julian Schultz.

"Hey! I’m a second year PhD student here at UMMAA and I study prehistoric Eastern Europe. Specifically, I focus in zooarchaeology (the archaeological study of animal remains) and want to examine changes in diet, animal husbandry, land management, and social organization at the end of the Neolithic/beginning of the Early Bronze Age. 

As part of the UMMAA anti-racist action plan, I am particularly devoted towards increasing minority involvement in archaeology, especially at the undergraduate level. As archaeologists are the scientists who teach us about our past, it is imperative that we have a diverse group of researchers to help give as unbiased a perspective as possible."

#archaeology #easterneurope #zooarchaeology #animals #prehistory #neolithic #bronzeage #earlybronzeage #UMMA #UMich #bone #bones #subsistence #diet #food #mobility #animalhusbandry #landmanagement #socialorganization #science #antiracism #socialjustice

12/14/2020

Continuing with our spotlight on Collections Manager Andrea Blaser, here's some thoughts on why managing our collections is such a cool job!

"All of these are some of the more fun, 'hands on' part of my job! One of the best parts of collections management is that I get to work with material from all over the world. My day might start working on a loan request from a museum in New Mexico, compiling images and records, and end climbing up ladders in our storage space to inventory material from Iran."

Photo 1: Checking catalog numbers in our museum storage center as part of our on-going space assessment.  

Photo 2: Sorting and labeling lithics and ceramic sherds from Oaxaca. While there are many ways to label an object, these are being sorted by provenience and labelled with the assigned catalog number in an archival ink.

Photo 3: Cleaning and preparing a condition report on Ghanaian brass figures going out on loan in the coming year. Objects are carefully cleaned and examined before they are loaned out to ensure their preservation and safety. 

#UMMAA #UMich #collections #manager #curation #storage #museum #museums #artifact #artifacts #education #outreach #ethnographic #archaeology #archaeological #data #archives #database #digital #records #preservation #research #cleaning #newmexico #iran #oaxaca #ghana

12/11/2020

Continuing our focus on UMMAA faculty and collections folks, we have Andrea Blaser, our newest collections manager!

"Despite working with archaeological material throughout my career, I am not an archaeologist; I am a Collections Manager! I am responsible for the care and management of the Museum’s collections, including 3 million archaeological and ethnographic objects, their associated records and data, archives, and the digital database. My work includes the physical care and preservation of materials as well as facilitating access and digital resources to students, researchers, originating communities, institutions, and other interested groups.

I am a member of the Outreach Committee and am dedicated to utilizing our Museum collections to connect a larger, more diverse group to the objects, their contexts, and to the opportunities within the Museum. As a collections professional I am also focused on collaborative practices with originating and descendant communities of museum collections, including participating in ongoing dialogues on ethical curation, preservation, and research practices.

Fun Fact: I am a National Park lover and avid hiker, and try to visit at least one new Park a year!"
 
Photo: Organizing a recent donation of ethnographic basketry from the Great Lakes region into storage. When a large donation comes in, it's important to think about where and how it will be stored, because organization impacts how we can later access the objects.

#UMMAA #UMich #collections #manager #curation #museum #museums #artifact #artifacts #education #outreach #ethnographic #archaeology #archaeological #data #archives #database #digital #preservation #research #collaboration #descendantcommunities #ethics

12/10/2020

Here are some really cool photos from Curator of Circumpolar Archaeology Raven Garvey's research in Patagonia. Looks like an incredible place to do fieldwork!

Photo 1: View from Alero Largo (Río Ibáñez-6), a multicomponent, mid-to-late Holocene site Garvey has been excavating since 2014 (Aysén Region, Chilean Patagonia; PC: R. Garvey).

Photo 2: Garvey surveying for obsidian sources in the Andes of northern Argentine Patagonia.

Photo 3: Assorted artifacts from Alero Largo (RI-6). (Figure credit: John Klausmeyer)

#archaeology #arqueología #culturalevolution #humanecology #huntergatherers #adaptation #lithics #stonetools #tools #obsidian #environment #patagonia #argentina #chile #scicomm #umich #education #curator #landscape #archaeologicalsite #womendoingscience #womeninstem

12/09/2020

As we close out the fall semester, we're switching gears a bit to spotlight some of the faculty and collections managers in our museum. First up is our Curator of Circumpolar Archaeology, Raven Garvey.

"My research centers on hunter-gatherer adaptations to challenging environments, and combines archaeological data with evolutionary modeling to address questions at the interface between human behavioral ecology and cultural transmission theory. My current field projects are in Patagonia, one in Argentina and one in Chile—geographically “close” (separated by ~1000 linear km), but worlds apart ecologically. The Andes are the one (geographical) constant, making cultural comparison an intriguing exercise!

I am passionate about education. I endeavor to develop and present courses that are inclusive, antiracist, and anticolonial, and, to very best of my ability, I encourage, support, and teach for every student who enters my classroom. Still, I am deeply troubled that—even in 2020—access to higher education remains staggeringly unequal. As part of UMMAA’s anti-racism plan of action, I am an involved member of several committees, including one dedicated to increasing diversity in academia. My personal antiracism education and work are ongoing.

Fun fact: My first publication was a musical composition at the age of 12. In the same year, I tried out for (and made) my school’s basketball team—significant because I was (and remain) of a stature one doesn’t typically associate with basketball… Anyway, field hockey was always more my game. And these days it’s whatever my preschooler wants to play, which is generally something quite undignified."

Photo: Garvey (right) taking a turn at the screen during excavation of a cave (Cueva Yagui) in northern Argentine Patagonia. (PC: Guadalupe Romero Villanueva)

#archaeology #arqueología #culturalevolution #humanecology #huntergatherers #adaptation #lithics #environment #patagonia #argentina #chile #scicomm #umich #education #curator #antiracism #socialjustice #womendoingscience #womeninstem

websites:
https://lsa.umich.edu/ummaa/people/curators/garveyr.html

https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/garveyr/ (under construction, August 2020)

12/08/2020

We have a new tab on our website dedicated to videos! Missed one of our brownbag talks? Want to watch our curators discuss their research and the history of our museum? You can find them all here: https://lsa.umich.edu/ummaa/videos.html.

Check the drop down menus for links to the videos on our YouTube channel.

#UMich #UMMAA #Archaeology #anthropology #video #videos #curator #curators #research #brownbag #lecture #education #youtube

12/04/2020

We have another great brownbag talk scheduled today at noon, our last of the semester! Today's speaker is Dr. Stacey Camp, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Michigan State University. Dr. Camp's talk is titled "The Archaeology of the Japanese Diaspora in the United States". The Zoom link for the lecture is https://umich.zoom.us/j/94378176510

"This talk examines the emerging field of the archaeology of the Japanese diaspora in the United States. The first part of this talk examines archaeological work conducted on World War II incarceration sites associated with Japanese Americans, including the presenter’s archaeological research at Idaho’s Kooskia Internment Camp. The second part of the talk considers the directions that interdisciplinary and extra-site archaeological research on the Japanese diaspora in the United States can take in the coming years, including efforts to digitize and disseminate data from sites associated with the Japanese diaspora."
#UMMAA #UMich #brownbag #lecture
#japanese #diaspora #unitedstates #Archaeology #worldwar2 #history #historicalarchaeology #idaho #internment #interdisciplinary #research

12/02/2020

Following up on yesterday's spotlight on first year graduate student Zhaneta Gjyshja, here are some photos from the @kosovo_archaeology survey project she has worked on in Kosovo.

Photo 1. Chert artifacts, found in a new prehistoric site, probably a lithic workshop. We discovered this new site during our 2019 field season for the Regional Archaeological Project in Istog and Peja District (RAPID-K) in Kosovo (https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/kosovo-archaeology/)

Photo 2. View of the field where the site was identified.

Photo 3. A shell necklace, probably it dates to the Neolithic period, found during 2019 field season, Kosovo

Photo 4. View of one of the surveyed areas during 2018 field season, Kosovo.

#UMich #UMMAA #Archaeology #balkans #kosovo #prehistory #neolithic #eneolithic #chalcolithic #bronzeage #survey #culture #change #continuity #materialculture #international #internationalstudents #stone #stonetools #lithics #lithic #workshop #shell #pendant #jewelry #ancient #fieldwork #field

12/01/2020

We're back after a few days off with our next graduate student spotlight. Today we have one of our new first year students, Zhaneta Gjyshja.

"I'm a first-year PhD student at UMICH.  My focus is the prehistory of Albania, Kosovo, and the Balkans. For my dissertation, I am interested in examining the transitional phase from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Particularly, I want to know whether there was change or continuity in the region encompassing northern Albania and western Kosovo. Which aspects of Late Neolithic material culture survived; which perished?

As an incoming international student, coming from a different reality from the US, for the moment I am working on unlearning and learning about systemic racism, and the BLM movement. During this time, I have been reading and listening to various podcasts focused on these matters.

Fun Fact. I have been in and out of school for almost 15 years.  A long time for someone who is a first-generation scholar."

Photo: Zhaneta standing in front of a cave found during a survey in south Albania. The cave was used as a shelter at least since the Eneolithic.

#UMich #UMMAA #Archaeology #balkans
#albania #kosovo #prehistory #neolithic
#eneolithic #chalcolithic #bronzeage #survey #culture #change #continuity #materialculture #international #internationalstudents #socialjustice

12/01/2020

course video 4

UMMAA Curator Rob Beck and Professor Steven Yalisove preview a new joint course between Anthropology and Materials Science and Engineering, ANTHRARC 296 / MATSCIE 293: Making Things: Three Million Years of Materials and Culture.

This looks like a great class, so be sure to sign up!

WINTER 2021 | MWF 11AM-12PM

https://youtu.be/H6p1dkTx3FI

This video is about course video 4

11/25/2020

UMMAA's 2020 newsletter is out! Check it out at the link below to see what we've been up to over the last year. The newsletter includes updates on our BLM/DEI Action Plan, and Collections and Publications projects, as well as information about new and recent books from the Museum. The newsletter also includes features on our new 2020 cohort of graduate students.

https://umich.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=21ddb571b02f315a536efe6da&id=50c0b0a953&e=ded8313e7a

#UMMAA #UMich #Michiganarchaeology #museum #blacklivesmatter #diversity #equity #inclusion #action #collections #curator #curation #publication #book #books #graduateschool #graduatestudent #cohort #2020

11/20/2020

Reminder to join us today at noon for a roundtable discussion titled "The Problems and Prospects of Community-Based Archaeology: A Roundtable Discussion" organized by the Collaborative Archaeology Workgroup and the UMMAA Brown Bag Lecture Series

Here's the Zoom link: https://umich.zoom.us/j/96336389639

#Archaeology #UMMAA #UMich #caw #collaboration #collaborative #descendants #community #communitybasedresearch #roundtable #discussion #dialogue #methodology #methods #pedagogy #teaching #education #publication #writing #ethics #society #politics #culture

11/19/2020

We haven't been able to meet in person and discuss our work together in a while, so it's nice to read some stories from our alumni and think about happier times. This story, from our Coffee Cup Challenge Virtual Scrapbook comes courtesy of David G. Anderson, a professor at the University of Tennessee who also worked for the National Park Service and whose research spans the Eastern U.S.

"I was assigned a tiny space in the back of the range my first year, as all incoming archaeology grad students were at the time. Each student had a chair and about 3-4 feet of table space against the back wall, and there were a few rows of book shelves against the wall for storing books and papers. The cohort each year was literally thrown together in close quarters, hidden from the communal meeting table at the front part of the range by rows of cabinets and lab tables, and got to know each other quite well as a result. It was possible to hear when faculty came in, and they could no doubt hear us talking as well, if we ever did amid seeming non-stop studying. While the others in my cohort moved on, I stayed in that space another two years until I finished my coursework and returned down south, rather than have a larger ‘real’ grad student office elsewhere on campus, which is what students received after the first year. I had a much larger office space and library in the basement of the apartment where Jenalee and I were living (in Arrowwood Hills Cooperative, where several other UM students were living), and so did not mind the cramped quarters on campus in the North American range.  The interaction with faculty and staff, and new incoming students each year was priceless, plus I could open every cabinet and pull out the drawers and look at the sherds in the type collections!..."

To read the rest of David's coffee range story, visit
https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/ummaa-coffee-cup-challenge/virtual-scrapbook/

Are you a UMMAA alum with a great coffee range story to tell? You can submit your story here: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/ummaa-coffee-cup-challenge/share-your-story/

#UMMAA #UMich #Archaeology #coffee #coffeerange #museum #anthropology #story #stories #history #alumni

11/19/2020

The Collaborative Archaeology Workgroup (CAW) roundtable discussion on community-based archaeology this Friday (Zoom link: https://umich.zoom.us/j/96336389639) features an exceptional group of panelists who we've been highlighting this week. Our final panelist is Krysta Ryzewski, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Dr. Krysta Ryzewski is a historical and contemporary archaeologist whose research combines material culture and documentary sources to understand how people have navigated the social pressures and environmental changes that accompanied the development of late modern to postindustrial cities and communities. Her current work in North America and the Caribbean involves projects in Detroit, Hamtramck, and on Montserrat.

Photo 1. Wayne State University students excavate 19th-20th century features at Old Hamtramck Center as part of a long-term collaborative research project between Dr. Ryzewski and the Hamtramck Historical Museum.

Photo 2. Dr. Ryzewski leads a team of collaborators from the Montserrat National Trust and three other countries in a visit to record the first Amerindian petroglyphs discovered on the Caribbean island of Montserrat (Soldier Ghaut) in preparation for a community-based preservation and conservation initiative.
#Archaeology #UMMAA #UMich #caw #collaboration #collaborative #descendants #community #communitybasedresearch #roundtable #discussion #dialogue #methodology #methods #pedagogy #teaching #education #publication #writing #ethics #politics #society #culture #historicalarchaeology #history
#detroit #michigan #hamtramck #waynestateuniversity #city