Archaeology at Penn State
program description
The archaeology program has regional and topical research agendas focusing on ancient complex societies, especially those of the Americas, and archaeobiology. Field, laboratory, and computer-database projects are used to address the (1) evolution of complex societies, (2) conflict within and among ancient societies, (3) development of food-production systems, (4) adaptations to specific environments, (5) long-term impacts of people on their natural environments, (6) temporal trends in population size, and (7) demographic characteristics and disease experience of past populations.
The Eastern Woodlands of North America, Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean are emphasized most heavily, but our perspective is broadly comparative and our geographical focus is augmented by consideration of ancient cultures in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Pacific, where faculty members have had first-hand experience. Archaeology at Penn State also involves knowledge of the ethnographic and historic records to enhance reconstructions of the past. We provide advanced research and training for people anticipating careers in both academic and nonacademic archaeology.
research emphasis
Eastern North America
Midwest
Southeast
Northeast
Gulf Coast and Caribbean
Mesoamerica and Caribbean
Highland Mexico
Maya Mexico and Central America
Caribbean and Amazonia
Archaeobiology
Osteology (Link)
Paleodemography
Paleoethnobotany
Forensic Anthropology
Settlement Patterns and Land Use
Household archaeology
Zooarchaeology
Complex Societies
Cultural Evolution
Cultural Ecology
Political Economy
Urbanism
Warfare
Archaeodemography and Population Studies (Link)
Paleodemography
Paleoepidemiology
Settlement Patterns
Migration
Archaeoinformatics
department anthropOlogists
Susan T. Evans, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Anthropology (ste@psu.edu)
Kenneth G. Hirth, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology (kgh2@psu.edu): Mesoamerica (central Mexico, eastern periphery), economy, urbanism, lithic studies
George R. Milner, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology (ost@psu.edu): Eastern North America (Midwest and Southeast, Archaic, Mississippian), settlement patterns, land use, human osteology (paleodemography, paleopathology)
Claire McHale Milner, Ph.D., Director of Exhibits and Museum Curator (cmm8@psu.edu): Eastern North America (Great Lakes and Northeast); ceramic studies; museum studies
Lee Newsom, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Anthropology (lan12@psu.edu): Eastern North America (Gulf Coast), Caribbean, Amazonia, paleoethnobotany, plant domestication, human-environment interactions as adaptive systems, long-term change in environmental systems
William Sanders, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
Dean R. Snow, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology (drs17@psu.edu): Eastern North America (Northeast, Iroquois), settlement patterns, paleodemography, archaeoinformatics
David L. Webster, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology (dxw16@psu.edu): Mesoamerica (Maya), settlement patterns, agricultural systems
departmental facilities and field school
Students regularly participate in laboratory and field-based research on individual projects and in shared facilities such as the department's Geographic Information System (GIS) facility.
Bioarchaeology: For analyses of human skeletal remains and archaeological materials from the American Midwest and Southeast.
GIS Facility: For computer-based spatial analyses of cultural and ecological data.
Mesoamerica: For analyses of lithic technology, use wear, petrographics, and spatial analysis (GIS)
Copan archaeology: For analysis of a huge spatial data base acquired since 1980.
North America: For analyses of archaeological materials from the American Northeast.
Paleoethnobotany: For analyses of plant remains in various preservation states and forms, with emphasis on the Neotropics and southeastern North America
Matson Museum: For training in collections management and exhibit design
Other University Facilities and Programs
Breazeale Nuclear Reactor
Center for Quantitative Imaging
Forensic Science Program
Institutes of the Environment
Materials Research Institute
graduate application and undergraduate registration information
Links
Population Research Institute
Anthropology/Demography Dual-Degree Program
