Department of Anthropology

Penn State University

George R. Milner

Professor of Archaeological Anthropology

Faculty Image Office: 409 Carpenter Building
Telephone: (814) 865-1268 Fax: (814) 863-1474
Email: ost@psu.edu
Curriculum Vitae
 

North American Program

Bioarchaeology Lab

EDUCATION:

  • B.A., Beloit College, 1975
  • M.A., Northwestern University, 1976
  • Ph.D., Northwestern University, 1982

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION:

George Milner's areas of specialization are in human osteology as well as eastern North American archaeology.  Topics of particular research interest include the demographic structure of past populations, long-term trends in settlement patterns and human land use, and warfare among small-scale societies.  His interests have taken him to Europe, Africa, and the Pacific, in addition to the American Midwest and Southeast, to conduct fieldwork and study skeletal collections

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AND INTERESTS:

Dr. Milner's osteological and archaeological research focuses on the prehistory of eastern North America, especially the late prehistoric Midwest and Southeast. Topics of special interest include the development of Mississippian chiefdoms (particularly Cahokia in Illinois), sedentary Archaic hunter-gathers, pre-Columbian warfare, mortuary practices, prehistoric disease experience, and age estimation methods. 

FIELD AND MUSEUM WORK:

  • Over 62 months taking part in archaeological surveys and excavations on mortuary and habitation sites in Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Missouri, Micronesia (Saipan, CNMI), and Egypt. 
  • Studied modern and prehistoric skeletons from Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Saipan, Denmark, and Egypt; also prehistoric artifacts from Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri.

COURSES TAUGHT:

  • ANTH 2 Introduction to Archaeology
  • ANTH 285 Culture Contact
  • ANTH 410 Osteology
  • ANTH 411 Forensic Skeletal Anthropology
  • ANTH 423 The Evolution of American Indian Culture
  • ANTH 428 Theory and Method in Archaeology
  • ANTH 521 Current Literature Archaeology
  • ANTH 588 Method and Theory in Archaeology

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

  • 2006      (G.R. Milner, J.E. Buikstra) Skeletal Biology: Northeast. In Handbook of North American Indians: Environment, Origins, and Population, vol. 3, D.H. Ubelaker (ed.), pp. 630-639. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
  • 2006        (T.M. Ryan, G.R. Milner) Osteological Applications of High-Resolution Computed Tomography: A Prehistoric Arrow Injury. Journal of Archaeological Science 33:871-879.
  • 2006        (D. R. Snow, M. Gahegan, C. L. Giiles, K. G. Hirth, G. R. Milner, P. Mitra, J. Z. Wang) Cybertools in Archaeology. Science 311:958-959.
  • 2005        (R.W. Jefferies, V.D. Thompson, G.R. Milner) Archaic Hunter-Gatherer Landscape Use in West-Central Kentucky. Journal of Field Archaeology 30:3-23.
  • 2004        The Moundbuilders. Thames and Hudson, London.
  • 2002        (J.L. Boldsen, G.R. Milner, L.W. Konigsberg, J.W. Wood) Transition Analysis: A New Method for Estimating Age from Skeletons. In Paleodemography: Age Distributions from Skeletal Samples. R.D. Hoppa and J.W. Vaupel (eds.), pp. 73-106. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  • 2001        (G.R. Milner, D.G. Anderson, M.T. Smith) The Distribution of Eastern Woodlands Peoples at the Prehistoric and Historic Interface. In Societies in Eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands Indians, A.D. 1400-1700. D. Brose, C. W. Cowan, and R. C. Mainfort (eds.), pp. 9-18. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
  • 2000        (G.R. Milner, J.W. Wood, J.L. Boldsen) Paleodemography. In Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton. S.R. Saunders and M.A. Katzenberg (eds.), pp. 467-497. Wiley-Liss, New York.
  • 1999        Warfare in Prehistoric and Early Historic Eastern North America. Journal of Archaeological Research 7:105-151.
  • 1998        The Cahokia Chiefdom: The Archaeology of a Mississippian Society. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. (2006, reprint edition, University Press of Florida, Gainesville) 
  • 1992        (J.W. Wood, G.R. Milner, H.C. Harpending, K.M. Weiss) The Osteological Paradox: Problems of Inferring Prehistoric Health from Skeletal Samples. Current Anthropology 33:343-370.