Anthropology Department

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News

UW Anthropologists’ Research Unveils Early Stone Plaza in the Andes

Feb 14, 2024 ‖ Two University of Wyoming anthropology professors have discovered one of the earliest circular plazas in Andean South America, showcasing monumental megalithic architecture, which refers to construction that uses large stones placed upright with no mortar.

 

Stable isotope chemistry reveals plant-dominant diet among early foragers on the Andean Altiplano, 9.0–6.5 cal. ka

Jan 24, 2024 ‖ Current models of early human subsistence economies suggest a focus on large mammal hunting. To evaluate this hypothesis, we examine human bone stable isotope chemistry of 24 individuals from the early Holocene sites of Wilamaya Patjxa (9.0–8.7 cal. ka) and Soro Mik’aya Patjxa (8.0–6.5 cal. ka) located at 3800 meters above sea level on the Andean Altiplano, Peru.

 

Dig Site PhotoUW Professor’s Research Challenges Hunter-Gatherer Narrative

Jan 24, 2024 ‖ The oft-used description of early humans as “hunter-gatherers” should be changed to “gatherer-hunters,” at least in the Andes of South America, according to groundbreaking research led by a University of Wyoming archaeologist.

Mining the Past: Anthropology Professors Uncover Wyoming's First Coal Mining Town

Winter 2024 ‖ What if you could open a time capsule left by Wyoming's first coal miners? In a way, that's exactly what University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology Associate Professors Alexandra Kelly and Jason Toohey are doing in Carbon City, Wyoming's first coal mining town, which was established in1868 near Medicine Bow.

Bree Doering screening artifactsUW’s Doering Receives Rare Archaeological NSF CAREER Grant

July 21, 2023 ‖ Bree Doering is still processing the news that she is the first University of Wyoming anthropologist to receive one of the most prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) grants.

Men are hunters, women are gatherers. That was the assumption. A new study upends it.

July 1, 2023 ‖ For decades, scientists have believed that early humans had a division of labor: Men generally did the hunting and women did the gathering. And this view hasn't been limited to academics. It's often been used to make the case that men and women today should stick to the supposedly "natural" roles that early human society reveals.

Research Confirms Eastern Wyoming Paleoindian Site as Americas’ Oldest Mine

May 19, 2022 ‖ Archaeological excavations led by Wyoming’s state archaeologist and involving University of Wyoming researchers have confirmed that an ancient mine in eastern Wyoming was used by humans to produce red ocher starting nearly 13,000 years ago.

UWs Toohey, Murphy Receive NSF Grant to Study Archaeological Evidence of Economic Inequality in Peruvian Andes

January 24, 2022 ‖ Two University of Wyoming anthropology professors recently received a five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to conduct archaeological research in the northern Peruvian Andes focused on understanding the origins and development of economic inequality in emerging complex societies.

Riverton’s Christie Wildcat Named a Top Graduating UW Senior

May 15, 2020 ‖ Of all that she has accomplished as a University of Wyoming undergraduate, Christie Wildcat, from Riverton, says having a statewide initiative supported by Gov. Mark Gordon proclaiming May 5 as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Day is her biggest achievement.

UW’s Todd Surovell Receives NSF Grant to Study Ancient Clovis Culture at La Prele Mammoth Site

March 26, 2020 ‖ A University of Wyoming professor of anthropology has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to investigate humans’ adaptation to environments during the ice age. Specifically, Todd Surovell will be studying how Clovis people lived at the La Prele Mammoth site near Douglas in Converse County.

UW Professor Receives Grant to Study Icelandic Immigration

October 08, 2019 ‖ Rural communities in Iceland are more similar to Wyoming’s than you think, according to the University of Wyoming’s Pamela Innes.

UW Anthropologist’s Mammoth Mystery Solved by Oregon Man

September 25, 2019 ‖ Pat Neill believes in coincidences and, recently, that belief was rewarded.

 

UW Anthropology Department Asks for Public’s Help in Mammoth Mystery

August 21, 2018 ‖ Everyone loves a good mystery, especially if it’s eventually solved. That’s where University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology Professor Todd Surovell needs help.

UW Professor Robert L. Kelly Receives Humboldt Research Award

September 11, 2017 ‖ Robert L. Kelly, a University of Wyoming professor of anthropology, recognized internationally as a leading researcher in anthropology, has been selected to receive an Alexander von Humboldt Research Foundation Award.

 

 

 

 

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Anthropology Department

12th and Lewis Streets

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: (307) 766-5136

Email: anthro@uwyo.edu

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