Area of Interest:

European societies, protohistory, historical ecology, ethnohistory, feminist & queer anthropologies, actor-network theory, social studies of archaeology, materiality, landscape

Education:

BS Anthropology, Mercyhurst College, Erie, PA (1998)

Research & Activities:

Archaeological interest in Europe’s protohistoric tombs (i.e., “tumuli”) has typically focused on understanding the role(s) they played in the landscapes of the Bronze and Iron Ages, especially during the period from ca. 1200 to 450 BCE (the so-called “Hallstatt Period”). Archaeologists have typically ignored later occupants’ interactions with these tumuli. But generations of people have encountered and interacted with these landscape elements since the period of their construction, significantly impacting the “landscape of the past” that archaeologists seek to study. Further, contemporary Europeans — archaeologist and non-archaeologist alike — continue to interact with these tumuli every day. What might an exploration of the multiple ways in which recent populations have engaged this landscape reveal about archaeological encounters with landscapes of the past? What might the different “knowledges” generated by these varied interactions reveal about our own knowledge of the past? I explore these questions in my dissertation research which studies archaeologists’ and non-archaeologists’ involvement with a set of tumuli in southern Burgundy (France) over the past 300 years. My research focuses on: (1) folklore about and non-archaeological encounters with these tumuli since the 18^th century, (2) the development of tumulus-focused archaeology in the region beginning in the mid-19^th century, and (3) the sometimes-conflicting, contemporary relationships of which these tumuli are a part. My project promises a more-nuanced understanding of the patterns that archaeologists observe in this landscape. More significantly, it offers a unique opportunity to explore broader anthropological concerns related to property, historical preservation, landscapes of production, and the management of local resources by regional, national and international entities; concerns shared by contemporary populations around the world. This research is funded by the Fulbright Program’s Institute of International Education (2009-2010) and by the Georges Lurcy Charitable and Educational Trust (2010).

My dissertation project is an extension of the French Project / Équipe Américaine, the long-term study of human-land interactions in southern Burgundy initiated by UNC professor Carole Crumley in the mid-1970s. Under Crumley’s direction, the French Project has been instrumental in the development and elaboration of the “conceptual toolbox” (Meyer and Crumley, in press) known as historical ecology. I have had the privilege of serving on the project’s senior staff since my first trip to France in 2002.

During this time, I have also had the privilege of working with a number of French, Catalan and American colleagues on the excavation of Lattara (Lattes), a protohistoric port city near present-day Montpellier in eastern Languedoc. From its foundation in the late-6^th century BCE, Lattara provided a “contact zone” for interactions between different cultures, including southern Gauls, Etruscans, Greeks, Romans, and perhaps even Iberians. The excavations of Lattara continue its history as a contact zone, drawing together experts and field school students from France, Spain, the United States, Italy and a number of other countries. My work at Lattes has focused on the excavation of Zone 27/28, a deep unit containing the earliest known architectural remains at the site; a series of carefully planned structures in raw brick thought to have been built at this location by Etruscan visitors/colonists, as well as the oldest levels of the thick wall (rampart) that surrounds the city. These early structures now lie below the water table and sea level, posing interesting excavation challenges (i.e., the need to constantly evacuate water). They also offer phenomenal preservation of perishable organic remains. In 2009, I was promoted to co-director of this zone, offering me the opportunity to more-fully participate in the decision-making process of a large, multi-national, programmed excavation and allowing me to expand my teaching experience to include archaeological field methods.

While I am an archaeologist by training, I believe that each anthropologist — regardless of subdiscipline — should be intimately familiar with the other subdisciplines, and that anthropologists have an ethical responsibility to “give back” to the communities of which we are a part. Because of these beliefs/commitments, I have contributed to a number of public health research projects in central North Carolina since 2004. Working as a contractor for RTI International, I have been involved primarily in the collection and analysis of qualitative data concerning the spread of HIV from groups at “high risk” (e.g., intravenous drug users [IDUs] and men who have sex with men [MSM]) to “lower risk” groups. Most recently, I have worked on the analysis of data collected as our qualitative research protocol was exported to Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. My analysis has addressed the HIV risk and personal identity categories of Georgia’s largely overlooked and hidden MSM community. Not only has this public health work allowed me to give back to the MSM community of which I am a part, it has expanded my skills as an ethnographer and deepened my understanding of the challenges (and rewards) of community-based research. These expanded skills and this deepened understanding have proven particularly useful as I work to complete the dissertation research described above.