Email: cmikeska at live.unc.edu
Phone:
Email: cmikeska@live.unc.edu
Office: 105B Caldwell
Areas of Interest:
Zooarchaeology, Bronze Age, Anatolia, Hittites, Southwest Asia, Isotope Analysis, Human-Animal Interactions, Urban Animal Economies, Heterarchical Social Structures
Education:
In Progress University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Ph.D.
May 2020 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, M.A.
May 2016 Boston University, B.A. in Archaeology and Classical Civilizations
Professional Background:
I am an anthropological zooarchaeologist with a focus on ancient Anatolia and Southwest Asia, more broadly. My research focuses on human-animal interactions and the complexities of ancient animal economies. My doctoral dissertation focuses specifically on the animal economies that sustained the Bronze Age city of Boğazköy-Hattuša, located in modern Turkey, as the city grew from an independent kingdom during the Middle Bronze Age into the Late Bronze Age imperial capital of the Hittite Empire. Combining traditional archaeofaunal and historical analyses with isotopic approaches, I aim to produce a robust and nuanced understanding of animal economies and human-animal relationships in urban landscapes.
In addition to my doctoral research, I am involved in two archaeological field schools in western Cyprus, the Makounta-Voules Archaeological Project and the Prastio-Mesorotsos Archaeological Expedition.