Research Interests
Archaeology, complex societies, style and iconography, provenance studies; eastern North America.
Specializations
Ceramic analysis, quantitative methodsResearch Background
My topical interests include the origins of political centralization, chiefdoms, studies of ancient art styles, and the analysis of ancient ceramics. Since 2006 I have been leading excavations at the Feltus Mounds, a Late Wooland and Early Mississppian site near Natchez, Mississippi. I have also done considerable research at Moundville, a large Mississippian center in west-central Alabama. In addition to numerous articles, my books include Ceramics, Chronology, and Community Patterns: An Archaeological Study at Moundville (1993; reprinted 2009), Archaeology of the Moundville Chiefdom (co-edited with Vernon J. Knight, 1998; reprinted 2007), and Rethinking Moundville and its Hinterland (co-edited with C. Margaret Scarry, 2016).
Education
PhD, University of Michigan, 1980; MA, 1975; BA, Harvard University, 1974
Current Courses
- ANTH 418 – CERAMIC ANALYSIS LAB (TTH, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM)
- ANTH 550 – ARCHAEOLOGY AMERICAN SOUTH (TTH, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM)