Biography
My area of specialization is biological anthropology. Within this broad subdiscipline
my research and expertise is in bioarchaeology, paleopathology and forensic anthropology.
Working primarily with ancient and historic human remains, I am most interested in
questions having to do with identity, health and disease, conflict and violence, social
inequality, ethics, and repatriation. My recent projects have focused on the regional
and temporal analysis of signatures of health, nutrition, and conflict among Native
American populations throughout the western region of the United States. Other projects
include the identification of social inequality and violence among a historical group
of immigrant Chinese in the U.S. and the analysis of trauma data collected from an
extant populations. My dissertation utilized data collected from burials from the
Four Corners region of the U.S. Southwest to look at the ways that violence was used
as a strategy for social control necessary in marginal environments with shrinking
resources in the region prior to European contact. The significance of this research
is that it further develops an understanding of bioarchaeological research on social
inequality as it is reflected in the presence of non-lethal trauma, activity-related
changes to the skeleton, and pathological conditions. I have co-authored and co-edited
several books including the: The Bioarchaeology of Climate Change and Violence (co-authored with Debra Martin) Springer (2014), Bioarchaeology: an integrated approach to working with human remains (co-authored with Debra Martin and Ventura Perez) Springer (2013), The Bioarchaeology of Violence (co-edited with Debra Martin and Ventura Perez) University Press of Florida (2012).
I am also on the editorial board for Springer’s Bioarchaeology and Social Theory Series and working on a single authored book based on my dissertation research.
