2023-2024 Anthropology Undergraduate Research Funding Recipients
Danielle Tutak, Israel-Palestine
Your generosity is directly supporting me in my final work as an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan. Your gift has supported my honors thesis and all associated activities. Specifically, I have been able to undertake lab work for research for my honors thesis. I am performing ZooMS, or Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry, to reevaluate early bronze age worked bone artifacts originating from Tell el-Hesi, an archaeological site in Israel-Palestine.
The opportunities granted to me at college have only served to raise my ambitions and expectations for myself, and this scholarship brings me one step closer to achieving my goals. I promise to work diligently and make the most of this incredible opportunity that you haveprovided me with. Your investment in my education will not go to waste, and I am committed to making you and our communities proud.
2022-2023 Anthropology Undergraduate Research Funding Recipients
Rafah Al-Shohaty
Allison Densel, Belize
When I applied for funding this past spring, my plan was to conduct my summer fieldwork in Israel. Shortly after I submitted my application, however, I was introduced to PhD candidate Brett Meyer, whose research is based in west central Belize. After some discussion, my plans changed, leading me to spend two months working with him at his dissertation site, Ek Tzul.First identified via LiDAR a decade ago, Ek Tzul was an intermediate Maya center and an outpost of a larger site (likely nearby Baking Pot). It is located in Georgeville, Cayo District, and is surrounded by pasture, agricultural land, and the dense undergrowth of the southernfoothills of the valley. Excavations began in the summer of 2022 with the ballcourt and structure A2, which was believed to have had a ritual function. In 2023, the investigation of the site resumed in Plaza A to the southwest. We spent our first few days in this public plaza, digging a1.5x1.5 meter unit with the goal of obtaining samples for radiocarbon dating. This proved unsuccessful, likely due to the poor preservation of the area. We then moved to elite Plaza B to the northeast, where we uncovered the remnants of what might be a Preclassic wall. In order to follow the wall, we extended the unit twice, although we cut this short and moved to structure B1, the elite residence. We spent the majority of the summer here, digging a roughly 6x3 meter unit into the side of the mound. By exposing and mapping each layer of architecture, we worked to establish a timeline of construction phases, which we will use to help us determine when Ek Tzul was occupied and piece together its development over time. After concluding excavations in B1, we moved down the hill to the Terminus Group, the adjacent ritual structure, and opened a 2x1.5 meter unit in Plaza C. This unit yielded only marginally better material than in Plaza A.Surprisingly, we found very few artifacts other than potsherds and chert flakes. This was particularly unusual for B1, which, as an elite residence, could have contained burials and dedicatory caches. However, the closest we ever got to a burial was a few fragments of humantibia one my colleagues found in a layer of rock fill. This is likely the result of the extensive looting that previously occurred, an unfortunately common feature of archaeological sites in this region. Nevertheless, the material we gathered is still of great use. The ceramics, most of which are from B1, are an important line of evidence when examining the chronology of the site. Based on my preliminary analysis (as I am responsible for the ceramics report this year), two major phases of occupation occurred at Ek Tzul: the first during the Middle Preclassic (1000-300 BCE), and then much later during the Late Classic (600-900 CE). It will be interesting to seewhat future excavations reveal about these two periods, and about what happened in between.Although not my first field experience, this was my first time actually excavating and handling recovered material. Like last summer, it was reassuring to find that I enjoy this aspect of fieldwork, and I am actively looking forward to the next dig season. To say I learned a lot is an understatement; this season was productive not only from a research perspective, but from a personal one as well. I am incredibly grateful to have had this experience, and would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Anthropology Department, the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance project, Brett, and especially the donors of the Derrow/Goodman Fund and the Riggs Hoenecke Student Experience Fund.
The Belize Valley, as seen from the top of B1.
Exposed penultimate architecture in B1.
A colleague.
Working at B1.
Krystal Koski
Anna Luurtsema
My honors thesis research is investigating the development of herd management strategies during the fourth millennium BCE at the site of Tepe Farukhabad, located in modern-day southwest Iran in what was formerly the fringes of Mesopotamia. Coinciding with the spread of urbanism and Uruk material culture, excavations at Tepe Farukhabad in the 1960s discovered a decline in hunted faunal remains compared to domesticates in the Uruk period, indicating the development of alternate subsistence strategies to support a growing population (Wright 1981). One such method observed in Mesopotamia during this period was the standardization of herd management strategies in order to maximize the productivity of herds. These standardizations included foddering, altered landscape use, and manipulation of natural reproductive cycles in order to make milk available throughout the year. Presently, little is known about how these standardizations were practiced at Tepe Farukhabad, if at all. To investigate to what extent herding standardizations were implemented at Tepe Farukhabad, my thesis will use sequential carbon and oxygen stable isotope values of sheep and goat molars to reconstruct the diet and landscape use of herded ruminants. Variation in sequential isotopic values between the Early and Late Uruk periods will reveal the extent to which an increased reliance on domesticates for subsistence manifested in standardizations of herd management at Tepe Farukhabad.
Nineteen caprine mandibular molars were selected from the archaeological layers dating to the Early, Middle, and Late Uruk periods. Of the nineteen, fifteen were identified to be from the sheep and the remaining four were from goats. As enamel develops over the lifespan, the teeth were sampled sequentially in order to investigate changes in environment and diet over the period of a year. Sample preparation was conducted at the Ancient Protein and Isotope Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Prior to sampling, the surfaces of the teeth were cleaned with a hand drill for removal of surface contaminants. Tooth enamel carbonate samples were then prepared following the sequential sampling protocol outlined in Ventresca Miller et al.(2018). Using a Dremel drill equipped with a diamond-coated drill bit, a series of 1-2 mm wide horizontal bands were drilled incrementally along the buccal surface of the tooth from the root to the crown. The resulting powdered enamel was collected on weighing paper, transferred to a 1.5mL Eppendorf tube, and weighed, ideally falling between 5 and 8 mg. Samples were then rinsed with acetic acid and water before being transported to the mass spectrometer.
Though I am anticipating my results to arrive in the next few weeks, this process has so far been very interesting and rewarding. I have enjoyed seeing the research process through from beginning to end, and I look forward to interpreting my results and discussing the implications of my research.
India Pruette, Boston
As described in my funding proposal from last fall, I used the funds from the anthropology department in two ways.
First, I used these funds to pay for the materials I needed to perform my research, which consisted of experimental recreation of ancient pottery (called mortaria) in order to support or refute a specific hypothesis about their construction methods. I purchased clay and temper, which made up the vessels themselves, as well as plaster of paris in order to create the mold over which I could drape the rolled-out clay. In addition, I rented studio and kiln space so that I could fire my vessels.
Here are some of the photos that I took during this process, showing each step from constructing my mold to attaching pieces to the vessels to when I smashed them so that I couldx-ray the pieces.
In addition, the funds from the Anthropology department were used to fund my travel and attendance at the annual ASOR meeting in Boston. These funds mainly covered my flight from Detroit to Logan International Airport, but the rest of the funds were applied to my membership fee from ASOR.
While there, I connected with many people and attended many presentations of new and exciting research. In addition, I was able to explore and experience Boston while visiting.
Mahima Srikanth
Danielle Tutak
Mya Welch, Oregon and Israel
I am writing to thank all contributors to these funds for their support. It really means a lot that people are so invested in supporting undergraduate research, and these contributions have allowed me to gain invaluable and unforgettable experiences that directly contribute to my long-term academic goals.
A small portion of the money I received contributed to my entrance fee and food budget for the annual conference of the Society for American Archaeology in Portland, OR at the end of March. Though I have long known I wanted to pursue a career in archaeology, I have been trying to narrow down my specific research interests over the last year. The SAA conference is the largest gathering of archaeologists and archaeology students in North America. Attending this conference was a fantastic opportunity for me to explore my research interests, as well as gain exposure to the latest work and advancements in my field of study and start building my professional network.
The remainder of my grant went towards the room and board of a field school I attended in Israel. The field school took place at an Iron Age II site called Khirbet Summeily. Summeily is thought to have been a governmental or trade outpost for the wider region, and had a very narrow period of occupation. While there, I learned proper excavation techniques with a variety of tools, was shown specialized collection and conservation methods, and experienced first-hand the importance of proper context and documentation at every stage of archaeological excavation and research. All in all, it was an incredible experience that vastly expanded my confidence and knowledge of how good archaeology is done, and I will carry it with me for a long time.
I am so grateful for having had both of these opportunities, both of which were largely made possible by the funding I received from the Anthropology Department. Without the ability to pay for food and shelter, I wouldn't have the opportunity to participate in either. Donations from people like you who believe in the pursuit of knowledge, and who want to support the researchers of the future, mean the world to students like me. Thank you.
Xianyang Zhang, North Carolina
Thanks to your donation, I was able to travel and visit archives to do research outside of the classroom and practice and experiment with different research methods in ways I had never tried before. Most importantly, I gained first-hand experience in adjusting research plans to accommodate unexpected situations and discoveries. I am sincerely grateful for your help; it was very important to me.
I went to North Carolina State University to visit its Animal Right Archive and the American Vegan Society to research the formation and development of the American vegan discourse, which was supplementary to a previous ethnographic course project. For the research, I initially focused on news reports and correspondence between animal activist organizations and later turned to vegan recipes, cookbooks, and lifestyle books. I used these materials to understand how different philosophical trends, activist networks, and practical needs co-constituted the American vegan experience. My preliminary findings included how veganism was transmitted from the UK to the US through international migration and material and information exchange across the Atlantic Ocean, how early American veganism was influenced by Gandhi and the philosophy of nonviolence, and how American vegans’ focus on promoting vegan lifestyles and life-philosophies met the surging animal right concerns in the 1980s, which increased American veganism’s publicity and redirected towards the mainstream of today’s cultural and political landscape. The central thematic issues in my research are transnational cultural exchange and culture-making, relationships between activist groups, and cookbooks as important cultural media.
