Past Award Recipients

Martin Anderson and Trevor McKinney - James B. Griffin Undergraduate Research  in Anthropological Archaeology Fund

Madeline Topor and Gabriella Armstrong - Carl E. Guthe Endowment

Ceilia Weberg - Richard I. Ford Research Fund for Anthropological Study of Humans & Environment

This year, all awarded students attended the 2019 UMMAA Summer Field School.

The first two weeks of the fields school were based in Peja, Kosovo at the RAPID-K site (“Regional Archaeology in the Peja and Istog Districts of Kosova”). Here students actively participated in a large-scale archaeological survey using pedestrian survey techniques, GIS mapping, shovel testing and conducted preliminary artifact analysis. They gained first hand experiences in field research, formed relationships with team members from across the world, learned about the history and people of the area and were immersed in the welcoming Kosovar culture.

The second half of the field school took place in Morganton, NC for two weeks at the Berry Site. Here students participated in excavations at the Native American village of Joara and the Spanish fort of San Juan. They had the opportunity to learn about excavation in great detail, finding lithics and ceramics among other items, and about systems for recording artifacts and photo-data collection.

These immersive field school experiences gave students opportunities to work alongside archaeologists, graduate students, and researchers from across the world while gaining skills and an understanding of their own archaeological interests for future studies.

Richard I. Ford Undergraduate Research Fund: Kristin Cimmerer (Fairbanks/Delta Junction, Alaska) Kristin exavated at the Klein Site located on Quartz Lake, Alaska, with graduate student Bree Doering. Here she expanded previously excavated trenches and recovered cultural material such as lithics, faunal remains and fire-cracked rocks left from Holocene Alaskan foragers. She gained an understanding about other tools Alaskan foragers have produced over the millennia, including huge bifaces in different stages of reduction, and microblades, both of which have been present in Alaska since the peopling of the Americas some fourteen-thousand-years-ago. 

Hays Family Endowment: Hunter Muirhead (Tatarstan, Russia). Hunter attended the Bolgar International Field School's geoarchaeology program and was introduces to 3D modeling of sites, the programs of ArcMap and ArcGIS, phytolith and pollen analyses and gained an understanding soil layer stratigraphy and associated lab analysis. Additionally he presented a portion of his honor's thesis at a conference, and enjoyed the social exchange with other international and Russian students who attendend the field school. 

Richard I. Ford Undergraduate Research Fund: Xinglin Wang (Central Alaska) Xinglin also exavated at the Klein Site with Cimmerer and graduate student Bree Doering. She applied the archaeological procedure skills of a research project learned in her 200 level course in the field and gained a deeper understanding about how one practices Anthropological Archaeology. 

Richard I. Ford Undergraduate Research Fund: Allegra Ward (Ilindentsi, Bulgaria) Allegra participated in the Institute for Field Research and Balkan Heritage field school titled The Birth of Europe: Excavations at the Neolithic Settlement of Ilindentsi, Bulgaria. Here she assisted in excavations that uncovered domestic structures and artifacts such as stone aces, pottery sherds, and animal bones. She learned excavation techniques and a greater understanding of the complexity of archaeological research. Allegra found it fascinating to see the beginnings of agriculture through the excavations and relate that to how farming continues to support the local community in Bulgaria today.

Carl E. Guthe Endowment: Adeleine  Zeigen (North Stonington, Connecticut). Addy attended the Eastern Pequot Archaeological Field School in North Stonington, CT, associated with UMASS Boston. Here she worked alongside tribal council members, tribal member interns, other undergrads and graduate students and was introduced to mapping, shovel test pitting, excavation techniques. She visited their reservation after being cleansed with sage, and spent time at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. At the conclusion of her field school she received the honor of being invited to attend the annual Eastern Pequot Powwow, normally exclusive to only Eastern Pequot tribal members' closest friends and family members. As a result of her experiences, Addy wants to continue with archaeological work that pertains to indigenous peoples and a strong collaborative aspect. 

Carl E. Guthe Endowment: Daniel Hansen attended the Hågerup Bioarchaeology
Field School in Denmark this past summer, helped by the Carl E. Guthe Endowment. In Odense, Denmark, Daniel attended an accelerated course in osteology and then spent four weeks doing practical laboratory and fieldwork – the excavation being directed in the Danish tradition. Daniel is using his newly gained knowledge of human anatomy and taphonomy to conduct his honors thesis research on mortuary practice.

Hays Family Endowment:  Nolan Powers traveled to Peru with the assistance of the Hays Family Endowment. While in Peru, Nolan collected data on artifacts recovered from Las Huacas. He had the opportunity to work with ceramics, shells, weaving tools and textiles, and plans to use his textile data to write his senior thesis. UMMAA graduate student Jordan Dalton worked closely with Nolan both in Peru and earlier in the year at UMMAA, guiding him in his research.  

Ford Research Fund for Anthropological Study of Humans & the Environment: Kristin Cimmerer spent six weeks doing archaeological field work at Spitzkloof B Rock Shelter in South Africa with the generous support of the Ford Research Fund for Anthropological Study of Humans & Environment. The field school’s goal was to understand how early modern humans survived in sometimes inhospitable African environments, and Kristin and the rest of the students experienced the conditions first hand as they camped at the site throughout the field season. For her research paper, Kristin looked further into the archaeological uses of ochre and dig deeper into questions surrounding our species’ behavioral origins.

Christy Cogan Memorial Scholarship: Daniel Hansen participated in the Berry Site Field School, offered by Warren Wilson College with UMMAA Curator Rob Beck. This was Daniel's first experience in the field, which ran the gamut from sifting shoveled dirt to mapping with field computers and sensitive excavation procedures. Daniel formed connections with students and professors that he will maintain for years to come, and his experiences cemented his interest to pursue archaeological study. 

Carl E. Guthe Undergraduate Research Fund: Working in Oaxaca, Mexico with Ph.D. candidate Lacey Carpenter, Anne Sherfield analyzed and documented archaeological finds from two sites in Tilcajete. Anne spent her time drawing and photographing pottery and sherds, working to perfect her skills. She plans to pursue a career in museum management, so seeing first-hand the process artifacts go through after excavation but before reaching a museum was invaluable.

In summer 2015, four undergraduate endowments allowed the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology to provide financial assistance to five U-M undergraduates, enabling them to gain archaeological field experience and professional skills. 

Richard I. Ford Research Fund on Humans and the Environment: Shobhana Panuganti worked in Pecica, Romania at Șanțul Mare. The excavation of this Bronze Age site was a project led by Prof. John O'Shea in collaboration with the Arad Museum.

Carl E. Guthe Endowment: Brianna Gladhill and Andrew Fiasco went to Lesotho-Sehonghong, South Africa where they participated in the archaeological excavation of a rock shelter Middle Stone Age site, learning how to systematically document and remove archaeological strata. 

Hays Family Undergraduate Research Fund: Melanie Lowrie also traveled to Pecica, Romania to work at Șanțul Mare in the capacity of lab manager. Here Melanie oversaw the process artifacts went through after excavation, including sorting, flotation, recording, boxing and packaging for future analysis. 

Homeopathic Hospital Guild Scholarship: Anna Forringer-Beal had the opportunity to work in Chiapas, Mexico where she interviewed migrants from Central America for her senior honors thesis research.

Richard I. Ford Undergraduate Research Fund: Jaykob Wood interned with the Student Conservation Association, partnered with AmeriCorps, at the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Redding, California. Here Jaykob learned to conduct surface reconnaissance surveys to identify cultural resources and also had the opportunity to collaborate with local tribal communities. 

Richard I. Ford Endowment Fund: Laura Jessmore traveled to Rome to collect samples for her research project as well as attend a field school at Gabii. 

In summer 2013, three undergraduate endowments allowed the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology to provide financial assistance to four U-M undergraduates, enabling them to gain archaeological field experience and professional skills. 

Richard I. Ford Undergraduate Research Fund: Katherine Kinkopf attended the Arizona State University Kampsville Bioarchaeology and Human Osteology Field School, participating in coursework in bioarchaeology, human osteology, North American archaeology and paleopathology. 

Richard I. Ford Research Fund on Humans and the Environment: Rachel Ross attended the University of the South-Sewanee Environmental Institute Archaeology Field School where she participated in every aspect of excavating a hunter-gatherer habitation from the Early Archaic period and early horticulturalists of the Middle Woodland Period. Taylour Boboltz attended the Eastern Pequot Archaeological Field School of Connecticut.

Hays Family Undergraduate Research Fund: Jaykob Wood traveled to Sardinia, working in Progetto Pran'e Siddi with graduate student Emily Holt.

In summer 2012, three undergraduate endowments allowed the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology to provide financial assistance to six U-M undergraduates, enabling them to gain archaeological field experience and professional skills. 

Christy Cogan Memorial Fund: Ann Slater attended an archaeology field school in Maryland in History St. Mary's. 

Carl E. Guthe Undergraduate Research Fund: Nina Barraco and Sophia Reini both participated in a Roman archaeology project in Gabii, Itali. Danielle Bridges attended a field school ouside Lima, Peru where her group excavated units in two pyramids and she also had an mini-internship at Museo Larco - a private museum in Lima - in addition to visiting multiple sites in the area. Kelly Gillikin traveled to the University College Dublin where she worked as an intern and assistant to the National Irish Folklore Collection. 

Hays Family Undergraduate Research Fund: Vicki Moses accompanied P.h.D. candidate Anne Compton to Ghana, where Vickey excavated a site near the village of Kranka. 

In summer 2011, six undergraduate endowments allowed the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology to provide financial assistance to nine U-M undergraduates, enabling them to gain archaeological field experience and professional skills. 

Christy Cogan Memorial Fund: Alicia Michalski participated in excavations at the Garden Creek site in North Carolina, directed by graduate student Alice Wright.

Richard I. Ford Endowment Fund: Stephanie Berger attended a bioarchaeology class offered by Arizona State University in Kampsville, IL, and Anna Mickols attended the 2011 Society for American Archaeology meetings in Sacramento, CA. 

Richard I. Ford Undergraduate Fund: Rachel Cohen and Nick Machinski participated in the University of Arizona's Rock Art Field School in northeastern Arizona. 

Carl E. Guthe Undergraduate Research Fund: Katya Mack traveled to Serbia and excavated a Paleolithic site in the Balanica cave complex with the University of Winnepeg, and Amanda Imperiale excavated a 300-person farming village at Hualcayan in Peru with the Vanderbilt University Field School. 

James B. Griffin Undergraduate Research Fund: Ariel Talvalkoski participated in a bioarchaeology program in Romania. 

Hays Family Undergraduate Research Fund: Vicki Moses traveled to Sardinia to participate in graduate student Emily Holt's dissertation research project.

In summer 2010, six undergraduate endowments allowed the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology to provide financial assistance to eleven U-M undergraduates to enable them to gain archaeological field experience and professional skills. 

Christy Cogan Memorial Fund: Jackie Kauza received funding to participate in excavations at the Berry Site, North Carolina. 

Richard I. Ford Research Fund on Humans and the Environment: Sarah Oas presented a paper on her analyses of botanical remains from the Copper Age site of Pecica Șanțul Mare in Romania at the 33rd Annual Conference of the Society for Ethnobiology.

James B. Griffin Undergraduate Research Fund: In addition to her work in Sardinia, Ariel Talvalkoski worked on bird fauna at Pompeii.

Carl E. Guthe Undergraduate Research Fund: Ariel Talvalkoski (Sardinia and Pompeii), Jessica Dejong (Sardinia), Maya Fernandez (joined a UCLA field school in Peru), Cynthia Kazan (conducted zooarchaeological research at U-M excavations at Gabii, Italy).

Hays Family Undergraduate Research Fund: Katherine Carlton consulted on digital repatriation of Anishinabe material culture with the GRASAC project, Jackie Kauza (Berry site).

Homeopathic Hospital Guild Scholarship (for Michigan archaeology): Jamie Baird, Cameron Dean, and Veronica Petroelji received support to join the U-M archaeological field school in northern Michigan.