URAP Project 4: Ghost Ranch Collaborative Zooarchaeology
Jun Sunseri, Professor
Anthropology
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
The Ghost Ranch rockshelter archaeology project is a community-based archaeological and anthropological project between the University of California and Ghost Ranch Museums in New Mexico near Abiquiu. The project is seeking to map and record the features in a 3000 year old rockshelter site for which out team is responsible for interpreting the animal bone assemblage to complement the lithic and ceramic analyses pursued elsewhere. Students will become members of this project, using legacy collections from excavations in the 1990s and early 2000s to determine the role of small mammals in the ecological and social dynamics of the rockshelter’s history.
This data will be used to track the long-term usage of non-human species throughout the last 3000 years at the rockshelter to aid in our exploration of human-animal interactions and expand on our understanding of the resilience and survivance of Indigenous peoples of the northern Chama area. The data will be owned by the Pueblo de Abiquiu, Ghost Ranch Museums, and the researchers and will form the basis of a site monograph.
Role: Students working on this project will assist in the categorizing, analysis, and data management of archaeological animal bones under the supervision of the Bear Bones team.
Qualifications: Students should already have hands-on laboratory experience in anatomy, zooarchaeology (the study of animal remains at archaeological sites), and/or paleontology and be willing to complete repetitive tasks. The qualified student will demonstrate attention to detail and organizational skills.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Juliette Lovell
Hours: 3-5 hrs
Engineering, Design & Technologies Social Sciences