Team

Biography

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers. I received a BA in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in May of 2019 and my MA from Rutgers in 2023. For my dissertation I am interested in understanding how bones are altered under variable heating conditions. I use multiple data collection techniques like Color Analysis with a spectrophotometer, Surface Texture Analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, and X-Ray Diffraction on experimental bones created in the lab and in the field. With the results of her experiments I am going to study fire exploitation patterns in the Iberian Peninsula at the sites of Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal), Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona, Spain), and Abrigo do Lagar Velho (Leiria, Portugal).

Biography

My greatest interest in archaeology is understanding the behavior of early mobile foraging groups and how they interacted with their surrounding environment. I received my B.A. and M.A. in Archaeology from Boston University in 2021. For my master’s research, I worked with the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project at the Preclassic Maya site of Cahal Pech as a field supervisor and paleoethnobotanist. During the 2019 field season, I constructed and operated the project’s first manual bilge pump flotation machine while assisting with daily excavations. The macrobotanical samples collected with the flotation machine and the soil samples collected for phytolith analysis were sent back to the Boston University Environmental Archaeology Laboratory where I spent the remainder of my graduate program analyzing each sample. At its core, my master’s research sought to elicit the methodological techniques necessary to utilize paleoethnobotanical markers as indicators for early and transitioning subsistence economies.

Upon graduating, I began working in the field of cultural resource management as a field archaeologist in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. I currently work as a crew chief and project archaeologist for a local heritage management firm. My doctoral research at Rutgers will focus on a comparative phytolith analysis between the Middle Paleolithic sites of El Salt and Abric del Pastor in Alcoi, Spain. My dissertation will engage the question of whether phytolith assemblages can be used as a proxy for the use and accessibility of certain plant species between different Middle Paleolithic sites in the same environmental region.

Biography

I received my B.A. in anthropology and political science in 2022 from Rutgers University. During my undergrad, I did research at ALMA for my senior honors thesis titled Where’s the fire? Using FTIR to determine occupation at Abrigo de la Boja. I investigated the environmental conditions of the rock shelter site by determining its mineral composition and explored the use of fire by Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans, both by using Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, and then discussed the implications on Neanderthal extinction.

While I’m still interested in researching the demise of the Neanderthals, I shifted focus both spatially and temporally for my dissertation. Now, I am primarily interested in the role of the environment in societal collapse. I am investigating the use of phytolith analysis as both means of high-resolution environmental reconstruction and a direct record of human-environment interaction at tell sites. As part of my dissertation, I will be looking at the micro record of destruction layers at my primary field site, Tell es-Safi/Gath, located in central Israel. I hope to compare the environmental conditions of different sites in the Southern Levant during the time of site destruction and compare ways those societies interacted with their environments.

Biography

I’m a sophomore majoring in Forensic Chemistry and Criminal Justice, and I hope to be a forensic pathologist one day. Currently, I’m working on the HEISL project to help determine what the paleoclimate was like in the Levant. My research focuses on phytoliths, and how measurements and quantification of phytoliths can help us determine the paleoclimate by comparing those results with archaeological samples.

Biography

My name is Silje Jaegersen and I’m an undergraduate in the Rutgers Anthropology department. I am majoring in Evolutionary Anthropology on the biology track and minoring in Archaeology. I’m interested in micro-archaeology, prehistory, and paleoecology, and hope to refine my interests through my work in the department. I do phytolith analysis and FTIR in the ALMA lab.

Biography

I am a Sophomore in the Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences. I am majoring in Anthropology and Economics. I am interested in Mesoameican cultures and currently assist in FTIR and Phytolith analyses of mud bricks from Tell es-Safi

Biography

I am a senior majoring in Evolutionary Anthropology on the biology track with an Archaeology minor. In the ALMA lab I do FTIR, surface, and color data. I have an interest in osteology and forensics.

Biography

I am a Pre-Med Sophomore pursuing a B.S. in Health Administration. I am currently assisting in research centered around using phytoliths to identify changes in human activity from the Bronze to Iron ages. With my background in healthcare, I look to participate in research centered around the past population’s health and their healthcare techniques.

Biography

I am a freshman in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University, pursuing a major in Business on a Pre-med track. As a research assistant in the ALMA Lab under Kyra Johnson, I conduct FTIR to develop grinding curves and analyze the macro- and micro-scale effects of heat on bone surfaces.

I am a freshman in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University. I am looking to major in biological sciences or finance with a concentration in pre-health. As a member of the ALMA Lab, I am doing FTIR and analysis of burned bones by collecting measurements, pictures, and color data.

I am a freshman in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University. I am majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in Psychology. As a member of the ALMA Lab, I work using FTIR and take microscopic photos of the surface of bones.