Geoarchaeologists combine techniques and data from earth sciences and archaeology to learn more about the lifeways, adaptations, history, and development of past peoples and the sites they created. UMaine scientists use a geoarchaeological approach to
- Determine the landscapes and environmental contexts of ancient settlements
- Reconstruct paleoclimate in the vicinity of archaeological sites and regions
- Assess how past peoples used local resources
- Track the movement of raw materials, products, and people across the landscapes of the past
- Study how archaeological sites formed and were altered through time by natural and human forces
Faculty
Daniel Belknap, Harold Borns, Ann Dieffenbacher-Krall, George Jacobson, Joseph Kelley, Kirk Maasch, Brian Robinson, Daniel Sandweiss, David Sanger, Kristin Sobolik, and Rick Will.
Research
Quebrada Jaguay: Early South American Maritime Adaptations
Daniel Sandweiss
DNA analysis of human paleofeces
Kristin D. Sobolik
Central Andean Geoarchaeology Group
Contributions to Science:
Climate Change El Niño
Early Maritime Adaptations
Paleoindian Mobility and Aggregation Patterns
Paleonutrition: Diet, DNA, and Sex Determination
Paleoindian environments of the Northeast