Anthropology faculty and students are conducting many anthropological and archaeological research projects as part of their academic program work and through IUP Archaeological Services.
We work in locations throughout western Pennsylvania, the United States, and the world. A small sampling of our projects:
Research Projects
ethnographic research project on refugee policy and the care of refugee youth in Ethiopia
More than $15 million in projects and technical assistance to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, National Park Service, and dozens of other agencies.
Instrumentation for advanced geophysical and geospatial mapping in faculty and student research obtained through funding from PASSHE and the National Science Foundation.
Excavations, artifact analysis, historical research, and digital archaeology to reconstruct 18th-century life on the Pennsylvania frontier.
Investigation of early metallurgy in southeast China and northern Vietnam during the period 1200–600 BCE.
Excavations, geophysical investigations, and artifact analysis of a pre-contact Native American village.
National Park Service and Cooperative Ecosystem Study Unit funded research at Fort Necessity National Battlefield. Research includes archaeological excavations, geophysical investigations, shovel test pit surveys, metal detector surveys, artifact analysis, and historical
research.
National Science Foundation-funded research to preserve and integrate existing data on the use of animals during the Archaic Period (ca. 10,000–3,000 BP) in tDAR (the Digital Archaeological Record).
Geologic research to study the timing and pacing of mound construction at the Coles Creek period (ca. A.D. 700–1200) Raffman Mound Center as well as investigating possible environmental factors contributing to the site’s abandonment.
National Geographic Society-funded project to survey two shipwrecks associated with this crucial battle zone for the United States and Great Britain in the War of 1812.
Partnering with the Pennsylvania Archaeological Council, the Ellis School in Pittsburgh, and other groups to introduce archaeology methods to elementary, middle, and high school students throughout the state.