Graduate Students
Graduate Student Contributions
Doctoral Students
Donatas Brandisauskas, Anthropology, University of Aberdeen,
United Kingdom
Vladimir Davydov, Anthropology, University of Aberdeen, United
Kingdom
Aline Ehrenfried, Anthropology, University of Aberdeen, United
Kingdom
Kate Faccia, Archaeology, Archaeology, University
of Calgary, Canada
Shirley Johansen, Anthropology, University of Alberta, Canada
Joseph Long, Anthropology, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Alexei Gennad'evich Novikov, Archaeology, Irkutsk State University,
Russia
Peter Hommel, Anthropology, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
Veronika Simonova, Anthropology, University of Aberdeen, United
Kingdom
Andrea Waters-Rist, Anthropology, University
of Calgary, Canada
Tatiana Nomokonova, Anthropology, University
of Alberta, Canada
Ian Fraser-Shapiro, Anthropology, University
of Alberta, Canada
Master's Students
Anastasia Antonova, Biological Anthropology,
Archaeology, University of Calgary, Canada
Petr Kurzybov, Anthropology, University
of Alberta, Canada
Nour Moussa, Laboratory Medicine & Pathology, University
of Alberta, Canada
Graduated Students
Bradley Drouin, MA, Anthropology, University
of Alberta, Canada
Angela Lieverse, PhD, Ecology & Evolutionary
Biology, Cornell University, USA
Hugh McKenzie, PhD, Anthropology, University
of Alberta, Canada
Michael Metcalf, MA, Anthropology, University
of Alberta, Canada
Karen Mooder, PhD, Lab. Medicine & Pathology,
University of Alberta, Canada
Alexei Novikov, Archaeology & Ethnography, Irkutsk State University, Russia
Ana Nunes, Geography, University College London, United Kingdom
Cameron Robertson, Anthropology, University
of Alberta, Canada
Misty Weitzel, Anthropology, University of
Alberta, Canada
Dustin White, PhD, Anthropology, University of Alberta, Canada
Tia Thomson, Anthropology, Lab. Medicine & Pathology, University
of Alberta, Canada
Samara Rubinstein, Anthropology, Temple
University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Elizabeth Gustafson, Lab. Medicine & Pathology,
University of Alberta, Canada
Tatiana Nomokonova, Anthropology, University
of Alberta, Canada
Doctoral Students
| Kate Faccia |
For my doctoral research, I will be performing histological analyses of rib and femoral midshafts with two basic objectives: 1) I will be investigating the applicability of a new 3D histological method for producing more refined age-at-death estimates in damaged and/or incomplete skeletal remains, where traditional macroscopic analyses cannot be performed. In a sample of skeletons for whom sex and age-at-death can be determined by traditional methods, I will use micro-CT to reconstruct patterns of porosity in small samples of midshaft femoral bone. If age-at-death estimates derived from micro-CT analyses correlate well with those derived from traditional histomorphometric and gross morphological methods, the use of this technique for determining age-at-death in incomplete and damaged skeletal remains will be validated. If effective, this new method will allow for more comprehensive paleodemographic reconstructions and more informed analyses of cemetery use and population health in pre- and post-hiatus Lake Baikal hunter-gatherer groups. Additionally, it will introduce a new method of histological age-at-death determination to bioarchaeology. 2) Using rib
and femoral midshaft sections, I will examine differences in activity
levels within and between the pre- and post-hiatus groups. As remodeling
rates are known to increase with loading (i.e., physical activity),
patterns of significant differences in remodeling rates, within
a defined skeletal maturity level, would indicate sex-based and/or
population-based differences in activity levels (i.e., mobility,
foraging behavior, etc.). I will analyze ribs (non-loaded element
for skeletal maturity comparison) to determine a baseline for bone
remodeling rates by sex and by population. Then, using the femora,
I will investigate whether significant differences exist in femoral
remodeling patterns between groups of comparable skeletal maturity.
These data will also be compared with femoral midshaft shape, another
indicator of physical activity. Differences or similarities in behaviorally-mediated
remodeling patterns will then be used to complement other biological
and archaeological analyses comparing social structure and adaptation
in the Kitoi and Serovo-Glaskovo groups. |
| Andrea Waters-Rist |
The main focus
of my doctoral research is on infant feeding practices and their association
with physiological (�weaning�) stress. I am also interested in
the biological relatedness of prehistoric peoples from the Cis-Baikal
region. Methodologies employed include the examination of dental non-metric
traits, pathological dental defects (in particular, enamel hypoplasias)
and stable nitrogen isotope analysis of subadults. The pre-hiatus
Kitoi skeletons I will examine are from the Lokomotiv and Shamanka
II cemeteries and the post-hiatus Serovo-Glaskovo skeletons I will
examine are from the Kurma XI, Ust-Ida I and Khuzhir-Nuge XIV cemeteries.
Dental non-metric trait data is useful for looking at morphological variation among individuals and populations, and can be used to examine biological distance between groups. This data may be informative in addressing the relatedness of pre- and post-hiatus groups. Dental pathology research is useful in a) characterizing aspects of past diet, b) examining the use of teeth as �tools�, and c) characterizing patterns of prehistoric dental health. The average age of occurrence of enamel defects can indicate periods of non-specific physiological stress. Often an increased frequency of enamel hypoplasias is seen in subadults of weaning age. Nursing infants have elevated stable nitrogen isotope values which begin to decline once weaning begins and this is recorded in their bone collagen. An intra-individual sampling strategy of nitrogen isotopes will permit an enhanced understanding of the breastfeeding/weaning status of each individual, and this data will be used in conjunction with enamel hypoplasia data to determine if, and to what extent, weaning was a physiologically stressful event for these populations. |
| Tanya Nomokonova |
|
http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~agas/gradpages/tnomokonova.html |
The
goal of my PhD research is to examine hunting and fishing strategies
among hunter-gatherers of the Lake Baikal region (Siberia, Russia)
during the period of ~9,000–600 BP based on the zooarchaeological
analyses of faunal remains from the archaeological sites. | Ian Fraser-Shapiro |
|
|
Ian
Fraser-Shapiro comes to us from California State University, Long
Beach, California. Lithic sourcing and luminescence dating of
lithics has been the focus of his past research. His thesis was
a pilot study to see if rhyolite could be used for sourcing studies
using LA-TOF-ICP-MS as the analytical tool. He used the results
of this work to examine the interactions between past populations
in the desert west. He is presently attending the University of
Alberta in the Ph.D. programme in the Department of Anthropology.
He has carried out research throughout California, including intensive
work in the western Mojave Desert of California.
For
my PhD research, I will be extending the sampling methodologies
that I developed for my past research and applying them to a new
medium. I will be systematically sampling teeth and sections of
long bones recovered from the Cis-Baikal region and using stable
isotope and trace element analysis to track mobility in pre-historic
populations. The micro-sampling protocols should help to refine
the precision with which we can track these hunter-gatherer groups
as the Master's Students
| Anastasia Antonova |
|
My MA project focuses on the adaptation strategy that prehistoric hunter-gatherers could have employed to adjust to environmental fluctuations during the Holocene epoch. Teeth of subadult individuals were chosen as apparatus in order to investigate that topic, given that dental remains are the most common, well-preserved type of archaeological evidence for past populations. Dental remains of children from Shamanka site (Early Neolithic period) and Ust’-Ida cemetery site (Late Neolithic period) will be used to elucidate either differences or similarities in adaptation tactics of these two chronologically different prehistoric communities. Specifically, I intend to apply dental microstructure method for two purposes of my research. | Petr Kurzybov |
I participated in the excavation of the Shamanka II cemetery site with Mr. Vladimir Bazaliiskii while an under-graduate student at Irkutsk State University. My past research centered on collective burials from cemeteries in the Cis-Baikal region of Siberia, mainly from Shamanka II, Lokomotiv, Ust'-belaia, Galashikha, Fofanovo, etc. My M.A. research at University of Alberta will focus on lithic technologies. |
I
am presently attending the University of Alberta in the M.A. programme
in the Department of Anthropology, under the supervision of Dr.
Weber.
Graduated Students
| Bradley Drouin |
 For
my Master's research project I am looking at the variability in grave
architecture from the Serovo-Glazkovo cemetery Khuzhir Nuge XIV. For
the past year I have meticulously measured and documented the provenience,
size, orientation, inclination, integrity and numerous other variables
of each stone in more than 60 undisturbed graves in an attempt to
find patterns in grave construction techniques. My results will be
compared with radiocarbon dates and osteological information in an
attempt to find meaningful patterns. Preliminary results show that
many graves were constructed in a deliberate manner with liner stones
placed on the inside of the grave walls and large “face”
stones placed on the outside of the cairn. Additionally, flat stones
were often intentionally placed directly on the skeleton (see photo).
Changing grave design and construction techniques may give indications
of changing mortuary practices and behaviour of the Serovo-Glazkovo
people who used this cemetery for a millennia and a half. |
| Angela Lieverse |
|
Link, D.W. 1996 Hunter-Gatherer Demography and Health in the Cis-Baikal Neolithic. Ph.D. Dissertation, Chicago: University of Chicago. Link, D.W. 1999. Boreal forest hunter-gatherer demography and health during the middle Holocene of the Cis-Baikal, Siberia. Arctic Anthropology 36:51-72. |
My
doctoral research focuses on the examination of Neolithic human
skeletal material from four cemetery sites in the Cis-Baikal region
of Siberia. A previous study has suggested significant demographic
and health differences between populations predating a proposed
fifth millennium (BC) biocultural hiatus, and those postdating it
(Link 1996, 1999). My research compares data collected from the
two cemetery sites used in the earlier study (Lokomotiv and Ust'-Ida
I) with data collected from two newly-excavated cemetery sites (Khuzhir-Nuge
XIV and Shamanka II) in order to establish the significance of the
original findings. While only preliminary analyses have been conducted,
these suggest that the health and demographic differences between
the pre- and post-hiatus populations may not be as straightforward
as once thought.| Hugh McKenzie |
 For
my dissertation research I am examining patterns of mortuary activity
in order to derive information about the social and ritual life of
Cis-Baikal hunter-gatherers. In particular, I am interested in exploring
how the mortuary record can be used to explain the different diets
and mobility patterns of Kitoi and Serovo-Glazkovo groups and individuals.
Briefly, I argue that the different ways in which Cis-Baikal hunter-gatherers
moved through and extracted resources from their environment depended
on the different kinds of social relationships they had with human
and non-human constituents of that environment. Many of these social
relationships are also enacted in the context of mortuary activities.
Choice of cemetery location, for example, may represent attitudes
towards the social engagement of particular places (see photo); variation
in mortuary treatment suggests differences in social and political
relations; the interment of animals or animal products may reflect
the social roles that such animals played. The very fact that formal
cemeteries exist at all likely indicates the importance of ancestors
in daily life. Overall, this research will contribute to the development
of more complete models of Middle Holocene life in the Cis-Baikal
by integrating traditional ecological and economic aspects of settlement
and subsistence with social and ritual aspects derived from the mortuary
record. |
|
Mike Metcalf |
 My
project will investigate the social variability of the Bronze Age
Glazkovo hunter-gatherer group based on the archaeological material
recovered from the Kurma XI cemetery. As the first comprehensive examination
of Kurma XI, my research will integrate new archaeological, spatial,
and demographic data with existing information from previously excavated
sites to explain how the social structure of the Glazkovo group is
represented in mortuary practices. To place the cemetery within a
meaningful context, Kurma XI will be compared with the Khuzhir-Nuge
XIV cemetery, excavated by the Baikal Archaeology Project during the
1997-2001 field seasons. Preliminary research has indicated that,
despite their proximity to each other, Kurma XI and the Khuzhir-Nuge
XIV cemetery exhibit a number of significant differences. First, Kurma
XI was markedly smaller, containing 27 graves to Khuzhir-Nuge’s
86. Second, Kurma XI produced a far greater variety and quantity (per
individual) of grave goods. Some of these unique artifacts have few
or no analogies in Cis-Baikal archaeology. The two cemeteries are
located in close proximity to each other spatially, but also co-existed
temporally. Radiocarbon dates suggest that both cemeteries were in
use during the same general period. The deliberate choice to inter
individuals at Kurma XI, rather than at the larger Khuzhir-Nuge XIV
cemetery, may indicate aspects of Glazkovo social organization that
have been previously undocumented. Recent literature has described
Glazkovo society as egalitarian (Link 1998), but more precise descriptions
of social organization are absent from Western literature. The unique
and abundant nature of Kurma XI grave assemblages, in contrast to
the general homogeneity and paucity of grave accoutrements observed
at Khuzhir-Nuge XIV, suggests some degree of social differentiation.
My research will seek to provide a more accurate documentation of
Glazkovo social organization, and obtain a more comprehensive understanding
of how these social relationships are embodied within mortuary protocols. |
| Karen Mooder |
 My
dissertation research focuses on the retrieval of DNA from two prehistoric
cemetery populations in the Lake Baikal region. We are using mitochondrial
DNA markers retrieved from bone samples to test the hypothesis that
the variation observed between the Kitoi and Serovo-Glazkovo is representative
of different population affinities rather than culture change over
time. The excellent preservation of the skeletal material has allowed
us to characterise mtDNA haplogroups through both restriction fragment
length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and DNA sequencing of the mtDNA
hypervariable region I. The frequencies of the mtDNA haplogroups vary
significantly between the Kitoi and Serovo-Glazkovo, lending support
to the hypothesis that the two groups are biologically distinct. When
compared with mtDNA haplogroup frequencies in contemporary Asian populations,
the Serovo-Glazkovo cluster with contemporary Lake Baikal groups,
while the Kitoi cluster with Tibetans and Koreans. We have also undertaken
DNA sexing of subadult and ambiguous individuals through PCR amplification
of the amelogenin locus. To date, we've extracted the sex of 10 subadults,
allowing us to further characterize the demographic profile of these
prehistoric groups. We intend to interpret the DNA data within its
archaeological framework to further enhance statements regarding marriage
patterns and elite status in the Kitoi and Serovo-Glazkovo. |
| Cameron Robertson |
 A
significant feature of mortuary behavior found at the Serovo-Glazkovo
cemeteries Kurma XI and Khuzhir-Nuge XIV is extensive post-interment
disturbance of the graves. It appears that pre-historic people routinely
reopened the graves after burial and removed human remains and/or
artifacts. For example, a number of graves had the head and part of
the upper torso removed when they were disturbed (see photo). Despite
the commonality of grave disturbance in mortuary sites all over the
world there is a striking lack of research and literature dedicated
to the subject. Grave disturbance, often referred to as grave robbing,
seems to be looked upon as a barrier to archaeological interpretation
rather than as a genuine cultural process. In fact, as work at Kurma
XI and Khuzhir-Nuge XIV demonstrate, graves can be disturbed in numerous
ways and for numerous purposes and should not be reduced to the generic
category of "robbing." My project will emphasize that grave
disturbance is an important cultural activity and will focus on documenting
the range of variability in disturbances. This range will then be
juxtaposed against other variables such as frequency of disturbed
graves compared to undisturbed graves, time period between interment
and disturbance, and social and biological characteristics of the
inhabitants of these graves including age, sex, and rank. |
| Misty Weitzel |
 Human
taphonomic research defines, describes, and systematizes the nature
and effects of processes that act on human remains after death. Previous
research of this kind at the Serovo-Glazkovo cemetery Khuzhir-Nuge
XIV (KN XIV) has determined that future studies should focus on explaining
the effects of cultural (particularly mortuary) practices, likely
observable as variation in grave attributes (Lieverse 1999). My dissertation
research examines the impact that grave architecture, charring of
human remains, and grave looting and/or disturbance have on the resulting
skeletal condition. The research design for this project has two important
components, analysis of data from KN XIV and data collected from experimental
projects. Experimental research is currently being conducted at a
replica cemetery site at the University of Alberta Ellerslie Biological
Field Station. Experimental graves were constructed based on what
is known of Serovo-Glazkovo graves, and domestic pigs (Sus scrofa)
were used as human analogues in the experiments (see photo). This
study introduces the important role that human activity plays on skeletal
condition, which has long been overlooked in taphonomic studies. The
methodology is also unique in that it entails a largely experimental
approach to understanding cultural taphonomic factors. Finally, this
research will expand the existing KN XIV dataset and will permit more
comprehensive descriptions of Glazkovo mortuary activity and boreal
forest hunter-gatherer lifestyles in general. Lieverse, A.R. 1999. Human Taphonomy at Khuzhir-Nuge XIV, Siberia. MA Thesis. Edmonton: University of Alberta |
| Samara Rubinstein |
 For
my Ph.D. research I am investigating Siberian prehistory through the
genetic analysis of Neolithic populations from the Lake Baikal region.
This analysis will involve the characterization of sequence variation
in the non-recombining region of the Y chromosome (NRY) in two culturally
distinct Neolithic hunter-gatherer populations from Lake Baikal. The
data generated by this analysis will be used to examine (1) the broad
phylogeographic connections between ancient and modern Siberians,
(2) the genetic relationship between the Neolithic Siberian populations,
and (3) the kinship and demography of individuals from these mortuary
sites. The results of the project will illuminate the process of human
settlement of Siberia, reveal the evolutionary and genetic influences
on population diversity there, and expand our understanding prehistoric
hunter-gatherer behavior.. |
| Elizabeth Gustafson |
My MSc project
looks at the cemetery population of Khuzir-Nuge XIV. This is a cemetery
in the Lake Baikal region of Siberia that was used by hunter-gatherers.
DNA will be gathered form individuals from the cemetery and will
be used for a genetic analysis of the population. The bones in the
cemetery have
been previously shown to contain no DNA due to preservation problems.
To allow genetic analysis a technique to extract DNA from teeth
has been developed. Mitochondrial DNA will be analyzed because of
its well
characterized
nature and the presence of multiple copies. The hypervariable region
I of mitochondrial DNA will be used to determine haplogroups. The
haplogroups can be used to determine relationships between individuals
and haplogroup frequencies can reveal the population history. Gathering
biological data within an archaeological context increases the understanding
of prehistoric
hunter-gatherer behavior. |
| Tanya Nomokonova |
|
The methods that will be (and have been thus far) applied to this research include zooarchaeological laboratory procedures of animal species identification and bone specimen quantification. These analyses will be further used for addressing a number of site-specific taphonomic issues, such as the general state of preservation of faunal bones at site. The information produced by these analyses will be contained in a database of animal remains to aid in the interpretation of prehistoric subsistence strategies for this particular site, for the Little Sea area, and the Lake Baikal area in general. |
The
broad goal of my thesis is to gain a better understand of hunting
and fishing practices among prehistoric culture groups of the
Lake Baikal area during the Holocene (~10,000–800 BP). This
will be accomplished through the zooarchaeological analyses of
animal remains (mainly fish bones) from the multilayered stratified
site of Ityrkhei. These remains can provide information about
ancient diet, habitats exploited, procurement strategies and technologies,
as well as local environmental change. 