Evan M. Mann
Evan M. Mann
Archaeologist | Adjunct Lecturer | PhD Student
Archaeologist | Adjunct Lecturer | PhD Student
"the question is not whether we can find symbols archaeologically, but whether we can find anything cultural that is not symbolic"*
Hello! I am a doctoral student in the anthropology department of The Graduate Center, CUNY in NYC, NY, and I received my BA in Anthropology & Economics from the University of Miami in 2017.
My current research combines geochemical and lipid analysis to the ceramic vessels of hunter-gatherers in order to investigate the links between technology, production, and use.
I have conducted fieldwork focusing on hunter-gatherers in the Caribbean, South America, and the High Laurentian region of Québec, the latter of which is the focus of my current works.
IN THE FIELD
Can You Dig It?
The High Laurentians, Québec
My current fieldwork focuses on the Algonquian speaking hunter-gatherers who occupied the many lake and river systems north of the Ottawa River in Québec.
Our surveys and excavations in the area have uncovered hundreds of artifacts that span thousands of years of human presence and extends all the way up to the 20th century.
These artifacts include lithic tools, debitage, ceramic vessels and pipes (ancient & historic), and many utilized animal remains.
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
As a Research Assistant on this NSF funded Bioarchaeology project, I was given the great opportunity to work with a skeletal assemblage from the oases of the driest desert in the World!
Due to these extremely dry conditions we were able to identify the many remnants of pathologies and use marks that give a unique look into the everyday lives of hundreds of
hunter-gatherers during the 1st millennium CE.
Tibes Ceremonial Center, Puerto Rico
During an internship with the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian, our team worked at one of the oldest known ceremonial centers in the Caribbean.
Excavating in an active park brings many challenges, especially to conservation efforts, but the opportunity to communicate our research and findings with the public as it comes out of the ground is a benefit all on its own.
RESEARCH
Current and Past Works
Ceramic Technology, Production, & Use
Dissertation Work
My current research uses multiple archaeometric techniques, such as pXRF geochemical and GC-MS lipid analyses, in order to better understand how the hunter-gatherers of the Middle Woodland Period in the NE chose, produced, and utilized their ceramic vessels.
Digitizing Indigenous Landscapes
GIS Modeling and Analysis
Geographic Information Systems are powerful tools, not only for the visualization of data, but intensive investigation as well. By digitizing the information in historical surveys and maps during the contact period of the Northeast, I intend to recreate a digital surface that more closely represents the landscape before European impressions were made. This can be used to further understand how nomadic populations chose, utilized, and moved through the land they occupied.
Shellfish Utilization as Tools
Undergraduate Honors Thesis
My initial research used zooarchaeological methods and an optimum foraging model to identify how the hunter-gatherer populations of the prehistoric Florida Keys collected and utilized shellfish. My results show that these groups not only used these resources for subsistence but as primary tool blanks and raw materials in lieu of quality lithic sources.
SUPPORT & COLLABORATIONS
Fulbright Program
Fulbright Student Fellow
National Science Foundation
Graduate Research Fellow
The Graduate Center, CUNY
COURSES
Come Join The Conversation...
Ancient Peoples and Cultures
ANTH 212
This Lecture based course introduces students to the major ideas, science, and supporting artifacts within the worldwide discipline of Archaeology. Topics covered include; hominin evolution and cultural changes that occurred during the last ice age, the agricultural revolution, and the move to first states (e.g. Mesopotamia, Egypt, Maya, etc).
Methods in Archaeological Science
ANTHC 127
An introductory Lecture & Lab course that presents the scientific methods employed by today's archaeologists. Each class meeting, a specific method of analysis will be presented, to which a lab will follow. During these labs students receive the opportunity to gain hands-on experience utilizing current scientific methods on real historic and ancient artifacts.
North American
Archaeology
ANTH 243
This Lecture based course focuses on the major themes of research in North American Archaeology such as; the peopling of the New World, the
diversity of hunting-fishing-gathering adaptations on the continent, the development of permanent settlements, the emergence of food production, the rise of social complexity, and the contact between Europeans and Native Americans.
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EDUCATION
The Graduate Center, City University of New York, NY
Current PhD Student
Department of Anthropology
University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
Bachelor of Arts
Double Major in Anthropology/Economics with a minor in Finance.
UPDATES
SEE WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO..
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