Author Archives: Megan M.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?

Posted on February 22, 2013

I’m going through some old files here in the lab, and came across an interesting book review by Jim Fitting from 1972.  He was looking at 3 books about ‘Science and Archaeology’, and asking the question anthropologists still debate today … Continue reading →

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The World until Yesterday vs The Foraging Spectrum

Posted on January 31, 2013

In all of the discussion lately about Jared Diamond’s new book, The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies, I haven’t heard anyone bring up the book that keeps coming to my mind, so I figured I … Continue reading →

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Geertz on cultural anthropology

Posted on January 9, 2013

This is one of my favorite quotes. I read it often when I get frustrated with how my research is going: “This backward order of things – first you write and then you figure out what you are writing about … Continue reading →

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Historical Particularism, Achieved Status and the End of Days

Posted on December 20, 2012

The last time I taught Introduction to Anthropology, I decided to use the Mayan Apocalypse phenomenon as a case study for how we recognize and evaluate pseudoscience. We discussed what the students had heard about Maya eschatology, figured out what … Continue reading →

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Bad ‘anthropological’ movie reviews

Posted on November 10, 2012

Most folks who know me know that I LOVE bad movies. There’s a limit, but with the right crew watching a film with you, some of the worst plots, strangest special effects and annoying characters can become downright hilarious.  When … Continue reading →

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Student Engagement and Engaging with Students

Posted on September 22, 2012

I’ve had a really busy week, but it’s ended on a fun note, even if I did drop a folder full of graded papers into a deep oily rain puddle outside of this coffee shop. I’m interested in getting students … Continue reading →

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Plant domestication and my garden

Posted on August 8, 2012

Archaeologists spend a lot of time thinking about the origins of gardening, and eventually agriculture. What makes a person start caring for a set of plants? What makes them start to intentionally grow them? We know that people in several … Continue reading →

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Big MANnequin

Posted on June 22, 2012

I’m in a giddy, slap-happy mood. So I thought I’d post a strange photo from my archives. While I was in Northern Wisconsin a few years ago I stopped by a local museum to view their exhibits. When I asked … Continue reading →

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Wendake

Posted on June 20, 2012

Kwe! I just got back from a conference in Wendake, the Huron-Wendat Reserve in Quebec City.  There’s so much that I want to write about from this trip, but I need to figure out how to organize my thoughts.  So … Continue reading →

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Archaeology in Ontario

Posted on June 7, 2012

I’ll be heading to Quebec next week for a conference in Wendake, organized by the Wendat community that lives there. I’m quite excited and nervous about the conference, but I’ll blog about that later. Tonight, I just wanted to post … Continue reading →

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