Michigan Archaeological Society

Upper Grand Valley Chapter

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Meetings

UGVC holds its meeting on the 3rd Wednesday of every month from September-April in Baker Hall on the MSU campus at 6:30 p.m.

Michigan Archaeological Society

Upper Grand Valley Chapter

January 20^th, 6:30 p.m.

Baker Hall Room 454

Speaker: Dr. Lynne Goldstein

Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University

Spatial Archaeology of Identity: The Historic Tucson Cemetery Project

This talk will focus on a project that I have been working on for the past four years. It is the Joint Courts Complex archaeological data recovery project, and includes a historic cemetery in the middle of downtown Tucson, Arizona, dating from 1860s-1880s. Using spatial data in addition to archaeological, historical, and osteological data derived from the project, I’ll talk about how identity is expressed in mortuary behavior. For this project, Statistical Research, Inc., completely excavated a 4.3-acre, multi-component site in downtown Tucson. The project area included a prehistoric component, a large nineteenth-century cemetery, and the remains of post-cemetery residential and commercial development. From the cemetery, over 1300 burials were recovered, and include individuals representing Native American, European American, Hispanic, African American, and other groups. It is the largest historic cemetery yet excavated in the U.S.

We tend to think of mortuary sites as fixed over time, yet they are not. They change, and may change in the future. Along with these changes can come changes in perspectives of sacredness. I will look at the definition, characteristics, and nature of a cemetery, especially since this one was covered over. I also look at identity and how both personal and community identities are represented in cemeteries. I will also consider, compare, and analyze reburial ceremonies from this cemetery.

Officers

President: Terry Brock brockter@msu.edu

Vice President: Frank Raslich raslichf@msu.edu

Secretary: Nicole Raslich raslichn@msu.edu

Treasurer: Tracy Tichnell tichnel1@msu.edu

Links

For some great pictures and information on the MSU Marquette Mission Site that MSU dug, click on the link.