UMass Boston Historical Archaeology Graduate Program

05/26/2026

Congratulations to all of our MA students graduating this week and upcoming over the summer! Not everyone is pictured, but here are a few images from the Department graduation ceremony today. Congrats to Katie Brauckmann, Andrea Chavez, Kristen Delatour, Iris Glinski, Megan Goldstein, Tyler Perkins, Trace Podder, Claire Ross, Samantha Side, and Chiara Torrini!

05/21/2026

Congratulations to Amélie Allard on the publication of her book! Dr. Allard completed her MA in the Historical Archaeology program at UMB, went on to the University of Minnesota for her PhD, and now teaches at Rhode Island College.

04/30/2026

This week's is from Tara Noel: My thesis research explores the history of a local Hispanic rancho by the name of El Rancho de las Golondrinas, located just southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Currently situated as a living history museum in the contemporary moment, the rancho’s historical occupation ranges from the mid-18th to 19th century, during which its residents witnessed the Spanish colonial period, Mexican independence, and American territorialization. In order to under-stand this fluid social, political, and economic landscape, I am utilizing the archaeological evidence of ceramics to explore how Golondrinas’ residents were using this specific mate-riality to adapt to conditions within a frontier setting, express their identities, and negotiate relationships with other communities residing in the region. A core part of understanding these questions is tracing the high quantity of locally produced ceramics made by Indige-nous potters to specific traditions of ceramic production in New Mexico. This tells us who was interacting with Golondrinas’ residents and what goods the rancho’s residents de-sired or needed for daily tasks. Preliminary results show Golondrinas’ residents were pre-dominantly acquiring ceramics from the Tewa Pueblos for decorated and utilitarian wares, as well as forming more distant connections with Pecos Pueblo, Apachean tribes, and Middle Rio Grande communities within the Puname tradition. In addition to this, refined earthenware and majolica show up less frequently at the site, but add a comparative lens on the role of broader imperial markets that weaved their way through New Mexico by way of trade routes like the El Camino Real and Santa Fe Trail. The overall material pattern emerg-ing is a heavy reliance on local goods from regional Indigenous communities, with a more subtle acquisition process of refined ceramics from places much farther away.

Post by Tara Noel

04/23/2026

This week's is from Joseph Kinney: My thesis is investigating methods of understanding class differences at 19th-century rural sites. The data comes from excavations by researchers at Vermont State University at Granger House, a rural farmstead in Castleton, Vermont, built circa 1806, and a collection of Castleton probate inventories from the mid 1800s. Spatial analysis of ceramic ware types will speak to changes in household refuse disposal areas over time, i.e. changes in site use between households, while comparing the probate inventories of Granger House occupants and their contemporaries will complement archaeological data. Excavations at Granger House have produced a ceramic collection of over 10,000 sherds, so while ceramic examination is still ongoing, there are interesting findings from preliminary probate analysis to share.

Isaac T. Wright was a wealthy attorney whose estate was inventoried in 1862. Among his household goods, appraisers counted 13 works of art, listed with shorthand titles and assigned values. The appraisers listed one as "Shakespeare and His Friends," probably referring to the ca. 1858 painting, "Shakespeare and His Contemporaries" by John Faed. Wright's copy was likely an engraving.
Wright's estate is rare in this regard, as only two other estates in my study contained pictures or paintings, perhaps indicating a material distinction between classes. The level of detail the appraisers afforded these pictures is in contrast to how they lumped Wright's table wares as "crockery and glass-ware," with specific decorations or vessel forms seldom specified. The pictures commanded special attention from the appraisers, more so than Wright's table settings, and may have had a similar effect upon guests during Wright's lifetime as well.

Images: the page of Wright's probate inventory with the listed pictures (Vermont State Archives and Records Administration 1863), John Faed's ca. 1858 "Shakespeare and His Contemporaries," and a ca. 1859 engraving of the same.

Joseph Kinney

04/16/2026

Welcome to the series -- highlighting graduate student research! This week's post is from MA student Ella Virkler.

For , an update from MA student Ella Virkler about her research:
My thesis focuses on new methods for identifying draft cattle (oxen) from three bones in the lower limbs. By combining measurements, 3D images, CT scans, stable isotopes, and geometric morphometrics, I hope to combine old methods with emerging methods to figure out the make up the cattle herd at Sylvester Manor, a 17th century provisioning plantation on Long Island, New York. This information will then help in parsing out the everyday lives of those that lived and labored on Sylvester Manor. By focusing on only three bones, the astragalus, metatarsal, and metacarpal, I can conduct in depth research on the individual bones, and find minute changes that set apart draft cattle, meat cattle, and dairy cattle. Documentary research shows that all three groups of cattle were present on the plantation, making it an ideal location for testing new methods on the cattle bones present.
By Ella Virkler
With Sylvester Manor

04/10/2026

Congratulations to Kristen Delatour and Samantha Side who defended their MA theses this week! Both of them worked on material from Sylvester Manor.( but a day late!)

04/03/2026

Congratulations to Katie Brauckmann who defended her thesis today, the first of several in the coming weeks!

03/23/2026

Daniela Balanzátegui and the Latin American Historical Archaeology Lab have organized a two-day seminar on Historical Reparations in the Americas Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Here is the flyer for its distribution with an extended agenda through the QR code.

03/21/2026

Please join us to honor the career, impact, and life of our beloved Anthropology faculty member, Dr. Lauren Sullivan. The program will include colleague, student, and alumni speakers offering personal and professional reflections, as well as food and beverage to celebrate Lauren's life while we also mourn her passing. All are welcome. Please share this announcement in your social media, email, and personal networks as you see fit.
If you are not familiar with campus at all or haven't been here in the last few years, please consult this campus map that shows all the recent changes: https://www.umb.edu/.../pdfs/UMassBoston-campusmap.pdf. The event will be held in the Campus Center in Ballroom C on the third floor. If you come by public transportation, the free shuttle ( #1) from JFK/UMass on the Red Line will take you directly to the Campus Center. If you drive, we recommend parking in the Quad Lot, which is our newest, centrally-located parking lot and the closest one to the Campus Center. It can be hard to find available spaces there, but it might be okay on a Friday afternoon. Otherwise, we recommend the West Garage, which is only a 5-minute walk and has multiple floors of covered parking. All can be seen in the map, which is also available in the QR code in the post.
Any questions? Please email us at [email protected].

Please join us to honor the career, impact, and life of our beloved Anthropology faculty member, Dr. Lauren Sullivan. The program will include colleague, student, and alumni speakers offering personal and professional reflections, as well as food and beverage to celebrate Lauren's life while we also mourn her passing. All are welcome. Please share this announcement in your social media, email, and personal networks as you see fit.

If you are not familiar with campus at all or haven't been here in the last few years, please consult this campus map that shows all the recent changes: https://www.umb.edu/media/umassboston/content-assets/documents/pdfs/UMassBoston-campusmap.pdf. The event will be held in the Campus Center in Ballroom C on the third floor. If you come by public transportation, the free shuttle ( #1) from JFK/UMass on the Red Line will take you directly to the Campus Center. If you drive, we recommend parking in the Quad Lot, which is our newest, centrally-located parking lot and the closest one to the Campus Center. It can be hard to find available spaces there, but it might be okay on a Friday afternoon. Otherwise, we recommend the West Garage, which is only a 5-minute walk and has multiple floors of covered parking. All can be seen in the map, which is also available in the QR code in the post.

Any questions? Please email us at [email protected].

03/16/2026

We are profoundly sad to share that one of our colleagues in the Anthropology Department, Dr. Lauren Sullivan, passed away last week. This was very sudden, so her family, colleagues, and students are in shock and mourning. More information will follow on an event to celebrate her life.