Mercyhurst Anthropology/Archaeology

09/25/2026

Not long after folks started domesticating livestock, they began incorporating secondary animal products, like dairy, into their diets. Today, our Food and Foodways students learned about the archaeological evidence for early dairy consumption & the science behind how butter is made, then they made their own! Pic in comments! 🧈

09/21/2026

Dr. Owoc's Intro to Archaeology students have been learning the basics of archaeological shovel testing, including how to record provenience information and identify stratigraphic changes 🪏

09/16/2026

Food and Foodways students learned about the social behaviors of hunter-gatherer societies last week, and capped off the lesson by using an Indigenous method of skewering (ponassing) and smoking salmon. Thank you to Urbaniak Brothers for the fish, senior Ethan for helping with the prep work, and Dr. Meyer for sacrificing some tree limbs for this delicious exercise!

08/23/2026

Great story! ⚱️🇲🇽👨🏼‍🏫

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/21/nx-s1-5939849/how-more-than-1-000-artifacts-were-found-in-a-dumpster-then-returned-to-mexico?fbclid=IwdGRjcAT31JJjbGNrBPfTn3Bkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEe7_Bd2U1SfMtGjArF27Pa4xQKLQUZ_3GwsUj1z8cnEaPxuV0RUpJjCSxnYog_aem_l4-mLnOsDieD1I95zzrN6g

More than 1,000 pre-Hispanic artifacts are being repatriated to Mexico from the United States thanks to Jeremy Pilver, a licensed archeologist in Connecticut, and his high school students.

08/19/2026

Lakers, head on over to the Campus Involvement Fair outside of the Student Union to sign up for Mercyhurst Anthropology Club and other cool RSCOs!

08/18/2026

Aaaaand we're back! We're looking forward to getting this year started, Lakers!! 💙⚓💚

08/11/2026

It's Erie Gives Day! 🎁
If you are able, please consider making a donation to support the local organizations that are making our community a better place!

We are proud to be a part of Mercyhurst University, whose commitment to service is incredible! And our Anth/Arch program has been so fortunate to work with amazing organizations like the Urban Erie Community Development Corporation, The Script Project, and Erie Arts and Culture!

Please browse the list and show some love for MU and our wonderful community partners! 💐

Erie Gives is a project of The Erie Community Foundation (Tax ID #25-6032032). 100% of contributions are granted directly to the nonprofit organizations in support of their charitable mission.

06/16/2026

🤩🤩🤩

A group of indigenous Taiwanese left on Monday to paddle to the Philippines on a hand-built wooden canoe across the ​Bashi Channel, reviving a maritime route dormant for hundreds of years and re-establishing ‌a lost cultural connection.

06/02/2026

https://iai.tv/articles/the-divide-between-art-and-science-is-a-mistake-auid-2660

Adding creativity into the method

05/20/2026

During the last week of classes, our Hunters and Gatherers students created their own art inspired by contemporary Aboriginal art from Papunya in Australia's Northern Territory. Remaining faithful to the spiritual significance of this art form, students chose an important or formative life event that they represented using as many documented symbols as possible (and creating their own when necessary), and used the "dotting" technique as a barrier between the sacred knowledge and the profane.