K-STATE ANTHROPOLOGY Kansas State University

Drs. Ritterbush & Logan

During the month of June 2016, 12 K-State undergraduates joined Drs. Brad Logan and

Lauren W. Ritterbush in exploring the prehistoric cultural landscape of the Manhattan area

through the Kansas Archaeological Field School. The students learned standard archaeological

field techniques for recovering data from various prehistoric archaeological sites in the Wildcat

Creek drainage. Their experience included survey and excavation designed to evaluate the

significance of two adjacent sites for the National Register of Historic Places. They also sur-

veyed several specialized upland sites including one where ancestral Native Americans tested

and recovered chert for making stone tools, perhaps over thousands of years. During their final

weeks they practiced mapping skills (using a total station and GPS), establishing a grid, site

plan drawing and photography, and various excavation skills on yet another site. The state

archaeologist of Kansas joined the crew for this unique experience widening the breadth of

student learning and discovery. These were also expanded through field trips to an ongoing

archaeological project at an historic site in Council Grove, the Flint Hills Discovery Center, and

the Pawnee Indian Museum State Historic Site. The team of students bravely weathered the

unusually hot June with good humor, gained much knowledge and experience, and enjoyed the

training, discovery, and camaraderie.

http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/jun16/fieldschool62016.html

http://www.k-state.edu/sasw/anth/field-school/

Top left: Participants of the 2016 Kansas Ar-

chaeological Field School along Wildcat Creek.

Top right: Susan (Cheng) Schmidt and Ben

McCarthy screen excavated sediments in the

search for artifacts.

Bottom: Prof. Lauren Ritterbush, Alicia Hoff-

man, and Jordan Casey excavate and docu-

ment finds during the 2016 Kansas Archaeo-

logical Field School.

All photos courtesy of K-State’s Photo Services.

Dr. Durband

Dr. Arthur Durband joined the Anthropology faculty at K-State in Fall 2015. Before his move

to Manhattan he taught at Texas Tech for 10 years, and was a Fulbright Senior Scholar to Aus-

tralia in 2014. He received his doctorate from the University of Tennessee in 2004, and he is a

paleoanthropologist interested in the origins of modern humans and the peopling of Australia.

Dr. Durband is teaching a variety of courses at K-State, including new courses like Myth and

Mystery in Physical Anthropology and Introduction to Human Evolution. He will also teach upper

level courses in Paleoanthropology and Primate Behavior while splitting the introduction to

Physical Anthropology teaching duties with Dr. Alfonso-Durruty. He and his wife Dottie Durband,

the Director of the School of Family Studies and Human Services, both received funding from

the “Oz to Oz” program at K-State to develop a study abroad program to the Northern Territory

of Australia. They are planning to launch this program with a trip during June 2017. In addition

to his teaching, Dr. Durband has an active research agenda. In July 2016, he gave an invited

lecture at the launch of the Research Centre of Human Evolution at Griffith University in Bris-

bane, Australia. He is working with colleagues in Zurich, Switzerland to digitally reconstruct

Australian fossil skulls, including Lake Mungo 3, currently the oldest known human skeleton in

Australia. He was an author on two published papers during 2016, one in the American Journal

of Physical Anthropology and the other in Australian Archaeology.

Dr. Falcone

Cultural Anthropology professor, Jessica Falcone, received an NEH Faculty Development

Grant to fund participation in “Buddhist Asia: Traditions, Transmissions, and Transfor-

mations” (a 5-week Asian Studies Development Program Summer Institute at the East-West

Center in Honolulu) in the summer of 2015. The NEH grant provided for a very educational and

productive summer, which enabled her to prepare an Asian Religions syllabus for our K-State

students in Spring 2016. While at the East-West Center, she used the University of Hawai'i

archives to start work on her next research project on Japanese-American Buddhist practices in

Hawai’i. She subsequently received permission to begin research at the Zen center in Kona;

after the Institute, she flew to Kona and did preliminary research at the Daifukuji Soto Mission to

get the ball rolling. In March 2016, she returned for a short 10-day fieldwork stint to observe a

unique annual pilgrimage ritual (known as sunafumi), in which a Japanese pilgrimage route in

the homeland was replicated in miniature in the temple in Hawai’i. She will continue her work on

this project during a lengthy fieldwork period on sabbatical in Spring 2017.

Kansas State University Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and Social Work 2016

Dr. Wesch

Dr. Wesch continues to explore the

potential for telling anthropological stories

in new ways. After finishing up a 3D virtu-

al reality “empathy game” about living

with Alzheimer's with the Spring 2015

Digital Ethnography team, he went on to

teach himself how to animate and re-

leased his first animation, “The Sleeper,”

in August 2015. He also learned how to

do handstands, an endeavor which land-

ed him on the operating table for wrist

surgery but also reminded him about the

challenges of learning something new. He made a video about this, “What Handstands and

Baby George Taught Me About Learning,” that went viral on Facebook. He redid his Introduc-

tion to Anthropology course syllabus and recorded a “Trailer” for the course which was featured

by the American Anthropologist. He has become an active member of the Future of Storytelling

Community where he launched another new video called “Unboxing Stories.” He is currently

launching a new podcast about college life and is creating a free open Introduction to Cultural

Anthropology course with Ryan Klataske (Class of ‘05). You can see his work and keep up to

date with his latest on myteachingnotebook.com.

Anthropology Alumni - Kansas State University

Dr. Alfonso-Durruty

In the last year, Dr. Alfonso-Durruty has published two articles. The first paper was pub-

lished in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, and addressed the antiquity and distri-

bution of cranial modification among the prehistoric groups of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia

(Chile). The article drew popular attention and was featured in BBC Earth and the Smithsonian

Institution webpage. Her second publication examines growth patterns among the Qom and

Wichi natives of Northwestern Argentina. The article has been accepted and will appear in the

American Journal of Human Biology. In the meantime, the article can be accessed through

early view.

Dr. Alfonso-Durruty is currently directing her own research on the genetics of ancient and

modern populations of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. This study is being funded through the

Genographic program of the National Geographic foundation. Results of this project were pre-

sented in a talk and a poster at this year’s Annual meetings of the American Association of

Physical Anthropology (Atlanta). Two other presentations, regarding genetic results, and 3D

modeling of the material used to study ancient DNA were given at the Annual Meetings of the

Society for American Archaeology (Orlando).

In addition, Dr. Alfonso-Durruty is the international expert in two grants, one of them exam-

ines the interactions of marine and terrestrial groups in Fuego-Patagonia during the prehistoric

times, and the other one explores dietary changes during the Late Intermediate Period in North-

ern Chile. Both grants are funded by FONDECYT (National Funds for the Advancement of Sci-

ence and Technology Chile). Thus, during the summer months, Dr. Alfonso-Durruty conducted

three weeks of laboratory work at the National Museum of Natural History in Santiago, Chile,

where she analyzed the Gusinde Collection from Isla Dawson, Patagonia. Additionally, she

travelled to Northern Chile where, during another three weeks, she analyzed a large group of

prehistoric individuals dated to the Late Intermediate period, housed at the Museo San Miguel

de Azapa, Arica, Chile. While there, she was invited to give a Magisterial Class on the peopling

of Patagonia at the Instituto de Alta Investigación (Institute for Advanced Research), Univer-

sidad de Tarapacá, Chile.

Dr. Prins

Dr. Harald E.L. Prins served for a second year on an international panel for the Fejos award

in ethnographic film for the Wenner-Gren Foundation in New York City. He was also contracted

by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to contribute on ethnographic photographs for

a forthcoming exhibit and authored an essay titled “All Bones and Beads’: Penn’s Surreal Eth-

nographic Photographs” for an edited volume to be published by The MET/Yale U Press. Dr.

Prins co-authored revised editions of two international textbooks in anthropology and is com-

pleting a book on indigenous history in coastal Maine, on which he will present at the Transat-

lantic Studies Conference in England. Most importantly, he serves as the lead expert witness for

the Penobscot Indian Nation in a federal court case defending tribal boundaries and fishing

rights. After a mixed ruling by the U.S. District Court in December 2015, the case is being ap-

pealed at the First Circuit Court in Boston.

Dr. Prins and Penobscot Indian World War II

veteran Charles Shay at the Sieg River in Ger-

many. A combat medic in an assault platoon, 19-

year-old Private Shay was awarded a Silver Star

for heroism at Omaha Beach on D-Day. Soon

after the Battle of the Bulge, he was captured by

German enemies at this location in early 1945.

Having accompanied this tribal elder on his

pilgrimage to major battle sites and war cemeter-

ies, Dr. Prins successfully nominated him for the

Legion of Honor, with the French President

personally inducting him as Chevalier (Knight).

Having assisted Mr. Shay with the publication of

his memoir, he is now completing his life history

(under contract with the University of Nebraska

Press).

Passing of Archaeological Colleague, Dr. Donna Roper

Donna C. Roper, Adjunct and Research Associate Professor with K-State’s Department of

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, succumbed to colon cancer August 15, 2014. Dr.

Roper was a consummate professional archaeologist who became an authority on Native peo-

ples and archaeology in the central Plains. She began her education at Hartwick College in

Oneonta, NY, where she followed a long family tradition with that institution. She developed her

interest in archaeology during a Hartwick College experience in Veracruz, Mexico, and earned a

B.A. in History with Departmental Honors in 1968. This prepared her for graduate studies in

Anthropology with an emphasis in archaeology. She completed her Master’s and Doctorate

degrees, respectively, at Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1970 and the University of Mis-

souri, Columbia, in 1975. After directing a major archaeological project through the latter institu-

tion she joined Gilbert/Commonwealth Inc. of Jackson, Michigan as Senior Archaeologist and

Project Manager, becoming a partner with Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group in 1988.

Several projects for Commonwealth took Donna to Nebraska, where she developed a genuine

love for the Great Plains. In 1991 she fulfilled her dream to live and work regularly in the region

by moving to Manhattan, Kansas and making it her home. Here she completed a wide range of

archaeological projects through K-State and as an independent contractor. Dr. Roper helped

train and inspire a number of students and future archaeologists through occasional courses at

K-State and the University of Kansas, participation on graduate committees at several institu-

tions, and employment of students on some of her many research and cultural resource man-

agement projects. Truly dedicated to her profession, she actively participated in regional profes-

sional and avocational organizations and enjoyed every opportunity to help the public under-

stand this region’s fascinating past. Through her research, teaching, and service, Dr. Roper

leaves a strong legacy. Her extensive research documents will be curated at the Richard L.D.

and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Special Collections at K-State, made possible through a

Historical Archives Program grant awarded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological

Research. A fund will also be established in her memory through the Plains and Anthropological

Society to provide grants for archaeological research in the Great Plains.

Archaeological field school students learn about earthlodge construction and longevity during the 1998 K-

State archaeological field school directed by Dr. Donna Roper by dismantling and documenting an 11-year-

old reconstruction of a Central Plains earthlodge.

Kansas State University

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work

204 Waters Hall

1603 Old Claflin Place

Manhattan, KS 66506

(785)-532-6865

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Even as we celebrate the successes of our faculty, students and alumni, we recognize that our students need increasing support, especially in the face of rising tuition and dwindling state funds. To learn how you can support K-State Anthropology, please contact the KSU Foundation Arts & Sciences development team at (800) 432-1578. To make a gift to the Anthropology Fund online (Fund # F01477), please click here. Thank you!

We would love to hear from our alumni! Please send any announcements to be included in future newsletters to Dr. Durband at durband@ksu.edu.

Alumni: