NAU Anthropology currently uses space in two separate areas of campus: Central Campus, and South Campus. On Central Campus, Anthropology personnel occupy Building 49, and the nearby Bilby Research Center. On South Campus, Building 98 D (Emerald City Swing Space), houses faculty offices, departmental administrative offices, a graduate office, a graduate classroom and two seminar rooms.
NAU Anthropology resources and facilities fall into four categories: teaching and research laboratories, classrooms, faculty, and administrative facilities.
The main entrance to Building 98D where the NAU Anthropology faculty and administrative offices are located.
Administrative Offices
Anthropology administrative functions take place in Bldg. 98D. An Administrative Assistant, an Office Specialist, and student worker occupy the Anthropology Administrative office. The Anthropology Laboratories Administrative office is located at the Bilby Research Center in Room 52 where the Administrative Assistant and student employees working on laboratory projects. The office also houses the Labs' extensive map collections, records, and graphic computer lab.
NAU Anthropology Faculty Offices
All faculty offices are located in Blg 98D, the Swing Space on South Campus. All full-time faculty and part-time faculty work in Bldg. 98D. The Hopi Cultural Preservation Office occupies Room 109D. An anthropologist working with HRAA is located in Room 108. Graduate assistants share cubicles in Room 104.
In addition to faculty offices, NAU Anthropology has a lounge/kitchen, a lobby, a reading room and a library.
Graduate Students
There are 14 cubicles for Graduate Assistants housed in Bldg 98D Room 104.
HRAA Office
NAU graduate, Kelly Harris M.A. works with HRAA (Health Research Alliance Arizona) in Room 108.
Hopi Cultural Preservation Office
Archaeologist Mike Yeatts manages the Hopi Cultural Preservation office which is located in 109D.
Hopi Footprints Office
The Hopi Footprints Office is housed in the Bilby Research Center in Room 131. The office houses three project staff for the NEH sponsored project
Anthropology Computing Laboratory (ACL)
Our Anthropology Computing Lab, is housed in SBS West (Bldg 70) Room 102. It provides students with a computer and teaching lab, an interactive classroom, and a graphics, quantitative analysis, ethnographic, and text analysis facility.
NAU graduate students working diligently in the Anthropology Computing Laboratory.
Photo credit Jacki Mullen.
Bilby Research Center: Anthropology Materials and Analysis Laboratories
The Bilby Research Center provides facilities specifically for teaching archaeological materials analysis and biological anthropology. Much of the equipment for the lab was purchased through an NSF ILI grant that was matched by the College. The lab contains ten Leica Wild microscopes, an image analysis system that includes a a computer, pad cam system, digitizer, and image-transmission-equipped microscope.
The teaching lab is an interactive classroom, while also providing resources for student research and independent study. A variety of teaching collections, including fauna, flora, lithic, ceramic, and human skeletal casts, are available for use.
The Bilby Research Center houses four NAU Archaeology materials research and teaching facilities, the Faunal, Lithic, Ceramic, Ceramic, and Paleoethnobotanical Materials Analysis Labs. The Materials Labs are used for faculty and student research and teaching.
Each lab has microscopes, storage facilities, and the Ceramics Lab has a kiln for ceramic source research. The Paleoethnobotany Lab has a flotation system for recovery of minute floral specimens from archaeological soil samples. Each lab has wet section for washing materials preparatory to analysis and a dry section for analysis. Each also has a small, semi-secure storage room for short-term collections storage.
The Bilby Research Center also houses Dr. Wilce's Anthropology Audio-Video Analysis Lab.
Faunal Analysis Laboratory
The Faunal Analysis Lab houses a comparative collection of modern mammal bones from the American southwest and provides a teaching and training facility for graduate and undergraduate students. The collection is used for teaching and research projects. Most of the research in the fauna lab is on student projects, both in Anthropology and Quaternary Studies. The lab also provides a secure place for storage and study of faunal materials received on loan for research purposes from museums around the country. The space currently is shared with the Navajo Nation Archaeology Department.
Lithic Analysis Laboratory
The Lithic Analysis Lab, directed by Dr. Francis E. Smiley, holds lithic comparative collections from northern Arizona, southeastern Utah, and New Mexico. The lab provides facilities for the analysis of prehistoric stone tools and the waste materials from tool manufacture.
The lab has two Wild Leica binocular microscopes for analysis of lithic materials and provides a teaching and training facility for graduate and undergraduate students. Currently, the lab provides facilities for the analysis of materials from the Colorado Plateau Agricultural Origins Project field excavations in southeastern Utah.
Ceramic Analysis Laboratory
The Ceramic Analysis Lab, directed by Dr. Kelley Hays-Gilpin, provides a facility for taking on contracts to analyze pottery from salvage and research projects anywhere on the Colorado Plateau and provides a teaching and training facility for graduate and undergraduate students. The lab is also used by the Navajo Nation Archaeology Department to analyze pottery from several contract projects and by students taking ANT 552, Ceramic Analysis. The ceramic lab houses comparative collections of pottery and samples of clay and other materials from Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Dr. Christian Downum also uses the lab for research, contractual projects, and workshops.
Paleoethnobotany Laboratory
Directed by Dr. George Gumerman, this lab provides a facility for research and contractual work on archaeologically recovered prehistoric plant remains. The facility has heavy use by two very active faculty members and numerous student workers, graduate researchers, and project employees. The materials processed and analyzed in the lab come from South America, the American Midwest, and the American Southwest. The lab houses comparative collections of American flora and provides a teaching and training facility for graduate and undergraduate students.
Visual Anthropology Laboratory
The Department currently teaches a variety of visual anthropology and multimedia production workshops. We also produced a number of visual anthropology projects. We have developed a state-of-the-art computer lab that focuses on video/DVD editing and production. The lab is equipped with Mac computers and Final Cut Pro video editing software, which is being used for classes, training, and faculty and student projects. In addition, Dr. Wilce uses the lab for his linguistic anthropology laboratory class (ANT 514). The lab is housed in the Bilby Research Center, Room 131.
Dr. James Wilce working in the Visual Anthropology Laboratory analyzing audible and visual dimensions of communication.
Photo credit Dr. Francis Smiley
Anthropology Paleodiet Stable Isotope Laboratory
Located in Building 49, the Paleodiet Laboratory is run by Dr. Kellner and processes archaeological soils, water, plants, fauna, and human bones and teeth for stable isotope analysis. Dr. Kellner and her graduate students and undergraduate interns can determine the diet, health, and migration patterns of prehistoric people. Dr. Kellner is currently focusing on prehistoric societies in Peru and Bolivia (A.D. 1-1000) in order to investigate the biocultural effects of the rise of sociopolitical complexity.
Classrooms
The majority of our classes are held in the SBS and SBS West buildings. The Department also has three classrooms in Building 98D that are used for graduate seminars and classes for anthropology majors.
