• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Far Western

Far Western

Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., is a leader in cultural resources management services. Since 1979, Far Western has consulted in archaeological projects for private industry, government agencies, tribal organizations, and non-profit groups, to achieve the broader goals of the environmental review and compliance process.

  • SERVICES
    • Archaeobotanical Analysis
    • Artifact Analysis and Collections Management
    • Effects Mitigation
    • Environmental Planning Support
    • Evaluation and Testing
    • Geoarchaeology
    • GIS and Cartography
    • Historical Archaeology
    • Inventory
    • Monitoring
    • Paleontological Services
    • Public Outreach and Interpretation
    • Sensitivity and Constraints
    • Tribal Liaison
    • Underwater Archaeology
    • X-ray Fluorescence Sourcing
  • OFFICES
    • Contact Us
    • Main Office – Davis, CA
    • Bay Area Branch – Sausalito, CA
    • Desert Branch – Henderson, NV
    • Great Basin Branch – Carson City, NV
  • STAFF DIRECTORY
    • Full Directory
    • Far Western Principals
    • Principal Investigators
    • Geoarchaeologists
    • Historical Archaeologists
    • Senior Archaeologists
    • Staff Archaeologists
    • Laboratory and Collections Management
    • GIS and Cartography Specialists
    • Data Management
    • Bioarchaeologists
    • Graphic Design and Publishing
    • Administration
  • PUBLICATIONS
    • Our Publications
    • Selected Citations
  • ABOUT ARCHAEOLOGY
    • What is Archaeology?
    • Featured Videos
    • Public Outreach and Interpretation
    • Featured Projects
    • Visualization Gallery
  • NEWS
    • News Posts
    • Far Western Occasional Speaker Series
    • Subscribe to Far Western News
  • JOB POSTINGS
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / Far Western Occasional Speaker Series

Far Western Occasional Speaker Series

Far Western Speaker Series

The Far Western Speaker Series provides a forum where scholars can present their research, and discuss their ideas. Speakers and audience members are diverse, and include some of the top academics in the country, graduate students engaged in cutting-edge research, and archaeologists from the contracting world. Lectures are held at the Far Western Lab at 2727 Del Rio Place, Davis, CA 95618 from 5-7pm.

Selected Occasional Speaker Citations
Upcoming20232022202020192018201720162015201420132012

Graduate Speaker Series – May 18th @ 4:30pm 

Distribution and Chronology of Schist Millingstones in Owens Valley
by Katie Hanrahan, M.A., California State University, Sacramento 

To assess how, why, and when thin portable schist millingstones were used in Owens Valley (Payahǖǖnadǖ), data for 1,432 schist artifacts from 156 sites and isolates were compiled and analyzed. Results support previous interpretations that schist millingstones were portable, curated, and associated with residential sites and features. Results of this research do not support the argument that schist millingstones are temporally diagnostic of the Marana Period, but that use of schist millingstones culminated during the late Haiwee and Marana periods. These findings are integrated to identify implications for Owens Valley prehistory, and suggestions for future research and understanding of ground stone technology in the eastern Sierra.

CalNAGPRA and AB 275: The Reality of Collections Consultation and Repatriation by Leslie Hoefert, M.A., California State University, Sonoma

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the benefits and shortcomings of the California Assembly Bill 275 (AB 275) as an amendment to the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA), related to the process of consultation and repatriation of funerary objects and human remains. A sample of experiences and opinions of the repatriation process were gathered from institutions and tribes to address the beneficial aspects of the legislation, determine what changes have occurred in the consultation and repatriation process as a result of AB 275, and determine the challenges that have been identified by tribes and institutions during compliance efforts. While AB 275 has created additional challenges for tribes and institutions, it was determined to be beneficial in the efforts to address the importance of Indigenous perspectives in collections management and the historical trauma Indigenous communities have experienced over the generations.

Industry and Malady: Entanglements of and Disease Afflicting Breast Cancer Patients in the Bay Area by Brieann DeOrnellas, M.A., San Jose State University

In the United States, breast cancer is culturally understood as a disease that afflicts the individual (Jain 2012); breast cancer is something that “just happens” (DeOrnellas 2017). However, studies have shown that breast cancer rates of industrialized nations have risen over time (Hopkins 1993; Hill 1997). These pockets of the country that have higher incidence rates of women’s cancers can be situated diachronically and alongside the historical context of war, agrochemical use, and notions of American industrial and technoscientific “progress”. As such industries ebb and flow over time, and humans and chemical carcinogens move across space, these maps have become increasingly complex, and obscure links between breast cancer causation and affliction. For this research project, I have utilized autoethnographic  and ethnographic research methodologies to interview breast cancer patients, in efforts to understand whether prevailing discussions of “lifestyle choices” or “genetic risk” are rhetorical controlling processes (Nader 1997) that divert attention from corporate, governmental, or other institutional accountability, and whether or not these discursive diversions shift culpability onto women who are at risk of – or living with – breast cancer. 

The Sacramento City Garbage Crematory Faunal Assemblage: Early Twentieth Century Consumer Patterns by Rachel Davies, M.A., California State University, Sacramento

In response to unsavory sanitation conditions caused by rapid population growth, the Sacramento City Garbage Crematory (CA-SAC-1252H) was established as the city’s first municipal garbage incinerator in 1906 and operated for approximately twenty years. The analysis of the faunal remains recovered from SAC-1252H allows for the examination of historic consumer patterns in Sacramento on a communal level as they relate to increased urbanization, improved product accessibility, industry innovation, and changes to endemic animal populations. Consumption patterns suggest increased reliance on domesticated and non-native animal products. Results regarding industrialized animal husbandry practices and transportation of animal goods from rural areas to urban centers are largely inconclusive due to limited sample size.

Speaker Series Graduate Thesis – May 18

The event is also being livestreamed! Register for the webinar link here:
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/9e1f345e-6ae8-4ec7-b31f721336cf8035@b52184b6-5dbc-4883-9087-14742c0bc7df  

Brittany Hill

2023

Bioarchaeology of Care in Three San Francisco Bay Area Muwekma OOhlone Ancestral Sites. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. February 2023. 

Phil Gross and Brian Byrd

2022

Film: Time Has Many Voices. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. December 2022. 

Carolina Mallol

2022

What Lies Under the Surface and … How Can We Excavate It? Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. November 2022.

Tammara Norton

2020

Film: A Point in Time. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. January 2020.

 

Kevin Smith and Martijn Kuypers

2019

An Experimental Approach and Cautionary Note Regarding Manufacturing Strategies, Efficiency, and Lithic Use Wear Associated with Tule Canoe Production. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. June 2019.

Kate Magargal

2019

Wood fuel ecology in the Intermountain West. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. May 2019.

Todd Braje

2019

Confronting the Clovis-First Void: The Peopling of the Americas and Paleolandscapes of Submerged California. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. February 2019.

Chris Parker

2019

The Archaeological Consequences of Human Fire Use: Analyses, Interpretations, and Implications for Understanding the Evolution of Pyrotechnic Behaviors. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. January 2019.

 

November 14, 2018 – Thomas Whitley SSU

Carly Whelan

2018

An Acorn in the Hand is Worth Two in the Granary: Future Discounting and Food Storage in Prehistoric California. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. May 2018.

Randy Haas

2018

The Last Altiplano Foragers: Archaeology, Ethnoarchaeology, and Economics at 7000BP and 3800masl. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. March 2018.

Albert Gonzalez

2018

Excavating Latinidad: Archaeologies of Latinxs in the United States. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. February 2018.

Daron Duke

2018

The Paleoindian Archaeology of the Old River Bed Delta. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. January 2018.

 

Jack Meyer

2017

The Deep Archaeological Record of San Francisco Bay. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. November 2017.

Hadick, Kacey

2017

Innovations in Reality Capture Technologies for Heritage Sites + Virtual Reality Demonstration. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. October 2017.

Greenwald, Alexandra M.

2017

Parental Investment Strategies and Women’s Foraging Efficiency in Central California.Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. June 2017.

Jazwa, Christopher S.

2017

Settlement, Seasonality, and Climate on Santa Rosa Island, California. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. April 2017.

McGuire, Kelly

2017

The Potential Role of Geophytes, Digging Sticks, and Formed Flake Tools in the Western North American Paleoarchaic Expansion. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. February 2017.

Younie, Angela M.

2016

Two Early Sites in Alaska: a Dramatic Tale of Legacy Collections, Lithic Technology, and Community Perspectives in the Research of the First Americans. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. December 7, 2016.

Sullivan, Alan P.

2016

Fire Farming and Food Security in the Prehistoric Upland Southwest: Some Implications of New Evidence from the Grand Canyon Area. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. October 19, 2016.

Wisely, Justin

2016

Starch Grain Analysis of Bedrock Mortars in the Sierra Nevada Mountains: Experimental Studies to Determine their Function. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. September 21, 2016.

Martindale Johnson, Lucas

2016

Following the Movement of Stone: A Study of Ancient Maya Obsidian from Caracol, Belize. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. May 25, 2016.

Byerly, Ryan

2016

Toolstone Source Characterization in the Olduvai Basin, Tanzania. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. April 20, 2016.

Lambert, John M.

2016

Paleoindian Colonization of the Recently Deglaciated Great Lakes: Mobility and Technological Organization in Northern Wisconsin. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. March 30, 2016.

Higgins, Courtney

2016

Diving into Digital Data: A Look at 3-Dimensional Modeling Applications in Underwater Archaeology. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. February 24, 2016.

Hampson, Jamie

2015

Rock Art and Contested Identity. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. November 4, 2015.

Zwyns, Nicolas

2015

The Upper Paleolithic of Eurasian Steppe Belt: A View from Northern Mongolia. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. October 21, 2015.

Warnash, Scott

2015

Archaeology of the World Trade Center: Lessons Learned from Two Very Different Recovery Approaches. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. September 24, 2015.

Lenzi, Mike

2015

The Utility of Experimental Archaeology for Addressing Research Questions: A Case Study of Crescents from the Western United States. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. September 10, 2015.

Murphy, Laura R.

2015

Geoarchaology, Paleoenvironments, and Hunter-Gatherer Landscape Interactions: Case Studies from the Great Plains, USA. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. June 10, 2015.

Munson, Jessica

2015

Cultural Variation in Classic Maya Royal Rituals: A Lexical Perspective. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. April 29, 2015.

Scholnick, Jonathan B.

2015

Stylistic Patterns and Culture Change: Revisiting Eighteenth-century New England Gravestones. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. March 25, 2015.

Wohlgemuth, Eric

2015

Limits to the Central California Acorn Economy: Fine-grained Floral Findings from the Lower Sacramento Valley. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. February 25, 2015.

O’Connell, James F.

2015

Where Shall We Have Lunch? The First Colonization of Australia 48,000 Years Ago. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. January 22, 2015.

Smith, Kevin N.

2014

San Nicolas Island Fishhook Production. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. December 3, 2014.

Tremayne, Andrew H.

2014

The Origin and Development of Maritime Adaptations in Northern Alaska: An Ecological Perspective. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. November 19, 2014.

Whelan, Carly S.

2014

Hunter-Gatherer Storage and Settlement: A View from the Central Sierra Nevada. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. May 21, 2014.

Lightfoot, Kent

2014

The Anthropocene in California: An Eco-Archaeological Perspective. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. February 20, 2014.

Smith, Chelsea M.

2014

Stable Isotope Analysis to Reconstruct Dog and Fox Diet on San Nicolas Island. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. January 22, 2014.

Woodfill, Brent

2013

Community Engagement and Industrial Archaeology at a Classic-Period Maya City in Guatemala. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. December 3, 2013.

Ugan, Andrew, and Jeff Rosenthal

2013

Planorbids, People, and Paleolakes: Freshwater Molluscs and their Implications for Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Human Occupation of China Lake Basin, Western Mojave Desert. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. November 13, 2013.

Rich, Michelle

2013

El Perú-Waka’, Guatemala: Archaeological Research in a Classic Maya Kingdom. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. September 26, 2013.

Sandos, James A., and Patricia B. Sandos

2013

Mapping Social and Cultural Change at a California Mission: San Jose, 1797-1840. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. August 22, 2013.

Eerkins, Jelmer

2013

Why Fishing and Hunting Matter: Health and Diet in Prehistoric Central California. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. May 15, 2013.

Barker, Pat

2013

Animal Imagery in European Ice Age Cave Art. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. March 20, 2013.

Costello, Julia

2013

Summer in Tyre, Southern Lebanon. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. February 27, 2013.

Bartelink, Eric

2012

Forensic Anthropology: Past, Present, and Future. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. December 5, 2012.

Bettinger, Robert

2012

Hunter-Gatherer Origins of Millet Agriculture in China. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. November 13, 2012.

Bartelink, Eric

2012

Interpersonal Violence in the Prehistoric San Francisco Bay Area. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. June 6, 2012.

Stevens, Nathan

2012

Technological Plasticity and Cultural Evolution Along the Central Coast in California. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. May 29, 2012.

Darwent, John

2012

Beach Ridge Archaeology on Cape Espenberg, Alaska. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. May 16, 2012.

Garvey, Raven

2012

Saying Uncle to Mother Nature: The Middle Holocene in Andean Argentina and Other Arid Regions. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. April 11, 2012.

Zeanah, David

2012

Diesel and Damper: Disintensification among the Martu of Western Australia. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. March 20, 2012.

Yengoyan, Aram A.

2012

World’s Fairs and Exhibitionary Complex: Civilization and Culture (1851-1940). Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. February 15, 2012.

SUBSCRIBE

Please subscribe to receive e-mails on all upcoming Speaker Series events

Primary Sidebar

CONTACT US TODAY

Main Office - Davis, CA
(530) 756-3941
Bay Area Branch - Sausalito, CA
(415) 413-1450
Desert Branch - Henderson, NV
(702) 982-3691
Great Basin Branch - Carson City, NV
(775) 847-0223

FEATURED

Visualizing Indigenous Persistence during Spanish Colonization of the San Francisco Bay Area

FAR WESTERN NEWS

Vickie Clay awarded the NAA Silver Trowel Lifetime Achievement

May 17, 2023

Archaeology Reveals Past Lives of Bay Area Native Tribe: Phil Gross and Far Western Produce National PBS Documentary

November 8, 2022

Publication of Seven Thousand Years of Native American History in the Sacramento Valley

October 18, 2022

SUBSCRIBE TO FAR WESTERN NEWS

QUICKLINKS

Statement of Qualifications
GSA Contracting
Current On-Call List
Contact Us
Awards

SPECIAL SERVICES AND EVENTS

X-ray Fluorescence Sourcing
Archaeobotanical Analysis
Occasional Speaker Series
Tribal Liasion
Projects to Honor Native Americans

CONTACT US

Main Office – Davis, CA (530) 756-3941
Bay Area Branch – Sausalito, CA (415) 413-1450
Desert Branch – Henderson, NV (702) 982-3691
Great Basin Branch – Carson City, NV (775) 847-0223

Far Western

Copyright © 2023 Far Western · Crafted by Tangerine Design · Log in