BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: THE STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION

ANTHROPOS
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

VOL.

28, ISSUE 1

SEPTEMBER

ANTHR0P0S IS BACK!
Here is the first
issue of Anthropos,
the newsletter of the
Department of Anthropology, for the
2003-2004 academic
year. We are now in
our 28th year of publication! As in the
past, we plan to publish six issues this
year, three each in the
fall and spring semesters.
As you will see, the
students and faculty
of the Department of
Anthropology had a
busy summer. In this

issue, we are presenting some of their activities. The BU Migrant Community
Project continued its
work with migrant
health and education.
The exchange program with the Universidad VeracruzanaXalapa is well under
way, and several BU
students traveled to
Mexico this summer
as part of this effort.
Sharon Cabana describes her experiences as part of the
statewide honors pro-

SPECIAL POINTS OF
INTEREST:

gram; she traveled to
Ecuador. A new
transfer student, Tina
Biddle describes her
experiences as a volunteer at the University Museum at Penn.
And Dr. Wymer describes some of her
on-going archaeological and paleobotanical
work.
Watch for more
information about the
BU anthropologists in
future issues!

OLDEST MODERN HUMAN SKULLS FOUND
In June, a team of archaeologists from Berkeley announced the discovery of the oldest modem
(Homo sapiens) skulls yet
found. The three skulls,
those of two adults and a
child, were found in eastern Ethiopia and were

160,000 years old. The
previously oldest skulls
were around 100,000
years old.
Team co-leader Tim
White said "All the genetics have pointed to a geologically recent origin for

2003

humans in Africa- and
now we have the fossils."
The skulls differ from
those of today being
slightly larger, longer,
and with more pronounced brow ridges.

•

BU Mi9rant Community
Project- p. 2

•
•

Anthro Club News- p. 3
Grad Schools in AnthropoloB.Y- P· 3

•
•
•
•
•

Alumni News- p. 3

•
•
•
•

Into the Amazon- p. 7

Study in Xalapa- p.4
Student Secretaries- p. 6
Museum Volunteer- p. 6
BU AnthropoloB.f News- p .
6

Dr. Wymer's re~earch- p. 9
Faculty C!_ffice Hours- p.10
Contact Us- p. 10

PAGE

ANTHROPOS

2

BU

MIGRANT COMMUNITY PROJECT NEWS

This summer marked the 7th year that students and faculty have worked
( and volunteered) with the migrant communities in central Pennsylvania.
For the second year, the Migrant Health Outreach office has been operated
exclusively by Bloomsburg students and alumni. Three paid positions and
several volunteers served as interpreters and transporters for the Migrant
Outreach office. The office manager was BL alumnus James Eifler, who returned for the fifth year to work with the migrant population. Anthropology majors Allison Freshwater and Lourdes Vargas worked in ~e program,
as did Dr. Tom Aleto who returned this year to translate and facilitate several
of the Geisinger clinics for the migrants.
The Annual Migrant Summer Leadership Camp was held June 18 & 19,
2003. BU students teamed with migrant middle school ~hildren through

THIS IS THE
SEVENTH YEAR
THAT BU
STUDENTS AND
FACULTY HA VE
WORKED WITH
MIGRANT
HEALTH AND
EDUCATION
ISSUES.

the CSIU and the BU Migrant Community Project for a day of writing activities. Dr. Claire Lawrence's English literature students organized a day of
activities including poetry and photography. Local artist Deb Fleck-Stabley
organized and facilitated art projects for the students. Dr. Susan Dauria prepared BU students in the class for their role in the events by presenting information about the migrant population and the history of the project. Jean
Downing of SOLVE also spoke to the class about service learning. This is
the sixth year that middle and high school migrant children have come to
Bloomsburg as part of the Migrant Community Project's collaborative summer camp activities. The summer leadership programs have been directed

by Jean Downing of the SOLVE office in collaboration with the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit. For more information or photographs, please
contact Dr. Susan Dauria in the Department of Anthropology ( extension
4952 or sdauria@bloomu.edu.)

DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

PAGE

ANTHROPOLOGY CLUB NEWS
The Anthropology Club met for the first time this year to choose officers for the upcoming year and to begin planning for the year's activities.
The officers for the club will be: Co-presidents: Devon Van Horn and Andrea Frantz; co-vice presidents: Abby Thomas and Josh Ramsey; secretary:
Missy Davis; co-treasurers: Brandi Burlingame and Becky McBride; and colibrarians: Lindsay Warns and Erin Goode.
The Club is currently planning on attending the American Anthropological Association meetings in Chicago in November. Preparations are under
way to arrange for transportation (by Amtrak) and hotel rooms. Club members also plan to work as volunteers at the meetings. If you are interested,
see a club member ASAP!

GRADUATE SCHOOLS IN ANTHROPOLOGY
The National Re.s earch Council has ranked the 69 Ph.D. programs in anthropology, using among its criteria the quality of the faculty and faculty
publications. The top program was Harvard's, followed by (in order), Chicago, Michigan, UCLA, Berkeley, SUNY-Stony Brook, Arizona, Penn State,
the University of Pennsylvania and Washington University. The largest program was Arizona's with 4 7 faculty; the smallest was Catholic University
with six faculty.
BU faculty will be interested to know that the average number of publications per year for a Harvard faculty member is 3. 3. Students will want to
know that it takes an average of 10. 9 years to get a Top Ten Ph.D.

ALUMNI NEWS
Art Sweeney, a 1988 graduate of the anthropology program, died on June
9 after a long illness. Art was the first BU anthropology major to work as
crew chief for the summer archaeological field school. Art's wife, Teri, was
also an anthropology major from the same time period.
John Moyer, a 1997 graduate and Outstanding Senior in that year, has
been accepted into the Foreign Service. He begins his training at the State
Department in November.
Nadine Lyman, a 2003 graduate, was married on August 22.

HARV ARD IS THE
TOP RATED
PH.D. PROGRAM,
IN
ANTHROPOLOGY

3

PAGE

ANTHROPOS

4

STUDY ABROAD IN MEXICO!

BY

DR. FAITH WARNER

This past spring Dr. Salas-Elorza, Dr. Dorame-Holoviak and I received a
Special Initiatives Grant to establish a student exchange program between
Bloomsburg University and the Universidad Veracruzana-Xalapa. In June,
Dr. Wymer and BU students Brandi Burlingame, Michael Boyle, Alison
Freshwater, Luis Ocasio, Jen·Sperduto, and Tiffany Adams joined us in the
beautiful city of Xalapa to establish an exchange program with one of Mexico's premiere universities. And the Universidad Veracruzana is indeed impressive! It has a very well-developed infrastructure, including an entire
school for international students established in 1957, with its own building
that includes a library, classrooms, lounges, cafeteria, support staff, and faculty. The administrative staff is extremely knowledgeable, and the university
has ample experience in the implementation of successful exchange

BLOOMSBURG
UNIVERSITY IS
DEVELOPING AN
EXCHANGE
PROGRAM WITH
THE
UNIVERSIDAD
VERACRUZANAXALAPA.

programs. There are numerous schools and degrees, with many doctoral,
master's and undergraduate programs, including an Anthropology Department that rivals some of the largest programs in the U.S.
Brandi Burlingame served as. the Bloomsburg student representative
throughout the negotiations with Xalapa officials, and she gave wellprepared presentations on Bloomsburg University from a student's perspective. The anthropology students, Dr. Wymer, and myself met with the chairperson of the Anthropology Department, Dr. Francisco Javier KuriCamacho, and toured the department's facilities. The Anthropology

Department is four-field with exceptional programs in archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and cultural anthropology. The Department has over 20
faculty members and more than 200 undergraduate students! They also
conduct archaeology field schools on Pre-Columbian Mexican cultures each
year, and they have three archaeology laboratories and a linguistics laboratory. The archaeology laboratories have state of the art computing and
printing equipment.
Bloomsburg students who would like to have the rare opportunity to join

DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

PAGE

STUDY ABROAD IN MEXICO (CONTINUED)
Xalapa archaeology field schools should plan on staying a full academic year
in order to experience the proper training (Fall: archaeology methods &
theory; December-February: excavations; Spring: laboratory analysis.)
Those students who would like to learn about Mexican cultures and indigenous languages, including Nahuatl, Totonac, and Huasteco, should also consider attending Xalapa. There is even a program on Conservation Biology
and Ecology jointly run with Michigan Technological University
(http:forestry.mtu.edu/Xalapa). Bloomsburg University students will be
able to spend one semester to a full year in Xalapa, and Xalapa students will
have the same opportunity here at BU. We hope to be hosting Mexican students as soon as Spring 2004.

Xalapa is the capital of the state of Veracruz and is situated at 4000 feet
above sea level, giving the picturesque colonial city a comfortably cool and
moist climate. Around Xalapa are coffee plantations, lush botanic gardens,
and volcanic peaks. The Gulf of Mexico and the port city ofVeracruz are just
a few hours down from the mountain. The cultural life of Xalapa is as rich
and complex as its environment, including a symphony orchestra and one of
the most impressive archaeology museums in the world. The major archaeology sites, including Olmec sites and Tajin are all found in the state ofVeracruz, as well as some of the most impressive beaches, rain forests, cuisines,
mountains, and colonial architecture in Mexico.

BU students Sharon Cabana and Brandi Burlingame will be attending
Xalapa in Spring 2004. Sharon is majoring in Anthropology & Spanish with
a career concentration in Chinese and a minor in Latin American Studies.
Brandi is also majoring in both Anthropology & Spanish with a minor in
Latin American studies; she was a Rotarian Exchange student in Veracruz
while in high school. We are pleased to have such exceptional students as
our first representatives to the Universidad Veracruzana-Xalapa.

If you would like more information on this program, please see me or
visit the Universidad's program website at http://www.uv.mx/eee.

SHARON CABANA
AN D BRANDI
BURLINGAME
WILL BE THE
FIRST BU
STUDENTS TO
ATTEND THIS
EXCHANGE
PROGRAM IN
MEXICO.

5

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ANTHROPOS

6

MEET THE STUDENT SECRETARIES

BY

]ANET LOCKE

This year we have one returning Student Secretary and one new one.
You'll recognize Lauren Start at the desk on Tuesdays and Thursdays and half
of Friday afternoons. She is still from Sussex, NJ and is a sophomore El. Ed.
major (PTE*N-K-#/EL.Ed*Mathematics, to be precise). Her hobbies are
dancing, going to movies, listening to music, and hanging out with friends.
She says she loves working in the Department because everyone is really
friendly and great to work with. I must say the same about her.
New this year is Lesley Sherman, a Special Ed, El. Ed. major from Feasterville, PA (right outside of Philadelphia.) Her hobbies are reading, exercising, going to the beach, and hanging out with friends. She expects a May
2005 graduation. Lesley works Mondays and Wednesdays and half o1: the
Friday shift. She also proves to be friendly and great to work with!
A VOLUNTEER AT THE MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY & ANTHROPOLOGY BY TINA BIDDLE

STOP BY THE
MUSEUM'S
CAFE-THEY
HAVE GREAT

CHOCOLATE
CHIP COOKIES!

For little over a year and a half now, I have been a volunteer at the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, and I
love it. The museum is located in Philadelphia and offers fabulous exhibits
ranging from Egyptian mummy tombs to flint arrowheads. I worked in the
registrar's office measuring and tagging items and doing data entry. I have
been lucky to work with objects from many cultures-Mongolian textiles,
Japanese watercolors, Islamic coins, Roman pottery, etc. Volunteering has
prepared me for my anthropology classes by making me familiar with the
terms and designs found in different cultures. So, if you go to Philadelphia,
stop by the museum. You will not be disappointed.

BU

ANTHROPOLOGY NEWS

On May 14, Dr. Dauria was invited to participate in a workshop I
conference on Civic Engagement for Higher Education. This Forum for the
Future program is part of a new initiative for the university. The focus of
this effort is community-based research, leadership, and service learning.
Dr. Dauria has been asked to coordinate the Spring Frederick Douglass
Student Research Conference with Dr. Entzminger of English. This year's
theme will be the Public Intellectual and Community Activism. Bill Cosby
has been invited to be the keynote speaker.

DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

PAGE

INTO THE AMAZON: THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE BY SHARON CABANA

Earlier this year, I was selected as one of two Honors students to represent Bloomsburg in China in the summer of 2003. To our surprise, one
month before the spring semester was over, we were told we weren't going
to China after all, because of the SARS epidemic. Instead, we were going to
Ecuador! We arrived at Kutztown University, our sponsoring school, one
week after classes ended here. For nine days we studied six credits worth of
material about Ecuador and Latin America. Politics, economics, corruption
and chaos dominated the controversial and painful history of this small
country. It is said that Ecuador is three worlds in one. Ecuador is the Amazon, the mountains and the coast-three distinct geographical areas with
different views of economics and political power. It will be interesting to
see if Ecuador ever gains a true sense of unity. There can be no doubt that

until political unity is gained, economic insecurity will rule over Ecuador
and its people. There is hope that the advent of ecotourism will provide a
new source of income for Ecuador that will help improve the infrastructure
and encourage economic and political unity. I know I will always watch Ecuador carefully now. In general, that first week was one of papers, exams,
and intense debates as I met those with far different perspectives than my
anthropological one. It was a powerful message and a valuable experience.
Ecuador itself was staggering and not the least like the paranoid visions I
had prior to attending Kutztown. Nestled on the edge of the "ring of fire,"
the mountains scraped the clouds from the sky, and the snow-capped

volcanoes stood as harsh symbols of Nature's peculiar whims. We hiked up
to 15,000 feet above sea level, stood on the equator, and touched both
hemispheres. We went to indigenous marketplaces and spoke and bartered
with the local people, so strongly indigenous and beautifully proud of their
heritage. We would alternately come back to the mountains throughout
our three weeks there, and each time the scene changed ever so slightly,
the people became more Meztizo, and sadly, more contemptuous of their
Northern counterparts.
After we first landed in the mountains, we descended into the Amazon.

WE WERE TOLD
WE WOULD BE
GOING TO
ECUADOR!

7

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ANTHROPOS

8

INTO THE AMAZON (CONTINUED)
We arrived late at night at a mission and were told we were to hike into the
Amazon to stay at our lodge. This was by far my faqvorite part of the trip.
The sights and sounds of the rain forest are incredible, from the pounding of
the rain to the laughter that ensued when our little monkey friend used the
local dog as a personal bus. We stayed directly on one of the Amazon's
tributaries at a natural reserve that attempted to keep the pristine beauty of
the forest intact. I cannot describe the rich, dark life sprawling across the
land. It is my dream to go back there. The Amazon was also the location for
one of my most profound memories. In a gesture of kindness, some of the
students brought gifts of candy for the local children. What they didn't realize was the children would not go to school because they knew the Americans had come. In some ways, it reminded me of the "myth of the white

IT IS MY DREAM
TO GO BACK TO
THE RAIN
FOREST.

god." As I watched the children tear into candy and toothpaste, scrambling
for whatever we had to offer, I realized what it was like to be an American in
an impoverished country, a dark reminder of global capitalism's negative effect on the Third World.
The coast was the final segment of our trip. There we fought against a
raging riptide and strong undertow, fighting the current's pull as we bathed
in an ocean 70 degrees in temperature! The waves were six to ten feet high.
I was privileged to see local fishermen catching squirming octopi and discovered I have a distinct fear of crabs ...

II

In three weeks, I saw all aspects of Ecuadorian life and culture, from the
north to the south, from the east to the west. I rode horseback up a smoking volcano and went caving barefoot into the Amazon. I guess what I'm
trying to say, albeit longwindedly, is that Ecuador was full of surprises. The
biggest·surprise was finding the strength within myself to do the physically
demanding tasks set for us. I discovered a deep sense of spirituality and a
connection with the wondrous beauty that Ecuador and its people had to
offer. Ecuador was an unexpected adventure, but the changes within myself, were the most unexpected of all.

DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

WHAT

I DID THIS

SUMMER

PAGE

BY

DR. WYMER

I had a productive summer, completing several large tasks as department chair, creating lectures for a new course, and working on a number of
research projects. The fmal revisions for an article for the Midcontinental
Journal of Archaeology~ "Early Woodland Plant Use and Gardening: Evidence from an Adena Hamlet in Southeastern Ohio," ·w as completed and
will be published in the next volume. The article describes the identification
of plant specimens from an early Ohio Adena (moundbuilder) habitation
site, including an early specimen of domesticated squash ( c. 500 BC). The
article was co-authored with the excavator of the site, Dr. El).iot Abrams, an
archaeologist also known for his work at the famous Mayan site ofTikal. I
also finalized the last revisions of a book chapter, "Organic Preservation on
Prehistoric Copper Artifacts of the Ohio Hopewell," which will appear in .

Perishable Fibers in Archaeology. This volume, edited by Dr. Penelope
Drooker, will be published by the New York State Museum. The chapter
summarizes my most current research analyzing rarely preserved organic
materials, such as leather, feathers, and fur textiles, which cover ceremonial
copper artifacts recovered from important burials in Ohio's earthworks and
mounds of AD 200-300. Previous newsletters have described some of this
research.
After the trip to Xalapa described earlier in this issue, I traveled to Ohio.
I am now the paleoethnobotanical consultant for the main archaeology center for the National Park Service, and they were conducting excavations at a

Newly acquired major earthwork in south central Ohio, the Hopeton Site.
The excavations, directed by Dr. Mark Lynott, include a series of trenches
through the traces of the earthwork walls of this large circle and square enclosure (the square portion, for example, covers nearly 40 acres). They have
already discovered a number of remarkable ritual deposits placed in the fill
during the construction of the earthwork walls, and I am in the midst of
identifying the material. Joshua Ramsey, one of my advisees, is working
with me in the anthropology laboratory on the samples, and he has already
discovered carbonized squash rind in a ceremonial basin! (More next month)

JOSH RAMSEY
HAS ALREADY
DISCOVERED
CARBONIZED
SQUASH RIND IN
A CEREMONIAL
BASIN FROM THE
HOPETON SITE.

9

BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA: THE ST ATE
SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Dr. David Minderhout, Editor
Department of Anthropology
Room 150 Centennial Hall

ANTHROPOS: the Anthropology Newsletter, is published
six times during the academic year and is mailed to interested student.s, faculty, administrators, and alumni. It is also

Phone: 389--4859
Fax: 389-5015
Email: dminderh@bloomu.edu

distributed in anthropology classes on campus and made
available on the department's home page. If you would like
to be on the newsletter mailing list, please contact Dr. Dave
Minderhout at the address and numbers on the left.
The Department of Anthropology offers a 36 credit B.A.

WE'RE ONB THE WEB:
WWW.BLOOMU.EDU/
DEPARTMENTS/ANTHRO

degree and an 18 credit minor in anthropology. If you
would like to see details, please see any of the anthropology
faculty.

ANTHROPOLOGY IS THE STIIDY OF

HUMANS

FACULTY OFFICE HOURS

Dr. Aleto:

TuTh 2-3

MWF 8:30-9 & 11-12

F 3: 15-4:45

Th 3: 15-3: 4 5

Dr.Wymer:

Dr. Dauria:

MW 2:30-4

MWF 9:30-10

TuTh 10:45-11 :45

TuTh 9: 15-11

The teaching assistants also hold office
hours. They are:

Dr. Minderhout:
MWF 9-11
TuTh 2-3:30

Dr.Warner:
M 12:30-1 :30

Sharon Cabana:
WF 1-2. Th 10-11

Andrea Frantz:
M 12:30-1 :30

M 9-9:30 PM
Tu 11 :30-12:30s

Janet Locke, the
Department Secretary,
is in Mondays through
Fridays, 8-12.
From 12-4, the Anthropology Office is
covered by the work
study students, Lauren
Start and Lesley
Sherman.