McMaster Anthropology

Out of focus in the background, Dr. Megan Brickley holds a human molar in the foreground, examining it.

🎙️ Dr. Megan Brickley, McMaster Anthropology, is featured on @hamiltonspectator.bsky.social's podcast Placeline Hamilton: “This McMaster professor has skeletons in her office.” 115 skeletons, countless insights into 1800s health & daily life.

🎧 Spotify link in bio!
#Anthropology #McMasterAnthro

cc: @hamiltonlibrary.bsky.social

🧑‍🔬✨ Dig into Hamilton’s past!

Join McMaster Anthropology for DIG IT! Archaeology & the 1918 Flu - a free, family-friendly event with hands-on activities: excavate sand, handle artifacts & explore flu history.

📅 Oct 18 Dundas Museum | Oct 25 Hamilton Library
#AnthroSky #Anthropology #McMasterAnthro

A group of 13 students stands in front of a stairway on the McMaster campus.

A warm welcome to our newest grad student cohort!

The future of anthropology is here. We’re excited to see the amazing research and contributions they’ll bring to our department.

@mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social

#Anthropology #McMasterAnthro #AnthroSky #McMaster

job
Tenure-Track Position – Archaeology
McMasterU

...While the geographical area of specialization is open,
preference may be given to those who work in the archaeology of North America, not least the Eastern North America/Great Lakes region...

csn-rec.ca/job-postings...

@anthromac.bsky.social

Preorders now open (link in bio). Hamilton book launch coming this fall. Critics’ panels at AAA + AAR in November.

#Anthropology #RefugeeStudies #IslamicStudies #McMasterAnthro #Ethnography #AnthroSky

Based on ethnographic work in Jordan and Canada, the book traces how Islamic tradition shapes life and care in the wake of the Syrian revolution: beyond secular humanitarian frames.

📘 New from @biqbal.bsky.social: The Dread Heights: Tribulation and Refuge after the Syrian Revolution - out Sept 2 with @fordhampress.bsky.social.

This can help enhance our understanding of how stress manifests in skeletal systems across different species and contexts.
#anthropology #bioarchaeology #USRA #McMaster #Macsocsci

By examining cortical bone thickness and total cortical bone area, and comparing the bones of young and old mice and mice with different frailty scores, Mackenzie’s research can help reveal the parallels between mouse models and human stress reactions.

Many skeletal markers are difficult to interpret; this poses significant challenges for current understandings of past health in bioarchaeology.

Understanding indicators of physiological stress in bones helps bioarchaeologists to understand the environmental, social, and nutritional challenges that an individual may have faced.

A close-up of a microscopic image of a mouse femur.

In her USRA, supervised by Dr. Amanda Wissler, Mackenzie is investigating how mouse models can be used to support bioarchaeological stress research in identifying the causes of skeletal markers. Mackenzie is dissecting mouse skeletons and preparing histological slides of mouse femur bones.

A student with brown hair and glasses leans over a tray with a pipette in a lab.

Meet Mackenzie Peplow (she/her), a recent Anthropology BA Honours grad and recipient of the Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA), which provides undergraduate students with the unique opportunity to conduct their own research project under faculty member supervision. #McMaster #Anthropology

Meet PhD student Sarah Oresnik, a student athlete who is creating space for queer people in sport.

⌚ Meet Dr. Cal Biruk, a professor whose research considers trans experiences with fitness wearables.

🏳️‍🌈 Meet Victoria @clowater.bsky.social, a PhD student whose work looks at polyamory as a queer form of family and relationality.

Happy Pride Month!

We're thrilled to showcase the queer-focused research and advocacy happening at McMaster.

#AnthroSky #McMaster #McMasterAnthro #Anthropology #QueerAnthropology

A photo of Emily holding flowers on a green background. Text: Emily Anson, she/her. Emily is a PhD Candidate, career archaeologist, and settler of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Her PhD research looks at the deep structural inequities in archaeology that she encountered in her 13 years working as an archaeologist. Through her PhD research, she envisions an archaeology that not only serves the Indigenous people whose material culture it studies, but one which is led by Indigenous people themselves.

Emily Anson, she/her. “I felt I could no longer continue to participate in such a system without attempting to change it. My focus is creating new frameworks for archaeology that involve collaborative work and the eventual rematriation (returning) of the discipline itself (including its design, practice, and implementation) to Indigenous communities.”

⛏️Meet Emily, a settler PhD student working to decolonize archaeological practice.

A cream coloured slide with microscopic imagery in the background. Text: Collaborative Archaeologies and Decolonized Foodways. This community-based project explores the history of Indigenous foodways in the Six Nations of the Grand River (Haudenosaunee) territory, led by Andrew Roddick, Adrianne Lickers Xavier, Scott Martin, Lindi Masur (McMaster University), and Tanya Hill-Montour (Six Nations Archaeology Department). Through cutting-edge biomolecular analysis, researchers examine food residues on archaeological artifacts, reconnecting with ancestral diets to promote Haudenosaunee food sovereignty and centre Indigenous voices in heritage research.

Collaborative Archaeologies and Decolonized Foodways. “The history of anthropology, the history of archaeology, have not been kind to Indigenous communities. if research is community-based, if it is community-led, then (Indigenous groups can be) the ones who are asking the questions: “What could we do with existing artifacts? What would you like to know from them?” Dr. Adrianne Lickers Xavier Assistant Professor

🍵 Learn about a collaborative archaeology project with Six Nations of the Grand River exploring Indigenous foodways.

A green slide with the Haudenosaunee flag in the background. Text: Kaeliana Smoke - she/her. Kaeliana is Wolf Clan from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation. An MA student in the Anthropology department, her research looks at intergenerational healing for Residential School survivors and their families at the individual, family, and community level.

Kaeliana Smoke, she/her. “I wanted to record stories of healing, of how, despite everything that Indigenous families have endured because of Residential Schools, not only are we surviving, but we are thriving.”

🌿 Meet Kaeliana, an MA student from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation researching intergenerational healing for Residential School survivors.

A cream cloured slide with a lightly textured background. June 2025. McMaster University Anthropology. Title: National Indigenous History Month. June is National Indigenous History Month - a time to celebrate and reflect. Today, we're spotlighting powerful Indigenous-led and Indigenous-focused research happening in the department of Anthropology.

June is Indigenous History Month.
We're spotlighting the work of Indigenous and allied scholars in our department who are rethinking what anthropology can be.
Supporting Indigenous scholarship and confronting the discipline’s colonial roots is work we commit to every day—not just in June. #AnthroSky

This is a free event, but registration is required. Register using the link in our bio!

⏰
6:30 – Doors open
7:00 – Talks
8:00 – Mix & mingle

Come for the archaeology, stay for the community 🛰️🍻
#McMasterAnthro #Anthropology @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social

🕡 6:30–9:00 PM

🎤 Dr. Giles Morrow on mapping ancient Cambodia through landmine zones with drone-based LiDAR

🎤 Kayla Golay Lausanne on drone & radar mapping in Peru's coastal settlements

📍 Fairweather Brewing Co., Hamilton
👶 Under 18? Bring a parent or guardian!

🚁 No shovel? No problem.

Join us April 16 at Fairweather Brewing Co. for a public talk on how archaeologists use drones, LiDAR & radar to uncover lost cities—from Cambodia to Peru—without digging a single trench. Talks, beer, & tech!

#AnthroSky #AnthropologyMatters

This discovery expands our understanding of Minoan connections beyond Crete & Thera. Read the full article via the link in our bio!

#Anthropology #Archaeology #McMasterAnthro #MinoanCivilization #Naxos #Crete #AncientHistory #Knossos #FacultySpotlight #AnthropologyMatters

Publication Alert! A Mason's Mark from the Stelida Peak Sanctuary, Naxos. New co-authored publication by Dr. Tristan Carter.

Article summary: This article reports on an architectural block from the peak sanctuary at Stelida on Naxos that is inscribed with a mason’s mark, the first such example from the island and one of only a handful outside of Crete and Akrotiri on Thera. We suggest that it originally formed part of the building’s back wall, the sign facing Thera, and Crete beyond— signaling a connection to and possibly protection from these important political places. An alternative hypothesis sees the block as an altar. The design of the mason’s mark, a simple cross, is well attested at Knossos and several other sites on Minoan Crete, plus at Akrotiri on Thera, and at Mycenae in the Argolid. This mason’s mark may provide further evidence for Knossian politico-religious influence at Stelida. American Journal of Archaeology 128(3) Carter and Athanasoulis 2024

Dr. Tristan Carter & Dr. Demetris Athanasoulis reveal a rare mason’s mark from Stelida, Naxos! 🏺 This architectural block—a simple cross—raises questions about Minoan ties. Could it mark Knossian influence or serve as an altar?

📜 Swipe to learn more!

Join us tomorrow, Friday Mar. 14, for our monthly Speaker Series! Dr. Travis Steffens will be talking about health and interspecies relationships.

@onehealthuofg.bsky.social @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social @uofguelph.bsky.social #anthropology #anthropologymatters #onehealth #primates