Specialties

African Archaeology, Archaeometallurgy, Geophysics, Craft Production, Political Economy, Archaeology of Frontier Interactions, Community-engaged methodologies

Dissertation

Crafting in the In-Between: Production and Political Economy Across Zambian Socio-Economic Mosaics, 700-1700CE

My research focus on the ways that smaller-scale and non-centralized communities in “hinterland spaces” in the interior of Africa were active participants in larger regional, continental, and global networks. My dissertation focused on the work of craftspeople – particularly iron workers, since iron has historically carried symbolic and political importance for many in sub-Saharan Africa, and has particular significance in the political and economic histories of southern Africa. By adopting a localized perspective to more global questions, I explore the ways localized material variations in people’s daily lives reflect the myriad of interactions produced by regional and interregional communication and exchange. I show how frontier interactions in southern Africa are historical, dateable events that left discrete and localized archaeological traces.

ORCid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6318-0967