Earlier this month, AU Anthropology undergraduate student, Megan Williams, presented her recent archaeological research at the 2016 AU Graduate Student Research Conference in Edmonton, AB. This research, which serves as the foundation for her independent study in ANTH 405 Special Topics in Archaeology, involved the sourcing of obsidian materials used to make cutting implements by the ancient Maya of the site of Alabama in Belize, Central America. Thanks to funding received by Dr. Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Megan traveled to Hamilton, ON, where she worked with Dr. Tristan Carter at McMaster University to analyze over 50 obsidian blades using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence, to determine their exact source locations in Guatemala. Megan will be publishing her research, along with Drs. Peuramaki-Brown and Carter, in the upcoming year.

Please join us in congratulating Megan on a job well done, and best wishes for her future research pursuits!