Research
Skeletal variation and interpretation in modern humans, Homo naledi, and chimpanzees
My dissertation assessed skeletal variation within three primate species: Homo sapiens, our extinct human relative Homo naledi, and chimpanzees. I studied the postcranial bones of close genetic relatives to see whether they looked more similar than those of non-relatives. I found that known close relatives can be distinguished in certain bones in humans, with the strongest signal in the calcaneus.
I also considered the ethical issues involved with the creation of skeletal collections and the historical interpretation of human remains. I found that remnants of the field’s racist past still exist in how the deceased are referred to in intake documents and skeletal inventories, even for recently acquired remains, highlighting the continued work that must be done to make the field more accurate and inclusive.
This work was part of a collaboration between the Churchill Lab at Duke University and The Hominoid Evolution Research Group (HERG) at North Carolina State University. My research was funded by Duke and the National Science Foundation. The chimpanzee and H. naledi scans can be freely downloaded from MorphoSource.
Image of a 3D model of a Homo naledi pelvic fragment. Not to scale.
North American bioarchaeology
My undergraduate thesis at Barnard College of Columbia University, which was awarded departmental distinction in anthropology, stemmed from my experience as a bioarchaeology and human osteology student at Arizona State University's Kampsville Field School in Kampsville, Illinois. I analyzed the skeletons of three Native American infants from the Helton site in the Lower Illinois River Valley, dated to ~1260 AD, who have not been claimed by any descendant tribe or individual since their excavation in the 1970s. I investigated why these infants were buried in a way that was unique to the region, but common in other areas of the continent. Using a culture-historical framework and methods from bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology, I concluded that their community was navigating major cultural and social shifts as the Mississippian culture began to dominate their region. My results were published in Columbia’s undergraduate biological anthropology journal, and the full thesis can be found here.
Sunset in Kampsville, IL. Photo: Amanda Rossillo
Rock art in the Embudo Valley, New Mexico. Photo: Amanda Rossillo
Surveys + zooarchaeology
As an undergraduate, I also engaged in archaeological survey fieldwork as part of The Gorge Project in the Embudo Valley, New Mexico with my advisor Dr. Severin Fowles, focusing on Archaic and Puebloan rock art and artifacts.
Additionally, I analyzed faunal remains from the mid-19th century site of Seneca Village in present-day Central Park, New York with Dr. Adam Watson at Barnard/Columbia.