The UC Davis Department of Anthropology - Evolutionary Wing is soliciting applications for graduate students interested in East African archaeology. A combined research team from the University of California-Davis and California State University-Chico has been conducting archaeological excavations in northern Rukwa Valley, western Tanzania, since 2002. Current emphasis is on late (historic) period sites that are enclosed by ditches, walls or other apparently defensive structures. Excavations at the small site of Kibaoni have yielded a significant pottery sequence that covers the historic period but also extends back through the Early Iron Age. Glass trade beads, iron fragments, features and a large faunal collection were also recovered at the site. The project area provides opportunities for graduate students in archaeology to work on a variety of issues in East African prehistory, including ecological impacts of human settlements, and evolution of petty chiefdoms in arid areas. Little archaeological work has been conducted in the Rukwa region and the potential for significant contributions to African archaeology is high. Some of the projects available include : continued excavation at the defensive village site of Kibaoni ; initial excavation at the large defensive site of Maji Moto or at several other sites identified, including one within nearby Katavi National Park ; and systematic survey for additional sites in the region (additional historic and Iron Age sites have been informally identified, but sites beyond these periods [Late and Middle Stone Age, possible Early Stone Age] are likely to exist). Opportunities exist to work with other members of the interdisciplinary team, including evolutionary anthropologists, conservation biologists, nutritionists and others.

Although students will be housed at UC Davis, they would work with faculty and staff at both UC Davis and CSU Chico. Dr. Christopher O’Brien (Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at CSU Chico) is currently directing archaeological work for the project in conjunction with students and staff from the Tanzanian Department of Antiquities and the University of Dar es Salaam. Dr. O’Brien can be reached by email at cjobrien@fs.fed.us or by telephone at 530-252-6698. At UC Davis, Dr. Christyann M. Darwent (Assistant Professor at UC Davis) studies archaeological faunal remains to shed light on past human subsistence economies and past environments. She is the head of the Zooarchaeology Lab, which houses over 1200 specimens of fish, reptile, bird and mammal. Dr. Darwent can be reached at cmdarwent@ucdavis.edu or by telephone at 530-752-1590. In September 2006, Dr. Teresa E. Steele (Post-doctoral fellow, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) will be joining the UC Davis Department of Anthropology faculty. Her research focuses on modern human origins, and particularly on investigating Middle Stone Age environments through the analysis of faunal remains. She is currently conducting fieldwork at a Middle Stone Age site in the Western Cape of South Africa. She can be reached at steele@eva.mpg.de. Drs. Monique Borgerhoff Mulder and Tim Caro (Professors in the Departments of Anthropology and Conservation Biology respectively) co-ordinate the anthropological, demographic, nutritional and conservation research projects, and can be contacted at mborgerhoffmulder@ucdavis.edu and tmcaro@ucdavis.edu. Students interested in pursuing this research as part of a PhD project should contact the above people.

Applications to the Graduate School at UC Davis are due December 15.