New outdoor archaeology lab space to open on Nazarbayev University's campus

Galym-Galam: Reed Coil, PhD, Assistant Professor at NU SSH

The archaeologist is working at two Paleolithic archaeological sites in Georgia called Tsutskhvati and Sakazhia. He intends to study the distribution of butchery and fire traces throughout the caves in order to better understand cave use and structure.

Can you please tell us about your educational and professional background?

NU is my first post-PhD academic position, and I have been here since 2016. I completed a Master's and a Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where I was then a graduate student instructor. I also hold a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

Can you please tell us about your current research project?

As an archaeologist, who specializes in paleoanthropology, zooarchaeology, and spatial analysis, in my research, I broadly focus on how human subsistence, diet, and behavior change over time.?I am involved in several research projects. Here, I would like to elaborate more on the research I have been doing for a month this summer. I received a research grant from the Leakey Foundation and this year was my first data collection phase. I am working at two Paleolithic archaeological sites in western Georgia called Tsutskhvati and Sakazhia.?

My role in this interdisciplinary collaboration is to understand how humans contribute to the formation of the sites and how subsistence and spatial organization trends compare over time. Also, we try to understand whether there are any differences between the subsistence and spatial behaviors of Neanderthals in the Middle Paleolithic layers versus the modern humans in the Upper Paleolithic layers. Answers to these questions can inform on just how similar or different these two species are behaviorally and how the migration of one group into the Caucasus (i.e. modern humans) may have affected the livelihood of the other (i.e. Neanderthals). The fact is that in many other Eurasian localities, these two species were interacting.?

To address these questions, I spent time at the Georgian National Museum collecting data on faunal remains (animal bones) from these two archaeological sites. By looking at the faunal remains, we can see which species were present, which were butchered by humans, perhaps which prey species were preferred during each period of occupation, and whether this reflects seasonal availability of prey, opportunistic hunting, or some combination of these.

What are your first?findings?

So far, my contribution to the project is only beginning. Still, my first impressions of the material indicate that both human groups were primarily butchering bison, mountain goats, and deer, although cave bears occasionally were on the menu. There are also layers in this cave filled with many cave bear bones, which likely indicates that they are using the caves when humans are not. This cave-sharing is very common across cave sites in Eurasia and is important for understanding our interactions, or even competition, with the large carnivores of the Pleistocene. Over the next year, I will look at how evidence of butchery and fire is distributed throughout the caves to understand site use and structure better.

Why did you choose to join NU?

While finishing up my Ph.D., I decided to take the position because it allowed me to develop my teaching and research portfolios with significant freedom. I didn't know at the time how great of a place this was, as the student performance and engagement exceeded my expectations.

What are you planning to do soon?

For the next 3-5 years, at the very least, I am contributing to research at four Middle to Upper Paleolithic sites in western Georgia. In addition, I am part of an exciting new project in southern Georgia at the Lower Paleolithic site of Orozmani, which is approximately the same age as Dmanisi - currently home to the earliest evidence of hominins outside of Africa. We plan to survey for more contemporaneous sites and expand the current excavation to understand these early humans' behavior and how they survived alongside sabertooth cats and giant hyenas.

In the immediate future, check out our new outdoor archaeology lab space on campus. A space for experimental archaeology with artifact washing/analysis, and a mock archaeological excavation is part of our new Laboratory Methods in Archaeology course. With NU's great research and teaching support, I look forward to a productive future.