Archaeology

Department Sociology and Anthropology
Academic Division The College
Offerings Minor

Student and instructor at a dig site

Students who minor in archaeology are those who are excited about history and enjoy the process of discovery. They are interested in studying what it means to be human across space and time. They generally like to travel, collaborate with an array of colleagues and researchers, and work with their hands.

Home Academics Areas of Study Archaeology

Archaeology

The interdisciplinary archaeology minor offers opportunities for students to combine coursework with hands-on experience in the lab and field. Archaeology is a compelling and rewarding discipline that draws on concepts from across a range of academic fields, incorporating both the sciences and the humanities into a comprehensive study of past cultures. Students obtain a geographical and temporal understanding of material culture, and they will come into contact with archaeological sites and all the political, historical and media ramifications of such work.

Faculty work on projects in Athens, Greece, at Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, and at Liberty Hall and other sites here on campus and around Virginia. Students participate and conduct research in faculty-led projects during Spring Term and every summer, as well as join ongoing projects in various locations.

Students who minor in archaeology pick up knowledge that is transferable to graduate programs and many professions, including cultural resource management, cultural heritage and site preservation, and historical preservation.

“Archeology is positioned in such a way that it allows students to see the humanities applications of scientific approaches and the scientific applications of more humanities-based approaches.”

Donald Gaylord

Research Archaeologist and Instructor

Jon Eastwood

Department Head

E: eastwoodj@wlu.edu

Craig Lawhorne

Administrative Assistant

P: 540-458-8798
E: clawhorne@wlu.edu

News

Caroline Matthews, daugher of John and Nell McDaniel, holds a copy of the cover of the forthcoming volume of the James G. Leyburn Papers in Anthropology.

Unearthing History

Students, faculty and alumni gathered April 12-13 to recognize the archaeological evolution of W&L’s back campus.

Liberty Hall Ruins stand strong as the sun sets. Photo by Ryan Doty ’26

W&L Students to Host Archaeological Commemorative Event

The April 6 gathering marks the restoration of “The Foundation” on the university’s campus, originally part of the historic Liberty Hall Academy property.

Jon Eastwood

Jon Eastwood serves as department chair for sociology and anthropology.

The Lakshmi-Narayana sculpture, stolen from Nepal in 1984 and pictured here in a book about Nepali art theft (left) and in a catalog from a Sotheby's auction (right). Photo courtesy Joy Lynn Davis.

Lost and Found

Two presenters who met at a 2017 conference at Washington and Lee joined forces to repatriate a stolen Nepali deity.

Toe tags bearing details of people who died crossing the border between the U.S. and Mexico hang on a map in Leyburn Library as part of the new exhibit Hostile Terrain 94.

New Exhibit Illustrates Perilous Path to Opportunity

Hostile Terrain 94, a global pop-up exhibit that takes a powerful look at the human cost of undocumented migration at the U.S. southern border, opened at W&L this week after years of planning and collaboration.

Environmental Archaeology

Immerse Yourself in Spring Term!

It's the most wonderful term of the year, so keep an eye on @wlunews social media and this post for a daily dose of W&L's deeply engaging four-week term.

Eric Herrera '20 (right) with archaeology professor Don Gaylord at the original Alamo site.

‘You Won’t Want to Go Anywhere Else’

At W&L, Eric Herrera did field work in Ghana, created a biotech startup, and discovered the original location of the Alamo.

The Big Dig

Who are we? Professor Alison Bell '91 uncovers clues about W&L’s complex identity through artifacts recovered near Liberty Hall Ruins.

Appalachian Trail Becomes Interdisciplinary Classroom

The Geology and Archaeology departments collaborated with W&L's Outing Club to create a fun, educational hike just a short drive from Lexington.

Expert in Paleontology Sculptures to Give Keynote Speech for SSA

The title of Gary Staab’s presentation is “Digital Dinosaurs: Fleshing out the Past."

Washington and Lee Hosts Public Lecture with Erin Walcheck Averett

Averett’s talk, which is free and open to the public, is titled “Frightening the Frightful: Grotesque Visages from Ancient Cyprus.”

Filling the Gaps

In response to student demand, Washington and Lee University has added three new interdisciplinary minors to enrich its curriculum.

Sample Courses

At W&L, we believe education and experience go hand-in-hand. You’ll be encouraged to dive in, explore and discover connections that will broaden your perspective.

SOAN 206

Archaeology

An examination of anthropologically oriented archaeology. Specific subjects to be considered will include the history of the subdiscipline, theoretical developments, field techniques, substantive contributions for the prehistoric and historic subareas, and recent developments in theory and methodology.

SOAN 210

Field Methods in Archaeology

This course introduces students to archaeological field methods through hands-on experience, readings and field trips. Students study the cultural and natural processes that lead to the patterns we see in the archaeological record. Using the scientific method and current theoretical motivations in anthropological archaeology, students learn how to develop a research design and to implement it with actual field excavation. We visit several field excavation sites in order to experience firsthand the range of archaeological field methods and research interests currently undertaken by leading archaeologists.

CLAS 295

Roman Empire & Its Peoples

Although often overlooked in our literary sources, the behaviors and experiences of ordinary men and women, slaves and ex-slaves, and freeborn foreigners from the provinces are essential for understanding the inner workings of Roman social hierarchies and the economy. This course examines how such groups made their way in the Roman world by operating within existing institutions or by forging new avenues for civic engagement and upward social mobility. In order to access their voices, we must look to their depictions in the world of Roman comedy and novels, the art and material culture they produced, and the most important body of evidence available to grasp the lives of ancient Romans, their personal inscriptions.

GEOL 205

History & Evolution of the Earth

An introductory examination of the origin and physical evolution of the Earth as inferred from the rock record. Areas of particular emphasis include: the origin of the solar system and differentiation of the planets; the evolution of the terrestrial atmosphere and hydrosphere; explanations for the development of life; organic evolution and interpretations of “mass extinctions;” the changing configuration of continental blocks and ocean basins by continental drift, seafloor spreading, and plate tectonics; and the growth of continental blocks and their mountain systems.

REL 223

Ancient Greek Religion

In this course, we examine the strange and wonderful world of ancient Greek religion, beginning with stories of the gods that all Greeks knew: Homer and Hesiod. We then study religion on the ground, examining how religion functioned at a number of sanctuaries and shrines in Greece. Topics covered in this course include ancient conceptions of the cosmos, the nature of Greek deities and heroes, the distinction between myth and religion, the art and architecture of sanctuaries, ritual performances and festivals, ritual sacrifice, sacred games, oracles, the underworld, sacred mysteries, women and religion, and the socio-political role of Greek ritual practice.

ENV 230

Food and the Environment

Food is intimately connected with the environmental justice challenges of the Anthropocene — and to understand those connections fully, we need to examine how they developed in the past. This course explores how food has transformed societies and environments in the United States over centuries, and investigates how the legacies of those transformations continue to affect how we eat and drink today. We will use archaeology, history, anthropology, and other approaches from the environmental humanities to deepen our understanding of the (un)sustainability of modern U.S. food systems. We will study the potential lessons the past may hold for the future, and leverage this knowledge to evaluate the sustainability and environmental justice of our 21st century foodways.

Meet the Faculty

At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.

Rebecca Benefiel

Abigail Grigsby Urquhart Professor of Classics

P: 540-458-8082
E: benefielr@wlu.edu

Benefiel teaches classics and Latin courses such as Pompeii, Classics in a Digital Age, and The Poetry of Ovid. She studies Latin epigraphy, Roman social and cultural history, Latin literature and Roman archaeology.

Ron Fuchs III

Curator of Ceramics; Manager of the Reeves Center

P: 540-458-8744
E: rfuchs@wlu.edu

Fuchs manages the Reeves Collection at W&L, which was founded in 1967 with a gift of ceramics from alumnus Euchlin Reeves and his wife, the painter Louise Herreshoff. The collection contains ceramics made in Asia, Europe and the Americas between 1500 and today. Fuchs\'s areas of interest include Chinese export porcelain and the China Trade.

Donald Gaylord

Research Archaeologist and Instructor of Anthropology

P: 540-458-8378
E: gaylordd@wlu.edu

Gaylord teaches courses in archaeology including Field Methods in Archaeology and Discovering W&L’s Origins Using Historical Archaeology. He researches the anthropological analysis of property ownership and land use.

Curriculum Vitae

Sascha L. Goluboff

Professor of Cultural Anthropology

P: 540-458-8807
E: goluboffs@wlu.edu

Goluboff teaches courses such as Food, Culture, and Society, and Gender and Sexuality. Her research focuses on the anthropology of emotion in a variety of geographic and historic contexts.

Melissa R. Kerin

Associate Professor of Art History

P: 540-458-8858
E: kerinm@wlu.edu

Kerin teaches courses in South Asian and East Asian art and architecture. Her research focuses on the intricate and multifaceted relationships between art and identity formation, cultural memory and religious praxis.

Michael Laughy

Boetsch Term Associate Professor of Classics and Department Head

P: 540-458-4569
E: laughym@wlu.edu

Laughy teaches courses in ancient Greek religion, history, art and archaeology. His research interests are Greek religion, Greek epigraphy and ancient Athens.