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Jennifer Birch

UGA Arch
Associate Professor
Undergraduate Coordinator

My work is underpinned by the desire to understand the relationship between long-term human history and the lived experiences of individuals and communities. The major impacts of my research have been in understanding the nature of organizational complexity and diversity in Pre-Columbian Eastern North America using multi-scalar approaches to interrogate the recursive interactions between structure and agency, institutions and individuals. My recent research has focused on developing high-precision radiocarbon chronologies of Northern Iroquoia to advance and apply archaeological theories of processes by which discrete populations realign into chiefdoms and confederacies. 

 

Research Areas:
Research Interests:
  • Archaeology of eastern North America
  • Settlement patterns
  • Archaeology of households and communities
  • Organizational complexity
  • Archaeology of warfare
  • Multi-scalar analyses
  • Social network analysis
  • Radiocarbon dating and chronological modeling
  • Geophysics
  • Social theory
  • Heritage
  • Cultural resource management
Selected Publications:

Manning, S.W., J. Birch, M.A. Conger, M.W. Dee, C. Griggs, C.S. Hadden, A.G. Hogg, C. Bronk Ramsey, S. Sanft, P. Steier, and E.M. Wild. (2018). Radiocarbon Re-dating of Contact Era Iroquoian History in Northeastern North America. Science Advances 4: eeav0280  https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/12/eaav0280

Birch, J., & Hart, J. P. (2018). Social Networks and Northern Iroquoian Confederacy Dynamics. American Antiquity, 83(01), 13-33. doi:10.1017/aaq.2017.59

Birch, J. and V.D. Thompson, eds. (2018). The Archaeology of Village Societies in Eastern North America. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. 211 pp. https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9781683400462

Education:

PhD, Anthropology, McMaster University, 2010

Articles Featuring Jennifer Birch
Wednesday, February 2, 2022 - 2:23pm

Congratulations to PhD student, Jonathan Micon and Associate Professor, Dr. Jennifer Birch, along with Ronald F.

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 - 12:51pm

UGA Research spotlights the Lab of Archaeology in their recent article titled, "Keepers of history: UGA’s Archaeology Lab preserves relics of Georgia’s past." This feature highlights the lab's vast array of artifacts, their ability to transition during the…

Monday, April 5, 2021 - 8:16am

Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer Birch on receiving the 2021 Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching! This award was established during the 1991-1992 academic year to honor the late U.S. Sen. Richard B. Russell, and to recognize…

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - 11:26am

The UGA Today article, "How do people solve global problems?" quotes both Dr. Birch and Dr. Kowalewski as they discuss collaborative problem-solving methods and the archaeological evidence behind them. The article also notes the new book, …

Friday, October 9, 2020 - 10:54am

We are excited to announce a new Double Dawgs program launching Fall 2020: the Anthropology AB/Historic Preservation MHP. This new program gives students the opportunity to earn both their Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Master of Historic Preservation in…

Tuesday, October 6, 2020 - 9:38am

The Department of Anthropology and the Laboratory of Archaeology's Dr. Stephen Kowalewski served as an editor on the newly published, The Evolution of Social Institutions-Interdisciplinary Perspectives. This book presents a novel and innovative…

Monday, October 5, 2020 - 9:07am

The SAA Archaeological Record featured the Dating Iroquoia project in their September issue. The issue features multiple articles by members of the Dating Iroquoia team, including Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Jennifer Birch, and PhD candidates, Megan…

Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - 11:17am

The Dating Iroquoia project is co-directed by Dr. Jennifer Birch and is made up of researchers at Cornell University, New York State Museum, and the University of Georgia, including Research Assistant, Megan Conger. The Conversation published an…

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 - 11:38am

UGA Department of Anthropology's Jacob Holland-Lulewicz, Megan Conger, Travis Jones, Dr. Jennifer Birch, and Dr. Stephen Kowalewski published a recent paper in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019 - 8:46am

The University of Georgia has joined the Universities Studying Slavery Consortium to facilitate scholarly exchange and academic collaboration. 

Monday, October 14, 2019 - 1:01pm

Title: Dating Iroquoia in American Antiquity

Monday, December 11, 2017 - 11:11am

UGA’s Jennifer Birch and Cornell University’s Sturt Manning are investigators for a National Science Foundation grant, “Establishing a High-Resolution Framework for Age Determination.” A team including graduate assistant Megan Anne Conger works to date Northern…

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