Catherine West

Affiliations

Archaeology Program, Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer Range Future

Areas of Expertise

Zooarchaeology; environmental archaeology; stable isotope analysis; archaeology of the Arctic and Subarctic; archaeology in ecology and conservation

View Professor West’s CV – November 2024

Zooarchaeology Laboratory Website

About Professor West

Catherine West’s research focuses on two questions in archaeology:  1) what are the effects of Holocene climate change and resource availability on prehistoric subsistence in Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems, particularly in coastal Alaska; and 2) how can we apply the archaeological record to contemporary environmental issues?  To address these ideas, West uses zooarchaeological and stable isotope data in the context of historical ecology and evolutionary ecology to clarify the long-term relationship between hunter-gatherers and the environment.  These research projects derive from contemporary concerns about the long-term effects of landscape change, invasive species introductions, and changing climate in northern regions.  West’s current field projects include survey and excavation on Alaska’s Kodiak Island, Chirikof Island, and the Aleutian Islands, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Geographic Society.

Selected Publications

• West, C.F., and R. Yeshurun. 2019. Foxes and Humans at the Late Holocene Uyak Site, Kodiak, Alaska. Arctic Anthropology 56 (1): 39-51. DOI: 10.3368/aa.56.1.39
• Bassett, C.N, C.F.T. Andrus, and C.F. West. 2019. Implications for measuring seasonality in the marine bivalve, Saxidomus gigantea. Chemical Geology 526: 36-48. DOI: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.07.004
• Ameen, C., …. C.F. West, et al. 2019. Specialized sledge dogs accompanied Inuit dispersal across the North American Arctic. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 286 (1916). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1929

Courses

• CAS AR 283 North American Archaeology
• CAS AR 307 Archaeological Science
• CAS AR 410 Archaeological Research Design and Materials Analysis
• CAS AR 518 Zooarchaeology