Department of Anthropology - Graduate Program

Dr. Tracy L. Prowse
Assistant Professor

3542 Faner Hall
Department of Anthropology
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale IL 62901-4502
Phone: (618) 453-3298
Fax: (618) 453-5037
Email tprowse@siu.edu

Research interests

Courses

My research explores diet and health in past populations, using palaeopathological and isotopic analyses of human bones and teeth. I am also interested in using stable isotopes to investigation geographic origins and migration in the Mediterranean region. I investigate the social conditions within which people lived and examine how this impacted diet, health, and the mobility of human populations. My approach is interdisciplinary, combining skeletal, isotopic, and archaeological evidence embedded within the historical context of the populations I study. More broadly, my interests are in osteology, bioarchaeology, paleopathology, palaeonutrition, and forensic anthropology.

Spring 2008
Anth 455E: Nutritional Anthropology
Anth 331: Forensic Anthropology

Fall 2007
Anth. 261: Issues in Popular Anthropology-Plagues and Peoples
Anth 532: Topics in Bioarchaeology (graduate seminar)

Fall/Winter 2006
Anth 331 : Forensic Anthropology
Anth 455H : Osteology

Recent Fieldwork

The Bioarchaeological Investigation of a Rural Roman Cemetery at Vagnari, South Italy
My current field project is the excavation and analysis of a rural Roman cemetery at Vagnari (south Italy), initially funded by a Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Standard Research Grant. The goal of this project is to investigate the health, diet, and social structure of the people who lived on an Imperial estate. Students can participate in a bioarchaeological field school at the site of Vagnari in July 2007 through the department of Anthropology at SIUC. Contact Dr. Prowse for further details.

Click here for 2008 Field School Flyer

Selected publications

In Press Prowse TL, Saunders SR, Schwarcz HP, Garnsey P, Bondioli L, Macchiarelli R. Isotopic and Dental Evidence for Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices in an Imperial Roman Skeletal Sample. American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

2008 Prowse TL. Burials/cemeteries: burials, excavation and recording techniques. Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Volume 2 (DM Pearsall, editor). Academic Press, pp. 944-948.

2007 Prowse TL. The Human Skeletal Remains and Descriptive Catalogue. Excavation in the Roman Cemetery at Vagnari in the Territory of Gravina in Puglia (2002) (A Small and C Small, eds.). Papers of the British School at Rome LXXV: 150-213.

2007 Prowse TL, Schwarcz HP, Garnsey P, Bondioli L, Maccharelli R, and Knyf M. Isotopic evidence for age-related immigration to Imperial Rome. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 132(4):510-519.

2005 Prowse T, Schwarcz H, Saunders S, Bondioli L, and Macchiarelli R. Isotopic evidence for age-related variation in diet from Isola Sacra, Italy. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 128(1):2-13.

2004 Prowse T, Schwarcz H, Saunders S, Bondioli L, and Macchiarelli R. Isotopic paleodiet studies of skeletons from the Imperial Roman cemetery of Isola Sacra, Rome, Italy. Journal of Archaeological Science, 31(3):259- 272.

1998 Small A, Small C, Campbell I, MacKinnon M, Prowse T, and Sipe C. Field Survey in the Basentello Valley on the Basilicata-Puglia Border. Echos du Monde Classique/Classical Views, XLII: 337-371.

1996 Prowse TL and Lovell NC. Concordance of Cranial and Dental Morphological Traits and Evidence for Endogamy in Ancient Egypt. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 101(2): 237-246.

1995 Prowse TL and Lovell NC. Biological Continuity Between the A- and C- Groups in Lower Nubia: Evidence from Cranial Nonmetric Traits. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 5(2): 104-114.