Faculty

Joel D. Irish

Office: Eielson 308B
Phone: 907 474-6755
Email: ffjdi.uaf.edu

UAF Department of Anthropology
310 Eielson Building
P.O. Box 757720
Fairbanks, AK 99775
Main telephone: 907- 474-7288
Fax: 907 474-7453
E-mail: fyanth@uaf.edu

Profile and description of interests

I have extensive academic and applied experience in dental anthropology and human osteology. I also have a strong background in bioarchaeology and prehistoric archaeology (>25 seasons of fieldwork in the U.S. and abroad), as well as human paleopathology. One of my main areas of research involves a biocultural approach to the Upper Pleistocene through modern peopling of Africa, with a concentration on hard tissue morphometric data to understand population affinities, migration, and diachronic adaptation. I have assembled a considerable database of dental and osseous morphometric variants (313 variables in >3,500 individuals), recorded in North and sub-Saharan African samples from institutions throughout the U.S., Europe, and Egypt. Though concentrating on Upper Pleistocene through recent groups, I have also applied this approach to Plio-Pleistocene hominins in Journal of Human Evolution articles. Because of this and other research I have >40 scientific articles in professional journals and edited volumes, >45 presentations at regional, national, and international meetings, and several manuscripts under review or in progress.

Recently, my African research has been centered on post-Pleistocene through dynastic Egyptians and Nubians. I have served as the bioarchaeologist for two Egyptian expeditions: the Combined Prehistoric Expedition to Nabta Playa (through the Polish Academy of Sciences, Southern Methodist University, and Geological Survey of Egypt), and the Hierakonpolis Expedition (through the British Museum). At Nabta Playa we recently completed a multi-year excavation of a large Late Neolithic cemetery. At Hierakonpolis, cemeteries containing Pan-Grave people, C-Group Nubians, and predynastic Egyptians have been, or currently are being excavated. Beyond the African work, I have also served as the bioarchaeologist on a multi-disciplinary team investigating Late Pleistocene human occupation of the interior plateau region of Mexico. We reported our findings at the AAPA and SAA meetings, and have more details in the Mammoth Trumpet and Current Research in the Pleistocene. For the African and Mexican fieldwork I have involved my graduate students.

With reference to my academic experience, I have a considerable background in teaching and advising. As the only biological anthropologist at UAF I have taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, including: Introduction to Biological Anthropology, Human Biology (taught as a human variation course), Paleoanthropology, Human Osteology, Analytical Techniques, Dental Anthropology, Human Genetics, and Proseminar in Physical Anthropology. In teaching I often incorporate the four fields, where appropriate, to present a more complete picture. Classes may involve hands-on experience when possible for students (e.g., labs, field trips if feasible). And, as noted, to help students experience the research side of anthropology, I have involved several in my work.

I also take an active role in fostering student success outside the classroom -- during and after their academic careers. I facilitated many funding, research, and career opportunities for all my current and former graduate students. In the past year, for example, one former M.A. student was accepted for Ph.D. work at SUNY Albany, two others found permanent government employment (i.e., BLM and CILHI), and my recent Ph.D. graduates obtained tenure-track teaching positions at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK, and Arkansas State University, Beebe.

Finally, my service record is substantial and varied. During 2002-2004 I was elected President of the Dental Anthropology Association; recent past presidents have included C. Loring Brace, Stephen Molnar, and Phil Walker, among others. I am now the Executive Board Member of the DAA. I am also Chairr of the AAPA Career Development Committee. At the university level, I have been involved in several areas at UAF, most recently as a board member of the Alaska Quaternary Center, and Academic Council -- which oversees development of new courses and departmental curricula. I am now Chair of the UAF Anthropology Department. Methodological and geographic areas of interest include:

Upper Pleistocene through modern peopling of the world
Human osteology
Human variation, origins, and evolution
Dental anthropology
Computer & statistical applications, microtaxonomy
Human paleopathology
Bioarchaeology
Africa, Southeast Alaska, Central Mexico

Publications

In Press	(edited with GC Nelson) Technique and Application in Dental Anthropology. Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2007	(with L Konigsberg) The ancient inhabitants of Jebel Moya redux: Measuresof population affinity based on dental morphology. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. 17:138-156
2006	Who were the ancient Egyptians? Dental affinities among Neolithic through post-dynastic samples. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 129:529-543.
2005	Population continuity versus discontinuity revisited: Dental affinities among Late Paleolithic through Christian era Nubians. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 128:520-535.
2005	(with D Guatelli-Steinberg (1st author)) Brief communication: Early hominin variability in first molar dental trait frequencies. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 128:477-484.
2005	(with M Kobusiewicz, J Kabacinski, R Schild) Short communication: Two additional Egyptian Neolithic burials exhiiting unusual mortuary treatment of teeth. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. 15:136-139.
2004	A 5,500 year-old artifical tooth from Egypt: A historical note. International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants. 19:645-647.
2004	Physical anthropological study of the HK27c C-Group sample. Sudan & Nubia . 8:56-59.
2004	(with B Hemphill) An odontometric investigation of Canary Islander origins. Dental Anthropology. 17:8-17.
2004	(with M Kobusiewicz (1st author), J Kabacinski, R Schild, F Wendorf) Discovery of the first Neolithic cemetery in the Western Desert of Egypt. Antiquity. 78:545-557.
2003	(with D Guatelli-Steinberg) Ancient Teeth and Modern Human Origins: An Expanded Comparison of African Plio-Pleistocene and Recent World Dental Samples. Journal of Human Evolution.
2003	(with B Hemphill) An Odontometric Investigation of Canary Islander Origins. Dental Anthropology.
2003	(with M Kobusiewicz, R Schild, and F Wendorf) Neolithic Tooth Replacement in Two Secondary Burials from Southern Egypt. Journal of Archaeological Science 30:281-285.
2001	(with D Guatelli-Steinberg and J Lukacs) Canary Island - North African population affinities: Measures of divergence based on dental morphology. Homo 52:173-188.
	(with M Jackes and AM Silva) Dental morphology -- a valuable contribution to our understanding of prehistory. Journal of Iberian Archaeology 3:97-119.
2000	The Iberomaurusian Enigma: North African Progenitor or Dead End? Journal of Human Evolution. 39:393-410.
	(with SD Davis) Ongoing investigations of Early Man in Jalisco, Mexico. Mammoth Trumpet 15:1, 17-19.
	Preliminary report on analyses of the Hierakonpolis human remains. Nekhen News 12:9-10.
1998	Dental morphological affinities of Late Pleistocene through recent sub-Saharan and North African peoples. Bulletins et Memoires de la Societé d'Anthropologie de Paris. Nouvelle serie 10:237-272.
	Diachronic and synchronic dental trait affinities of Late and post-Pleistocene peoples from North Africa. Homo 49:138-155.
	Ancestral dental traits in recent Sub-Saharan Africans and the origins of modern humans. Journal of Human Evolution 34:81-98.
	(with M Olgilvie) Craniofacial asymmetry in a prehistoric Native American skull from the Southwestern United States. Journal of Paleopathology 8:69-77 (Published 1998, dated 1996).
1997	Characteristic high- and low-frequency dental traits in sub-Saharan African populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 102:455-467.
	(with CG Turner II) The first evidence of LSAMAT in non-Native Americans: Historic Senegalese from west Africa. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 102:141-146.
	(with L Santone) Buried in haste: Historic interments from Governors Island, New York. North American Archaeologist 18:19-39.
	(with BE Ensor) Reply to Blakey and Armelagos, with additional remarks on the Hypoplastic Area method. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 102:296-299.
1996	(with DH Morris) A supplemental description of the Bushman maxillary canine polymorphism. South African Journal of Science 92:351-353.
	(with DH Morris) Technical note: The canine mesial ridge (Bushman canine) trait definition. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 99:357-359.
1995	(with BE Ensor) The Hypoplastic Area method for analyzing dental enamel hypoplasia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 98:507-517.
1993	(with MA Pereira da Silva and O Cussenot) Hard tissue regeneration of a gunshot wound in a historic north African skull: A paleopathological perspective. Journal of Paleopathology 5:135-141.
	(with SD Davis and RA Lively) A bioarchaeological study of prehistoric human, faunal, and cultural remains from Wilson Cove, Admiralty Island, Alaska. Arctic Anthropology 30:103-119.
1991	(with M Sakuma and DH Morris) The Bushman maxillary canine of the Chewa tribe in east central Africa. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Nippon 99:411-417.
	(with CG Turner II and Machado LMC) Reply to Robb, Cruwys, and Smith, with additional remarks on LSAMAT. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 85:348-351.
1990	(with CG Turner II) West African dental affinity of Late Pleistocene Nubians. II. Peopling of the Eurafrican-South Asian triangle. Homo 41:42-53.
1989	(with AM Haeussler, D Morris, and CG Turner II) Morphological and metrical comparison of San and Central Sotho dentitions from southern Africa. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 78:115-122
1987	(with CG Turner II) More lingual surface attrition of the maxillary anterior teeth in American Indians: Prehistoric Panamanians. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 73:209-214.
Articles in Edited Volumes
In Press	Dental morphometric analyss of the neolithic human skeletal sample from R12: Characterizations and contrasts. In S Salvatori and D Usai (eds.) R12, A Neolithic Cemetery in the Northern Dongola Reach. London: Sudan Archaeological Research Society.
2005	(with R Schild (1st author), M Kobusiewicz, F Wendorf, J Kabacinski, H Krolik, G Calderoni) A new important area of Neolithic occupation in the southwestern Desert of Egypt. In BE Barich, T Tillet, and K Heinz Striedter (eds.) Hunters vs. Pastoralists in the Sahara: Material Culture and Symbolic Aspects. BAR International Series 1338. Oxford: Archaeopress. p 51-56.
2002	(with R Schild, M Kobusiewicz, F Wendorf, J Kabacinski, and H Krolik) Gebel Ramlah Playa. In T Lenssen-Erz, U Tegtmeier, and S Kröpelin (eds.) Tides of the Desert: Contributions to the Archaeology and Environmental History of Africa in Honour of Rudolph Kuper. 14 Africa Praehistorica, Monographs on African Archaeology and Environment. Cologne, Germany: Heinrich-Barth Institut, University of Cologne. pp. 117-123.
2001	Human skeletal remains from three Nabta Playa sites. In F Wendorf and R Schild (eds.) Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara. Vol. 1, The Archaeology of Nabta Playa. New York: Kluwer Academic / Plenum Press. pp. 521-528.
	(with BE Hemphill) Les Canaries ont-elles été colonisées par les Berbéres d'Afrique du Nord? La contribution de L'analyse odontométrique. In D Hadjouis and B Mafart (eds.), La Paléo-Odontologie: Analyses et Méthodes d' Etude. Collection Paléoanthropologie et Paléopathologie Osseuse. Paris: Editions Artcom. pp. 122-137.
2000	(with SD Davis, JE Lobdell, and FA Solorzano Barreto) Prehistoric Human Skeletal Remains from Jalisco, Mexico. In BT Lepper (ed.), Current Research in the Pleistocene, Vol 17. Corvallis, OR: Center for the Study of the First Americans. pp. 95-97.
1998	Dental morphological indications of population discontinuity and Egyptian gene flow in post-Paleolithic Nubia. In JR Lukacs (ed.) Human Dental Development, Morphology, & Pathology: A Tribute to Albert A. Dahlberg. University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 54. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon Press. pp. 155-172.
1997	(with MH Regan and CG Turner II) Physical anthropology of the Schoolhouse Point Mound, U:8:24/13a. In O Lindauer (ed.) The Place of the Storehouses: Roosevelt Platform Mound Study: Report on the Schoolhouse Point Mound, Pinto Creek Complex. Roosevelt Monograph Series 6, Part 2. Tempe: Office of Cultural Resource Management. Department of Anthropology, Arizona State Univ. pp. 787-840.
1996	(with MH Regan and CG Turner II) Physical anthropology of the Rock Island Complex, Roosevelt Platform Mound Study. In O Lindauer (ed.) Where the Rivers Converge: Roosevelt Platform Mound Study: Report on the Rock Island Complex. Roosevelt Monograph Series 4, Part 2. Tempe: Office of Cultural Resource Management. Dept. of Anthropology, Arizona State Univ. pp. 415-24.
1995	(with MA Pereira da Silva and O Cussenot) Paléopathologie d'une blessure faciale par balle observée sur un crâne nord-africain. Etude qualitative des premiers signes osseux de régénération. In Proceedings of the IX European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association. Barcelona: Museu D'Arqueologia de Catalunya, pp. 25-30.
	(with CG Turner II and MH Regan) Physical anthropology and human taphonomy. In R Ciolek-Torrello, S Shelley, and S Benaron (eds.) The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study: Prehistoric Rural Settlements in the Tonto Basin, Volume 2. Tucson, AZ: Statistical Research, Inc., pp. 559-583.
1994	(with CG Turner II and MH Regan) Physical anthropology of the Roosevelt Lake Livingston study area. In D Jacobs (ed.) Archaeology of the Salado in the Livingston Area of Tonto Basin, Roosevelt Platform Mound Study: Report on the Livingston Management Group, Pinto Creek Complex. Roosevelt Monograph Series 3, Part 2. Tempe: Office of Cultural Resource Management. Department. of Anthropology, Arizona State Univ. pp. 819-832.
1990	(with CG Turner II and M Regan) The biology of the Salado people. In G Rice (ed.) A Design for Salado Research. Roosevelt Monograph Series 1. Roosevelt Platform Mound Study. Tempe: Office of Cultural Resource Management. Department. of Anthropology, Arizona State Univ. pp. 131-137.
	(with CG Turner II and MH Regan) Physical anthropology analysis. In AW Simon (ed.) Laboratory Plan for Salado Research. Roosevelt Platform Mound Study. Tempe: The Office of Cultural Resource Management. Department of Anthropology, Arizona State Univ. pp. 8-1 to 8-60.
1989	(with CG Turner II) Further assessment of Hohokam affinity: The Classic Period population of the Casa Buena and Grand Canal sites, Phoenix, Arizona. In DR Mitchell (ed.) Archaeological Investigations at the Grand Canal Ruins: A Classic Period Site in Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix: Soil Systems Publications in Archaeology, No. 12. pp. 775-792.

Book Reviews

2004	The Backbone of History: Health and Nutrition in the Western Hemisphere, edited by Richard H. Steckel and Jerome C. Rose, 2002. American Antiquity.
2001	Dental Morphology 1998: Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Dental Morphology, edited by John T. Mayhall and Tuomo Heikkinen, 1999. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 114:171-2.
1999	Human Adaptability: Past, Present, and Future, edited by S.J. Ulijaszek and R.A. Huss-Ashmore, 1997. Journal of Anthropological Research 55:284-285.
1998	Journal of Caribbean Studies Special Issue: Health and Disease in the Caribbean, edited by R.A. Halberstein, 1997. Journal of Anthropological Research 54:236-239.
1996	The Human Biology of the English Village, by G. Ainsworth Harrison (with a chapter on "Surnames" by Gabriel W. Lasker), 1995. Journal of Anthropological Research 52:501-503.
1993	Recent Contributions to the Study of Enamel Developmental Defects, edited by AH Goodman and LL Capasso, 1992. Dental Anthropology 7:18-19.