Acting Curator of Archaeology

Jeff_Rasic @nps.gov

907-455-0632

Jeff Rasic is serving as the Acting Curator of Archaeology and is also employed by the National Park Service as an archaeologist for Gates of the Arctic National Park and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. He has worked in the Caribbean, mid-Atlantic states, and western U.S. over the last 17 years and since 1995 has focused on field work and research projects in Alaska, especially the northern and interior portions of the state. Research interests include the early human settlement of Beringia, the analysis of stone tool assemblages, and archaeological survey and mapping methods. Recent projects include the geochemical analysis of obsidian artifacts and identification of obsidian sources within Alaska; archaeological surveys in the Brooks Range and upper Yukon River; and investigations of the biogeography and extinction of large game animals in Alaska.

Ph.D., 2008, Anthropology, Washington State University

M.A., 2000, Anthropology, Washington State University

B.A., 1993, Anthropology, Wake Forest University

Selected Publications:

2007 Odess, D. and J. T. .Rasic. Toolkit Composition and Assemblage Variability: The Implications of Nogahabara I, Northern Alaska . American Antiquity 72(4):691-717.

2007 Rasic, J.T. and P. Matheus. A Reconsideration of Purported Holocene Bison Bones in Northern Alaska . Arctic 60 (4): 381-388.

2004 Rasic, J.T. Debitage Taphonomy. In Aggregate Analysis in Chipped Stone, edited by C. Hall and M. L. Larson, pp. 112-138. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City .

Archaeology Collections Manager

jwwhitney @alaska.edu

907-474-6943

James Whitney has been the Archaeology Collections Manager since 2000. He oversees the care of the artifacts and documentation, manages the collections database, assists researchers with use of the collections, and supervises student assistants working on collections projects. Mr. Whitney earned his BS in Natural Resources Management with a concentration in Archaeology at Cornell University in 1997, focusing on conservation of natural and cultural resources. After moving to Alaska in 1997, he went to the University of Washington where he earned his MA in Museology and worked at the Burke Museum. He completed his MA in Anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2008, where his research in historical archaeology focused on the material culture of placer gold miners and their role in the capitalist world-system. Mr. Whitney's current research interests include mangement and conservation of archaeological collections and historical archaeology of Alaska and the American West.

Current Projects:

Save America's Treasures: Preserving the 1934-35 DOI-ACE Collections

Historical Archaeology of Marion Creek, Alaska: Placer Gold Mining and the Capitalist World-System

Research Archaeologist

sjshirar @alaska.edu

907-474-6819

Scott Shirar has been a research archaeologist with the University of Alaska Museum of the North since January 2008. He holds a B.A. in anthropology from Indiana University and received his M.A. from the University of Alaska Fairbanks . As a museum archaeologist his responsibilities include managing projects funded through federal agencies including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. He also takes part in summer fieldwork projects and conducts original research. Scott’s research interests and specialties include: faunal analysis, subsistence studies, seasonality studies, trade and exchange, and the late prehistoric time period generally.

Current Projects:

Ecology and Subsistence Technology Along the Noatak and Kobuk Rivers during the Late Prehistoric Time Period

Senior Curatorial Assistant / Archaeologist-In-Charge

cwhoulette @alaska.edu

907-474-6819

Chris Houlette has worked for the archaeology department since the spring of 2005. As Senior Curatorial Assistant he specializes in archival research and artifact rehousing. In May 2008 Mr. Houlette earned his B.S. in Anthropology from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Since 2006 he has focused on the reorganization and stabilization of the Otto Geist archaeological collections from St. Lawrence Island. During the summers he also participates in fieldwork including survey and excavation. His current interests are focused on Eskimo prehistory in the Bering Straits region and museum collections based research. Currently he is working on a grant funded research project involving an early Thule/Punuk Eskimo assemblage from Kukulik, St. Lawrence Island .

Current Projects:

Save America's Treasures: Preserving the 1934-35 DOI-ACE Collections

Evidence of Thule Occupation at Kukulik: Re-Evaluating the Meat Cache 35 Assemblage

Fawn Carter

Roberta Eastwood

Jessica Peterson

Aimee Ely