Scott J. Demel
Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Office/Lab: Room 147D Gries Hall
Phone: 906-227-2843
E-mail: sdemel@nmu.edu
NMU Archaeology Facebook Page:

Education:

BS University of Wisconsin-Madison
MA University of Illinois at Chicago
PhD University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Teaching:

AN101  Introduction to Physical Anthropology & Archaeology
AN295  Archaeology of the Ancient Americas
AN395  Seminar in Archaeological Field Methods (Summer)
AN495  Special Topics in Anthropology (various courses)
            Historical Archaeology
               Experimental Archaeology
               Museum Studies I & II
AN498   Directed Studies (various topics)
               History of Anthropology
               Health, Society, and Culture
               Physical/Biological & Economic Anthropology
               Great Lakes Faunal Analysis
               Archaeology of China

Fall 2012: courses tbd

Scott J. Demel joined NMU as a full-time Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the fall of 2009. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a major in archaeology and a minor in geology. Scott is currently teaching a variety of courses in anthropology and archaeology and runs the summer archaeology field school.

Profile

I am interested in how different ethnic groups have used the Great Lakes throughout prehistory and into the early 19th century. To fully understand the opportunities available along these inland coasts I also study all aspects of the natural environment and cultural landscape to learn how humans have adapted to this dynamic landscape.

Prior to coming to NMU I worked for eight years at The Field Museum in Chicago where I was the Head of Collections for the Department of Anthropology. This position afforded me the opportunity to study firsthand the intricate details of material culture of ethnic groups from around the globe. I also had the opportunity to meet with indigenous representatives that were seeking to repatriate objects or remains, and to be trained in the use of analytical equipment such as an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) elemental analyzer. During this period I also taught courses in archaeology and co-directed archaeology field schools for DePaul University. Some of the archaeological sites I have worked on include: the Cable's Bay Fishing Village, the Burke Farm (Beaver Island), Relocating Camp Douglas - Civil War Prison (Chicago), The Tetter Homestead – Kankakee IL (reconstruction era), Pullman State Historic Site - Chicago (early industrial), the Kubinski Site - a Middle Woodland Ossuary (Romeoville, IL), and the Brewster Creek Mastodon (DuPage County, IL).

Geographic Areas of Interest

North America/Great Lakes/Midwest

Coastal and Island Archaeology

Recent Publications & Conference Presentations

Chapters:

Demel, Scott J. (2010). Cultural Features at the New Lenox Site in The Late Prehistoric and Proto-Historic Components at the New Lenox Site, Illinois; edited by Rochelle Lurie (submitted).

Lurie, Rochelle, Doug Kullen, and Scott J. Demel.   ( 2009).   Defining the Archaic in Northern Illinois – In Archaic Societies – Diversity and Complexity Across the Midcontinent; edited by Thomas E. Emerson, Dale L. McElrath, and Andrew C. Fortier (Albany: State University of New York Press, March 2009)

Journal Articles:

Demel, Scott J.(2009). Brewster Creek Mastodon Camp!: Engaging Teens & Teachers in Scientific Inquiry, DuPage County, Illinois in Current Research in the Pleistocene; vol. 26: (submitted).

Pestle, William, Scott J. Demel, Michael Colvard, and Robert Pickering. (2007). Skeletal Biology and Mortuary Practice at the Kubinski Site (11-WI-1186), a Middle Woodland Ossuary in Illinois Archaeology; vol. 19: 47-84. 

Demel, Scott J. (2007). Three Rediscovered Clovis Points From The Field Museum Collections in Current Research in the Pleistocene; vol. 24: 76-77.