Cynthia Smith Bradley
College: College of Humanities
Discipline: Archaeology
Department: Archaeology
Doctoral Candidate in Bioarchaeology, commencing January 2010
I have been involved in bioarchaeological and archaeological research in the United States for over thirty years, although most of my experience involves the Ancestral Puebloans of the American Southwest. While an undergraduate, I looked forward to advanced studies and research in medical anthropology - but this focus changed over a summer break when I volunteered to work at a prehistoric site in southwest Colorado. During several weeks of field research I gained an enduring interest in the osteological analysis of prehistoric human remains, which was complemented by the acquisition of practical knowledge of archaeological concepts and methods. Even though I would eventually work as a bioarchaeologist or archaeologist on other projects, since that "fateful" sojourn I have maintained a relationship with the Wallace Ruin Project, performing both laboratory and in situ analyses of the human remains as well as participating in excavation research.
For my Master's research, I drew upon my cross-disciplinary experience as I integrated bioarchaeological, archaeological and humanistic approaches to evaluate fundamental factors that underlie the well-being of children regardless of time or place. This multi-disciplinary study addressed the crucial dynamic that comprises attitudes of obligation, child rearing practices, and physical well-being as evidenced in the skeletal remains and mortuary circumstances of children from Sand Canyon Pueblo.
Doctoral Research
Remaking the Mazeway: a study of skeletal and mortuary evidence from the Ancestral Pueblo site of Wallace Ruin, Colorado, USA
My evidence-based, cross-disciplinary doctoral research is a continuation of my previous emphasis on integrating skeletal and funerary data to evaluate the role of ideas in lifeways and deathways. The aims of my doctoral project are fourfold:
to fully document a variant Ancestral Pueblo funerary practice;
to evaluate the range of funerary rites as evidenced at Wallace Ruin;
to better integrate archaeological and biological analyses of burial contexts; and,
to gain insights into the ideological sphere that contributed to the social developments of this iconic region of the
American Southwest
Education
1998 MA in Anthropology, Vermont College of Norwich University, USA (bioarchaeological research emphasis)
1977 BA in Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, USA, magna cum laude (biological anthropology emphasis)
Professional Afflilations
American Association of Physical Anthropologists
British Association of Biological Anthropologists and Osteoarchaeologists
Summary of Professional/Research Experience
While serving as the staff bioarchaeologist for three private companies, I performed in situ and laboratory analyses that involved the assessment and interpretation of human skeletal remains and their mortuary circumstances. During this time, I also acquired a range of archaeological experience while working as an excavator, recorder, field assistant, assistant excavation director and laboratory director. This range of professional experience greatly added to my lectures when I taught archaeology and anthropology courses for a Navajo tribal college.
Relevant Publications
Bradley, Cynthia Smith
2011 'What Must be Done': Ideology and the Children of Sand Canyon Pueblo, in M. Lally and A. Moore (eds.), (Re) Thinking the Little Ancestor: New Perspectives on the Archaeology of Infancy and Childhood. Archaeopress: BAR International Series S2271, pp 139-151.
2003 Human Skeletal Remains. In K. Kuckelman (ed.), The Archaeology of Yellow Jacket Pueblo (Site 5MT5): Excavations at a Large Community Center in Southwestern Colorado [HTML Title]. Available: http://www.crowcanyon.org/yellowjacket.
2002 Human Skeletal Remains. In M. J. Churchill (ed.), The Archaeology of Woods Canyon Pueblo: A Canyon-Rim Village in Southwestern Colorado [HTML Title]. Available: http:// www.crowcanyon.org/woodscanyon.
2002 Thoughts Count: Ideology and the Children of Sand Canyon Pueblo. In K. A. Kamp (ed.), Children in the Prehistoric Puebloan Southwest, pp. 169–195. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, USA. (Drawn from papers presented at the 1999 and 2000 Annual Meetings of the Society for American Archaeology, Chicago and Philadelphia.)
1999 Annual Report: Human Remains Recovered During the 1999 Field Season. 5MT11555, Stix and Leaves Pueblo. Primitive Tech Enterprises, Inc. Cortez, Colorado, USA. Submitted to the State Archaeologist, Colorado Historical Society, Denver, Colorado.
1998 Obligation and Children: Attitudes of Obligation in the Nurturing and Interpretation of Children. Unpublished Master's thesis, Vermont College of Norwich University, Montpelier, Vermont, USA.
Bradley, Bruce and Cynthia Bradley
2000 Annual Report of Archaeological Research Conducted at 5MT11555, Stix and Leaves Pueblo, Montezuma County, Colorado, Primitive Tech Enterprises, Inc. Submitted to the State Archaeologist, Colorado Historical Society, Denver, Colorado.
1999 Annual Report of Archaeological Research Conducted at 5MT11555, Stix and Leaves Pueblo, Montezuma County, Colorado, Primitive Tech Enterprises, Inc. Cortez, Colorado, USA. Submitted to the State Archaeologist, Colorado Historical Society, Denver, Colorado.
1998 Annual Report of Excavations at Wallace Ruin (5MT6970), Primitive Tech Enterprises, Inc., Cortez,Colorado,USA. Submitted to the State Archaeologist, Colorado Historical Society, Denver, Colorado.
