Investigators Mallory Melton

My research explores issues of culture contact and colonial encounters among past communities in midwestern and southeastern North America, particularly during Late Prehistoric and Historic periods. I employ archaeobotanical analysis as a method for investigating household and intergroup interactions, exposing the practices through which identities were negotiated and survival was ensured. Moreover, I am interested in periods of social and political destabilization, during which episodes of migration and cross-cultural encounters are common. I am also invested in advancing applications of technology to explore patterning in archaeological data. Specifically, I am currently developing Bayesian models for two separate projects (in collaboration with Gregory Wilson and Timothy Pauketat) aimed at constructing high-precision chronologies for contexts in the Central Illinois River Valley and the American Bottom.