Our newest piece goes beyond the experimental work we published (see below) about the engineering principles of the Clovis point system to explore how revolutionary pike technology is for a range of humans exploring new worlds as we expanded around the globe. Ethnographic accounts from many eras and peoples suggest that pikes would have been useful to elderly, young, differently-abled and others gaining security against much larger and more powerful predators by using the technology, rather than relying on physical strength.

Our very own Bear Bones Lab member, Allison has been awarded the McCown Prize during the 2026 departmental commencement ceremony! The McCown Prize is awarded to a graduating senior judged by the Anthropology faculty to be the most outstanding member of their class. It is given to the student who is BOTH a remarkable scholar and one who has been actively engaged in the Anthropology community and ideally the community at large.

Our very own Bear Bones Lab crew mate, Regina has been been selected to receive a SURF L&S Fellowship. The SURF Program, which is administered by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarships,  is not just meritorious--it entails a commitment, not only to engage deeply in her research project, but also to stretch herself by learning new skills and dispositions and contributing her voice and energy to an interdisciplinary community of undergraduate researchers. Congratulations Regina!

Our very own Bear Bones Lab crew mate, Erin Burfield has been selected to receive a 2026 Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize for her Tribally-mandated project, Never Disappeared: Ethics and the Collaborative Reclamation of Ancestral Places. Congratulations!

The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society and Arizona Archaeological Council sponsor the annual Julian D. Hayden Paper Competition, named in honor of long-time southwestern scholar Julian Dodge Hayden. Bear Bones graduate student Melanie Cootsona's winning entry will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and publication of the paper in Kiva, The Journal of Southwestern Anthropology and History.

We challenge the use of simple functions in archaeological GIS and suggest that actualistic studies still have a place in better understanding human-animal interactions and biomechanical constraints. 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00231940.2026.2646017#d1e136

Congratulations to Nevada, Zara, and Maddie on the Kirp Prize for their amazing work on the community-mandated curriculum elements, incredible storytelling, and art with which they brought Davina Two Bear's story to life for schoolchildren!!

“Utilizing the Gift” explores the potential of oral histories and Indigenous self-narratives to create different histories in archaeological narratives. Using zooarchaeology, oral history interviews, and archival ethnographic texts, Bear Bones Lab colleague Melanie Cootsona and her co-author describe a gifting model of human-animal relationships, as demonstrated by turkeys at the New Mexican Pueblo of Picuris. See it in the Journal of Social Archaeology.

A new study of North American Clovis points dating to at least 13,000 years ago finds that this well-known Native American tradition was a remarkable innovation in longstanding hunting strategies.  Findings based on museum collections from archaeological sites offer insight into the ways people adapted to landscapes dominated by Ice Age megafauna, including mammoths, giant bison and extinct horses, during the Paleolithic.

Each year, the Chancellor recognizes students, staff, faculty, and community partnerships that embody UC Berkeley’s proud tradition of public service and commitment to improving our local and global community. 

Committed to Community-Accountable Research, Bear Bones Lab supports Indigenous archaeology, check out this article featuring our Bear Bones Lab alumnus, Morino Baca: 

https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/indigenous-archaeology-plows-forwar...