KATHLEEN L. HULL
Assistant Professor, AnthropologySchool of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research encompasses three independent, but complementary, themes in anthropological archaeology:
- the cultural impact of colonial encounters on native people of North America and the process of European colonialism within native communities more generally;
- the interplay of demography and culture, with particular emphasis on small-scale, hunting and gathering societies; and
- identity and ethnogenesis in pre-literate societies, including how people assert and defend their identity through material culture.
My recent research has focused on one of the most contentious issues in the study of European colonialism in North America—the timing, magnitude, and cultural consequences of native depopulation due to introduced infectious disease. Utilizing evidence from original archaeological field research, existing museum collections, ethnohistory, and native oral tradition, my study of the native demography within Yosemite Valley examined data within a framework of multiple time scales from the short-term event to longue durée as a means to better assess the potential for perception and action on the part of the native people. This study provided an intimate portrait of native decision-making in the "hinterlands" of colonial California. My forthcoming book on this subject complements existing archaeological, anthropological, and historical literature on European colonialism; contributes to the demographic debate; and provides a view of the impact of colonialism prior to face-to-face encounters of colonists and Indians.
Although this study focused on depopulation during the colonial era, my broader research agenda is assessment of the long-term and short-term dynamics between population and culture in small-scale societies in a variety of contexts in the more distant past. The demographic results for the Yosemite region suggest that oscillations in population size through time were common in small-scale groups, and a significant population decline is indicated in the distant past. These observations are contrary to many expectations of population growth implicit in models of hunter-gatherer behavior common to archaeological study in western North America and elsewhere. The demographic data are consistent with Yosemite native oral tradition, however, and bear further study to understand cause, consequence, and implications of this pattern as well as the strength of employing different sources of data in archaeological analysis. This work in the Sierra Nevada is further complemented by my previous research on native demography in the eastern Great Basin, and the new research I'm initiating in this same region is intended to build on and expand this earlier work. This study will provide data with which to compare and contrast the Yosemite observations. In addition, my ongoing research includes archaeological study of native social practices in coastal southern California that served to reinforce group identity and cohesion in these small-scale societies.
CURRENT PROJECTS
- Demographic studies, Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County
- Playa Vista Archaeological and Historical Project, Los Angeles County (in collaboration with Statistical Research, Inc.)
- Research Design for Obsidian Hydration Chronology-building in Lincoln County, Nevada (under the Lincoln County Archaeological Initiative)
CONTACT INFORMATION
Mailing address: 5200 N. Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343Physical address: 387 Classroom Building
Email: see UC Merced Directory
©2006-2009 Kathleen L. Hull