Kathryn Baustian
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Office: Bolton 253
Tel. (518) 580-5419
E-mail: kbaustia@skidmore.edu
On Sabbatical Fall 2024 & Spring 2025
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2015
- M.A., Anthropology, University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2010
- B.A., Anthropology, Criminal Justice, Hamline University, 2005
REGIONAL FOCUS
RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
- Human Osteology, Bioarchaeology, Forensic Anthropology, Violence and Trauma, Paleopathology, Inequality
My ongoing research explores the use and avoidance of violence in the prehistoric American Southwest. As a bioarchaeologist for archaeological excavations in the Mimbres region of southwest New Mexico, I use my expertise in human osteology in conjunction with site context to reconstruct past health and social interaction. I am also engaged in bioarchaeological research projects that investigate what life was like in the Bronze Age Near East, specifically the southern coast of the Arabian Gulf. Lastly, I have interests in forensic science and serve as a forensic anthropology consultant to medico-legal agencies upon request.
COURSES
- Anthropology of the Human Past (AN 102, AN 102H)
- Archaeology of the American Southwest (AN 208)
- Anthropology of Violence (AN 251C)
- Forensic Anthropology (AN 251C)
- Human Osteology (AN 304)
- Biocultural Approaches to Social Inequality (AN 351C)
- Bioarchaeology (AN 351D)
- Evolution of the Human Diet (AN 353D)
SELECTED SCHOLARSHIP
Articles
- 2018 Baustian, KM. Violence and Social Structure in the Mimbres Region of Southwest New Mexico: Interpretations from Bioarchaeological Data. KIVA: Journal of Southwest Archaeology and History.
- 2015 Roth, BJ, and Baustian, KM. Kin Groups and Social Power at the Harris Site, Southwestern New Mexico. American Antiquity 80(3):451-471.
- 2013 Potts, DT, Martin, DL, Baustian, KM, and Osterholtz, AJ. Neonates, Infant Mortality, and the Pre-Islamic Arabian Amuletic Tradition at Tell Abraq. Liwa 5(9):3-14.
- 2012 Baustian, KM, Harrod, RP, Osterholtz, AJ, and Martin, DL. Battered and Abused: Analysis of Trauma at Grasshopper Pueblo (AD 1275-1400). International Journal of Paleopathology 2(2-3):102-111.
Edited Volume
- 2014 Osterholtz, AJ, Baustian, KM, and Martin, DL (Eds.). Commingled and Disarticulated Human Remains: Working Towards Improved Theory, Method, and Data. Springer Press.
Book Chapters
- In Revision Baustian, KM, and Creel, D. (Expected 2019) Bioarchaeology in the Mimbres Region. In Readings in Southwestern Bioarchaeology, edited by A.L.W. Stodder. University Press of Florida.
- 2019 Martin, DL, Baustian, KM, and Osterholtz, AJ. The Tomb at Tell Abraq: Demographic Structure and Mortuary Complexity. In Life and Death in Ancient Arabia: Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives, edited by L. Gregorika. University Press of Florida.
- 2016 Baustian, KM, and Anderson, CP. Linking Health and Marriage Practices among Commingled Assemblages: A Case Study from Bronze Age Tell Abraq, UAE. In Theoretical Approaches to the Analysis of Commingled Human Remains, edited by A. Osterholtz. Springer Press.
- 2015 Baustian, KM, Crandall, JJ, and Martin, DL. Sex and the Human Skeleton. In The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality, edited by A. Bolin and P. Whelehan. Wiley-Blackwell Press.
- 2014 Baustian, KM. Interpreting Skeletal Trauma and Violence at Grasshopper Pueblo (AD 1275-1400). In Bioarchaeological and Forensic Perspectives on Violence: How Violent Death is Interpreted from Skeletal Remains, edited by DL Martin and CP Anderson. Cambridge University Press.
- 2014 Crandall, JJ, Harrod, RP, Anderson, CP, and Baustian, KM. Interpreting Gunshot Trauma as Context Clue: A Case Study from Historic North Las Vegas, Nevada. In Bioarchaeological and Forensic Perspectives on Violence: How Violent Death is Interpreted from Skeletal Remains, edited by DL Martin and CP Anderson. Cambridge University Press.
- 2014 Osterholtz, AJ, Baustian, KM, and Martin, DL. Introduction. In Commingled and Disarticulated Human Remains: Working Towards Improved Theory, Method, and Data, edited by AJ Osterholtz, KM Baustian, and DL Martin. Springer Press.
- 2014 Osterholtz, AJ, Baustian, KM, Martin, DL, and Potts, DT. Commingled Human Skeletal Assemblages: Integrative Techniques in Determination of the MNI/MNE. In Commingled and Disarticulated Human Remains: Working Towards Improved Theory, Method, and Data, edited by AJ Osterholtz, KM Baustian, and DL Martin. Springer Press.
- 2014 Baustian, KM, Osterholtz, AJ, and Cook, DC. Taking Analyses of Commingled Remains into the Future: Challenges and Prospects. In Commingled and Disarticulated Human Remains: Working Towards Improved Theory, Method, and Data, edited by AJ Osterholtz, KM Baustian, and DL Martin. Springer Press.
- 2009 Baustian, KM, Martin, DL, and Thompson, JL. Biological Backlash or Cultural Consequence? High Infant Mortality in Bronze Age Arabia. Proceedings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association 2009 Annual Meeting.
- 2009 Baustian, KM and Martin, DL. Patterns of Mortality in a Bronze Age Tomb from Tell Abraq. Proceedings of the Society for Arabian Studies. British Museum, London.
SELECTED GRANTS AND HONORS
- 2018 Carryl B. Martin Research Grant, Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society
- 2014 President’s UNLV Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- 2013 New Mexico Archaeological Council Grant
- 2013 Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Grant
- 2012 (November) Visiting Scientist, Forensic Anthropology Unit, New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
- 2005 Phi Beta Kappa, Hamline University