Faculty Profile for Dr. Heather Lynn Smith

Biography Section

Biography and Education

I was born and raised in Austin, TX. I completed a degree in photography and graphic design (Photocommunications) at St. Edwards University, Austin, TX, in 2002. In 2005 I enrolled in the undergraduate Anthropology program at the University of Texas at Austin to complete two years of coursework to prepare me to continue my graduate education in anthropology with a focus in archaeology. In 2007 I was accepted to the Ph.D. program at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, as a student in the Center for the Study of the First Americans. I completed the M.A. degree and thesis titled "A Behavioral Analysis of Clovis Point Morphology Using Geometric Morphometrics" in 2010 and the Ph.D. degree and dissertation titled "Paleoindian Technology in Beringia—A Technological and Morphological Analysis of the Northern Fluted-Point Complex" in 2015.

Teaching Interests

My goal is to equip students with the necessary skills and experience in fundamental and state-of-the-art methodologies that will ensure acquisition of higher-level management positions, and the effectiveness of contract proposals and research designs. It is crucial that students entering CRM with an M.A. or Ph.D. are skilled in survey, digital mapping and spatial analysis, artifact identification and analysis, best practices in curation, archaeological theory, writing, public outreach, cost proposals, team management, and offer firms new means of analyses such as 3D scanning of sites and artifacts and geometric morphometric shape analysis. I strive to incorporate these skills into classes on CRM, Historic Preservation, and Texas Archaeology, as well as Introduction to Archaeology, North American Archaeology, Archaeological Theory, Archaeological Methods, and Field Schools taught in Alaska and New Mexico. I also incorporate my experience in contract archaeology and in an applied archaeology academic program into my courses on Geometric Morphometric Methods, GIS for Anthropology, Geoarchaeology, Lithic Analysis, Lithis Technological Organization, Quantitative Analyses, and Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology and focus on specific skills valued by CRM firms.

Research Interests

My research focuses on Paleoindian adaptation and dispersals during the environmental reorganization that accompanied the Pleistocene-Holocene transition across North America, with a specialization in prehistoric stone tool (lithic) analysis. Methodologically, I examine patterns in lithic technology using a concert of quantitative, 3D and 2D digital imaging, and digital methods of shape and spatial analyses: Geometric Morphometrics, Cladistics, and GIS. Paleoenvironmental and geoarchaeological data are also important components of my research.

As a field scientist, investigation into late Pleistocene archaeology has enabled me to be involved in projects across Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Alaska, and Siberia. My training in Texas Archaeology began as an undergraduate at the University of Texas working for Dr. Steven Black on the Texas Beyond History project, for which I am now an Associate Editor. As a graduate student at Texas A&M I began working with curated Paleoindian materials for my M.A. thesis at the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory and have since examined hundreds of artifacts at a variety of institutions across the nation. I have worked for CRM firms in Texas, Colorado, and Alaska, and contracted or collaborated with state and federal agencies in New Mexico, Nevada, and Alaska.

My current research projects involve laboratory analyses as well as new and continuing fieldwork. Ongoing laboratory projects involve 3D scanning Paleoindian projectile points, which contribute to multiple projects. One of these is the Blackwater Draw 3D Scanning Project, the goal of which is to generate 3D scans of diagnostic lithic artifacts recovered from the site to create a cohesive and complete collection on a digital platform. Another examines the origins and spread of Dalton Projectile Points to address how hunter-gatherers rebuilt and reestablished cultural connections throughout the Eastern Woodlands after the social isolation associated with the Younger Dryas using 2D and 3D artifact images and geometric morphometrics to examine patterns in morphological and technological attributes. Lastly, analyses of the lithic and osseous assemblages recovered from the Serpentine Hot Springs site, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, are ongoing. Field projects include a geoarchaeological survey of Spring Lake, San Marcos, Texas, to examine stratigraphy across the site, how the site was differentially used across the landscape and through time, as well as relationships to other sites in central Texas. Other field projects include continued monitoring of the San Ysidro Rockshelter site in San Ysidro, New Mexico. Each of these projects have opportunities for students to participate and data available to form MA and PhD projects. Contact me for more information: To.Heather.Smith@txstate.edu