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Dr. Abigail Chipps Stone

Assistant Professor
Sociology and Anthropology
Office
SCH Schroeder Hall 352
Office Hours
Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00-11:00 am
or by appointment
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Research

Biography

I am an Africanist archaeologist currently involved in projects in Mali, Cameroon, Zambia, Illinois, and Ohio.

My research focuses primarily on questions of movement and mobility in the archaeological record, using excavation, zooarchaeology, and isotopic analysis.

I am happy to work with students interested the the archaeology of African and African diaspora, as well as those using zooarchaeological or isotopic analysis in other parts of the world.

Current Courses

102.001Human Origins: An Introduction to Biological Anthropology and Archaeology

400.004Independent Study In Anthropology

460.001Research Design In Anthropology

470.001Advanced Zooarchaeology

102.001Human Origins: An Introduction to Biological Anthropology and Archaeology

370.001Zooarchaeology

Teaching Interests & Areas

In 100-level courses like ANT 102: Human Origins, I focus particularly on helping students make connections between course content and issues of relevance to their own lives, including race, inequality, and climate change. This approach engages students from many different majors in a deeper understanding of anthropological concepts. I believe that archaeology and physical anthropology’s time-depth and broad perspective have much to offer students with only a casual interest in the field. In upper level courses like ANT 370: Zooarchaeology, ANT 382: Senior Thesis, and ANT 460: Research Design I challenge students to design and implement original, independent research. These skills serve students well regardless of their future careers.

Research Interests & Areas

Archaeology; Africa; zooarchaeology; isotopic analysis; mobility; emergence of urbanism; spread of domestic animals in sub-Saharan Africa; socio-economic and political configurations in the past

Ph D Anthropology

Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO

MA Anthropology

Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO

BA Anthropology

Rice University
Houston, TX

RISE to the COVID Challenge Recognition

Illinois State University Provost's Office
2020

Outstanding University Teaching Award in the category of Teaching Initiative Award

Illinois State University - University Teaching Committee
2020

New Faculty Initiative Grant

Illinois State University - College of Arts and Sciences
2018

Book Review

Stone, A.C. Afr Archaeol Rev (2018) 35: 477. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-018-9304-4

Book, Chapter

Mensan, R., & Stone, A. Une structure funéraire en « silo » à Nora. François-Xavier Fauvelle & Romain Mensan (EDs), Nora, ville islamique de l’Éthiopie médiévale (fin du XIIIe-début du XVIe siècle) : les fouilles de 2008. Centre français des études éthiopiennes: 141-152.

Encyclopedia

Stone, A.C. (2022). Livestock, Sub-Saharan West Africa. In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (eds D. Potts, E. Harkness, J. Neelis and R. McIntosh). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119399919.eahaa00485
Stone, A.C. (2022). Zooarchaeology, Isotopes. In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (eds D. Potts, E. Harkness, J. Neelis and R. McIntosh). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119399919.eahaa00597

Journal Article

Stone, A., Kennedy, K., Miller, L., Skousen, J., & Lange, R. Isotopic evidence for non-local elk hunting by the Noble-Wieting community. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2024)
Riordan RV, Miller GL, Stone AC. Bladelets, Blood, and Bones: Integrating Protein Residue, Lithic Use-Wear, and Faunal Data from the Moorehead Circle, Fort Ancient. American Antiquity. 2023;88(2):227-251. doi:10.1017/aaq.2023.21
Goldstein, S., Hixon, S., Scott, E., Wolfhagen, J., Iminjili, V., Janzen, A., Chritz, K., Sawchuck, E., Ndiema, E., Sealy, J., Stone, A., Zoeller, G., Phelps, L., & Fernandes, R. Presenting the AfriArch Isotopic Database. Journal of Open Archaeology Data 10 (2022): 6.
Abigail Chipps Stone, Finding the ephemeral: Herding strategies and socio-economic organization in an urban West African context, Quaternary International, Volume 471, Part A, 2018, Pages 160-174, ISSN 1040-6182,

Presentations

Beyond Jenné-jeno: Reflections on the Teaching and Mentorship of Susan Keech McIntosh. 26th Biennial Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists. Society of Africanist Archaeologists. (2023)
Place Making within the Bantu Expansion. Sociology and Anthropology Research Series. Department of Sociology and Anthropology. (2023)
Diet, Mobility, and Identity in an Ancient West African Urban Landscape. Society for American Archaeology. (2022)
Discussant in the forum Pathways to Food Production: Reflections on the Contributions of Fiona B. Marshall. Society for American Archaeology. (2022)
Elk Hunting and Community Building at Noble-Wieting. Midwest Archaeological Conference. (2022)
Landscape Perspectives. Society of Africanist Archaeologists. Oxford University. (2021)
Diet, Mobility, and Identity in an Ancient West African Urban Landscape: Isotopic Analysis of Human Tooth Enamel from Jenné-jeno, Mali. Society of Africanist Archaeologists. (2020)
Who Made Mali’s Terra Cotta Statuettes? Speculations on Their Creation and Use. Society for American Archaeology. (2020)

Grants & Contracts

Advancing Research and Creative Scholarship (ARCS). Illinois State University Office of Research and Graduate Studies. Illinois State University. (2023)
CAS International Travel Grant. College of Arts and Sciences, Illinois State University. Illinois State University. (2023)
Pre-tenure Faculty Initiative Grant. College of Arts and Sciences. Illinois State University. (2023)
CAS International Travel Grant. College of Arts and Sciences. Illinois State University. (2022)
New Faculty Startup Support Grant. Research and. Illinois State University. (2017)