Neil Norman

Associate Professor

Office: Washington Hall 102a
Office Phone: 757-221-1960
Email: [[nlnorman]]
Areas of Specialization: African Archaeology, Archaeology of the African Diaspora, Hand-Built Low-Fired Ceramic Analysis, Urbanism, Archaeological Survey, Monumental Ditches, Archaeology of Emotions, Landscape Archaeology

Background

I am an archaeologist focused on Africa and the African Diaspora. My past projects investigated the rise of West African cities in the Republic of Benin and how they absorbed European traders, explorers, and mercenaries into local systems of exchange. I expanded this project to examine how the survivors of the Clotilda crossing were forcibly removed from Ouidah, Benin and reestablished life for themselves in Africatown near Mobile, Alabama. I also have conducted research on the stone age through medieval periods in the Republic of Djibouti. My current projects focus on the Late Swahili Period on Zanzibar Island and monumental earthen works in the Republic of Nigeria.

Education

1996 Flagler College BA, Anthropology and History
2000 University of South Carolina MA, Historical Archaeology
2008 University of Virginia PhD, Anthropology

Courses Taught

Undergraduate
African Archaeology (ANTH 350)
Introduction to Archaeology (ANTH 201)
Introduction to Africana Studies (AFST 205)
Ethnoarchaeology (ANTH 350)
Ethnographic Methods (ANTH 445)
Methods in Archaeology (301)
Archaeology of Cities, States, and Empires (ANTH 350)
Voodoo Worlds (150)

Graduate
Presentation and Paper (ANTH 640)
Archaeological Theory (ANTH 603)
Archaeology of Cities, States, and Empires (ANTH 645)
Historical Archaeology (ANTH 611)
Grants and Research Design (ANTH 602)
Archaeology of Ancestors, Ritual, and Religion (ANTH 645)

PhD Committees Chaired and Co-Chaired

Dr. Megan Victor (The City University of New York)
Dr. Jenna Carlson-Dietmeier (South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office)
Dr. Hayden Bassett (Virginia Museum of Natural History)
Dr. Konrad Antczack (Universitat Pompeu Fabara, Barcelona)
Dr. Ellen Chapman (Cultural Heritage Partners)
Dr. Olanrewaju Lasisi (Ohio State University)
Dr. Ron Lawrence Anderson (University of Sydney)

Current PhD Committees Chaired and Co-Chaired

Madeleine Gunter-Bassett (Virginia Museum of Natural History)
Tomos Evans (Washington University, St. Louis)
Diogo Oliveira
Ayobami Diya
Oreoluwa Sodeke