2025-26 “Gateways” Undergrad Research in Archaeology

The entire 2025-2026 Gateways undergrad team (L to R): Margo Brown, Cheyenne Brady, Emma Christiansen, Clara Breidenstine, Katie Sonnett, Dr. Claire Ebert, Michael Carey, Sophie Kelly, Owen Lyons, Quinn Randall, and graduate student Aspen Greaves (PhD, April 2026).

Undergraduate students worked with Dr. Ebert on the Mesoamerican Cities Project, part of the broader URBank initiative, which develops standardized open-access datasets for comparative research on cities across time and space. Focusing on ancient urban centers in Oaxaca, students compiled archaeological and chronological data for sites such as Monte Albán, San José Mogote, and Mitla. They recorded information on chronology, population estimates, settlement size, geography, and site function to investigate long-term trajectories of growth, decline, resilience, and urban organization in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.

Click to view their full research poster.

The Gateways team presented their research results at the 4th Annual Pitt Anthropology Student Research Fair, which took place on Friday, April 17th. The Research Fair was a great event also featuring other recent undergrad and grad research. There were traditional paper presentations as well as poster presentations, all well attended by students and faculty alike!

If you are interested in participating next year, please write to Dr. Elizabeth Arkush.