Shelby G. Saper

Graduate Student; Research Assistant for the Artemisia Archaeological Research Fund
Shelby Saper poses for a picture in front of a volcanic area with molten lava shooting from the ground.
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Summary

I am a Ph.D. student and Research Assistant for the Artemisia Archaeological Research Fund. I received my B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Oregon, where I analyzed early Holocene projectile points from the northern Great Basin. After graduating in 2020, I spent two years working for a CRM firm based in Portland, OR and conducted fieldwork across Washington and Oregon. My dissertation research aims to re-evaluate the nature of culture change in response to environmental deterioration and changing resource availability during the Lunette Lake Period (9000-6000 cal BP) in the northern Great Basin. My work predominantly involves the Connley Caves collection—a site located in the Fort Rock Basin on the traditional homelands of the Klamath, Modoc, and Northern Paiute peoples. I acted as a supervisor for the 2023 and 2024 Connley Caves field school, where we offered hands-on archaeological experience in excavation and pedestrian survey. In addition to my dissertation work, I lead pedestrian surveys on the northern Channel Islands in collaboration with Channel Islands National Park Service and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

Lab associations: Artemisia Archaeological Research Fund and Human Paleoecology and Archaeometry Lab

Research interests

  • North American archaeology
  • Early and middle Holocene archaeology
  • Great Basin archaeology
  • Channel Islands archaeology
  • Coastal migration theory
  • Stone tool analysis
  • Spatial analysis
  • Lithic raw material sourcing

Courses taught

  • ANTH 202: Introduction to Archaeology (Teaching Assistant)
  • ANTH 271: Introduction to Linguistics (Teaching Assistant)
  • ANTH 350: Archaeology of Nevada (Instructor)

Selected publications

  • McDonough, Katelyn N., Richard L. Rosencrance, Shelby G. Saper, Geoffrey M. Smith, Jackson C. Mueller, Justin A. Holcomb, and Dennis L. Jenkins. 2025. An Early Holocene Crescent and Associated Technologies at Connley Cave 6, Oregon. North American Archaeologist:1-20.
  • Smith, Geoffrey M., Richard L. Rosencrance, Shelby G. Saper, Katelyn N. McDonough, Danielle C. Felling, and Thomas N. Layton. 2024. The Western Stemmed Tradition Components of Last Supper Cave, Nevada. PaleoAmerica 10(2-3):226-245.

Education

  • B.A., Anthropology with concentration in Archaeology, University of Oregon, 2020