Hey everyone! My name is Madilyn House, and I’m a first-year graduate student in the Applied Archaeology program at IUP. My background is in environmental science and GIS, and I’m especially interested in geospatial technologies and the many ways they can be applied to archaeological research.

During my undergraduate studies at Shippensburg University, I had the opportunity to conduct a research project that shaped my path forward. I worked with Dr. Paul Marr at the Green Cabin site in Adams County, Pennsylvania, where Paleoindian quarrying took place thousands of years ago. At this site, people were extracting rhyolite, a fine-grained stone used to create tools. My rese

A preform found on the surface of the Green Cabin site.

arch focused on identifying where lithic reduction, the process of removing excess material from the stone to make it easier to transport, may have occurred. To explore this, I used a combination of predictive modeling in GIS and targeted test excavations. Collaborating with professional archaeologists, soil scientists, and cultural resource professionals gave me a firsthand look at how interdisciplinary this kind of work truly is. That experience confirmed that archaeology was the career path I wanted to pursue.

Looking back, I’m so glad I pushed myself to take on research outside of my comfort zone. Now that I’ve found my area of interest, I’m excited to make the most of all the resources IUP has to offer! If I had one piece of advice for other students, it would be to take advantage of opportunities, even when they feel new or unfamiliar. You never know when one project, one class, or one field experience might shape the entire direction of your career!

Myself surrounded by a looter’s pit full of preforms at a nearby lithic reduction site.

Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences at IUP