Tori Sutera, AJ Humenik, Emily Papagiannis, and Lucas Gonzalez were awarded grants to participate in the 2024 Native American and Indigenous Studies field school run by MSU’s NAIS program. Natalia Orlovski used her Bigel award to be part of a Global Treks and Adventures internship program in Iceland where she researched and visited several amazing cultural and heritage sites. Ellie Paschalis was able to travel to the Basque country in Spain to participate in the Aditu Archaeological Field School which is focused on the recovery and study of human remains from a medieval-period ossuary. Khara Brown also traveled for an archeological field at James Madison’s Montpelier, the planation of America’s fourth president. Khara’s program studied and excavated at the site to better understand the enslaved community who labored and sustain the plantation in the 19th century.

The student reports were outstanding and clearly demonstrated the special opportunities available to Anthropology students thanks to their access to the Bigel scholarship fund.

These students included junior Farrah Fornarotto, senior David Villa, and recent graduate Will Williams. Their papers, along with others by Prof Chris Matthews and Sasha Thompson (a student at Hunter College) focused on various aspects of the story of the historic African American Dunkerhook community who lived in Paramus, NJ during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Dr. Matthews has been a project co-coordinator of the Dunkerhook project since 2019. This project led an archaeological field school in Summer 2021 and a lab-based research experience in Summer 2022, MSU students formed the core of the research teams during both summer research initiatives.

The Dunkerhook community was founded by formerly enslaved individuals in the 1830s. The community grew to be a place where African American people and culture thrived for decades. The Dunkerhook Archaeological Survey aims to collect and interpret the history of this community through research in local archives as well as excavations. To this end, the students presented papers on historic maps and censuses, historic fruit jars used for home canning, and household ceramics reflecting unique cultural expressions.

The research reports prepared by the students will be compiled into a detailed technical report documenting the various threads of research undertaken to bring the story of the Dunkerhook community to light.

This well-attended and celebratory event offered students, faculty, and presenters’ family members and friends an opportunity to engage with a wide-ranging program of student academic and creative projects focused on key issues and forms of cultural expression (e.g., climate crisis, linguistic hyperdiversity, gentrification, emotional labor in the workplace, youth culture, comedic performance).

We also held an awards ceremony at the Showcase event for recipients of the Anthropology Department’s Bednarek and Bigel Scholarships, and for inductees in Lambda Alpha, the National Anthropological Honors Society for undergraduates.

Additionally, five current Anthropology students — Leanna Sanchez, David Fleitas-Guillen, Jaileen Murillo, Joselyn Molina, and Caro Freinberg– and Dr. Taha and Dr. Davidson attended a national conference, Building Careers in Anthropology, at the Fordham University Lincoln Center Business School on May 13. The conference featured practicing anthropologists and workshops focused on new directions in careers in anthropology and career development strategies and tools (see above photo from the event).

The African American Dunkerhook community was founded in the early 1800s by formerly enslaved men and women and remained in place until the early 20th century. At its peak the community consisted of six households consisting of more than 40 individuals. They also established an AME Zion church. Men worked on surrounding farms as laborers as well as drivers and coachmen for wealthier whites. Women were often laundresses, though Catherine Bennett’s obituary in 1911 noted that she was “a midwife who assisted at least 650 births for both black and white families … She read widely and was knowledgeable of not only medicine, but of agriculture, horticulture, and politics.”

Students excavated test pits and recovered thousands of artifacts. Exciting finds included pottery shards, animal bones, medicine bottles, marbles, slate pencils, brass buttons, horseshoes, a cow bell, a nursing bottle, an inkwell, a lock, and more than twenty small processed cheese containers that were likely repurposed to store something—perhaps medicine or baby food. These materials are currently being analyzed in the lab of the Center for Heritage and Archaeological Studies at Montclair State.

Students also did an initial survey of sections of the Dunkerhook Area of Saddle River Park. Artifacts recovered from these tests indicate that Native Americans occupied this area during what archaeologists call the Archaic era about 2000 years ago. Consultation with members of the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lenape nation, whose ancestral land includes the Paramus area, has led to new relationships and collaborations.

Field school students and staff were invited to visit with Turtle Clan Chief Vincent Mann and Clan Mother Micheline Picaro to learn more about their history and struggle to preserve their heritage. Documenting Ceremonial Stone Landscapes has become a new focus for the team.

Small patent medicine bottle from the turn of the 20th century photographed in situ.

MSU archaeological field school students and staff in front of a large stone feature that is part of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation’s Ceremonial Stone Landscape. Turtle Clan mother Micheline Picaro is second from the right.

MSU archaeology students Dangelis Soto and Will Williams recording a unit profile at the Dunkerhook site.

Mid-19th-century ceramic ink well recovered at Dunkerhook.

End of the field school group photo. Everyone is wearing the Dunkerhook Field School t-shirt designed by the students.

The t-shirt design for the Dunkerhook field school noting the theme of exposing erasure.

that brought together students, faculty and administrators from 11 different universities who are concerned about the global refugee crisis. Our students experienced the UN in action, and pledged their commitment to advocate for refugees.

For the 2016 graduate, the internship was a natural extension of her work as an anthropology major and archaeology minor. She was able to work with artifacts from St. Catherine’s Island, Georgia dating from the Spanish Mission period (roughly 1600 to 1700). Her main tasks were digitizing parts of the collection and rehousing artifacts.

Taking Advantage: Faculty-student research opportunities

Alemy’s studies at Montclair State and her collaboration with faculty prepared her well for the internship. Arriving as a transfer student from Sussex County Community College, Alemy took full advantage of the research institution.

She worked in the Center for Heritage and Archaeological Studies lab and honed technical skills working with . She served a research assistant conducting interviews to assist Prof. Julian Brash with his New York City High Line research, funded by the National Science Foundation.

She also received a Bigel grant and helped with an . This work included physical excavation as well as the processing and analysis of recovered artifacts.

Later, Alemy presented findings from the excavation in digital form by working on the  with Matthews and another student.

In addition to the American Museum of Natural History internship, Alemy completed an internship working in the repository of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Why study anthropology?

“I’ve always been interested in studying people so I took an Anthropology class at Sussex County Community College and was hooked!”

“So what are you going to do with that?” is the reaction she says that she gets from many people when she tells them of her major. And Alemy says she has trouble answering, but that’s because she feels there are so many opportunities and she’s only just started on her career path.

Alemy is also a model of determination. When she first applied to the American Museum of Natural History program, she was not accepted. Instead of moving on, she pursued more outside experience to beef her resume up. On her second attempt she was accepted. “Don’t give up” is the moral of the story, she says.

Next, Alemy is pursuing work in cultural resource management. She’s also exploring different techniques in digital archaeology that will be useful in her career. She plans to pursue a certification in geographic information systems.

Learn more:
Anthropology at Montclair State

Center for Heritage and Archaeological Studies
Anthropology Research

Bristol, from Wayne, New Jersey, decided to major in Anthropology, because it is the common denominator of everything human.

He aims to go on to graduate school for a Master’s degree in Agricultural Engineering and would eventually like to get a PhD in Anthropology. “One day, I would like to help with sustainable and ethical agricultural development around the world,” he said.

The Anthropology Department is very grateful to Prof. Bednarek for remembering his alma mater and providing an opportunity to support and honor our students.