The Ancient Animals Project

About the Project:

The Ancient Animals Project focuses on documenting and cataloging animal imagery and associated motifs on archaeological artifacts from Central America, Mexico, and the southeastern United States. Animal motifs were a major part of many artistic traditions in the ancient Americas, and they can provide a lot of information about culture, identity, and sociopolitical systems. We will focus on animal motifs on pottery, in murals, and on other kinds of decorated items. Students will be able to catalog and describe animal motifs, document and record their archaeological contexts, and contribute to the development of a research database that will become part of the Human-Animal Interfaces Past and Present (HAIPP) Lab in the Animal Studies program at Eckerd. This unique opportunity will also allow for hands-on work with archaeological materials and for potential collaborations with students at other institutions.

The First-Year Research Associate Program at Eckerd College honors academically outstanding students with awards of up to $1,000. The program also provides the opportunity, during the freshman year, for the award winners to work closely with a sponsor (faculty or administrative personnel) on a project of mutual interest. Associates might assist with research for faculty publication or new courses, conduct scientific experiments, work with creative artists, or develop projects related to any phase of the academic, cultural, and social life of the college. Scholars are selected on the basis of achievement in high school and on the creativity and depth of responses to items on this application.​

Online submission due no later than 11:59pm est. February 1, 2024.