Ashley Smallwood

Ashley Smallwood is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Louisville. Her research focuses on the peopling of the Americas, particularly in the American Southeast, emphasizing stone tool analysis and Paleoindian/Archaic lifeways. She leads excavations at site 9RI381 in Georgia, investigating Clovis and Dalton components spanning 8,000 years. Her work combines fieldwork, microwear analysis, and 3D modeling to explore technological evolution and ritual practices.

Education: PhD (2011), MA (2006), and BA (2003) in Anthropology from Texas A&M University.

Research Interests: She studies lithic technology (flaked stone analysis), cultural evolution, and human-environment interactions. Key projects include Dalton point functionality, Sloan Cemetery uniqueness, and Clovis settlement dynamics. Her teaching emphasizes hands-on fieldwork and applied anthropology, offering courses like Archaeology of Human History and Ice Age Peoples.

Field Projects: Ongoing work in Georgia’s Phinizy Swamp involves re-locating and documenting a Clovis component. The University of Louisville laboratory houses microscopy facilities for microwear analysis.

Professional Contributions: Co-edited volumes include The American Southeast at the End of the Ice Age (2022) and Clovis: On the Edge of a New Understanding (2014). She is a member of the Society for American Archaeology and Southeastern Archaeology Conference.