Ben A. Potter

Ben A. Potter is a Professor and Department Chair at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) since 2016, with prior roles as Associate Professor (2011-2016), Assistant Professor (2006-2011), and Adjunct faculty (2005-2006). He specializes in Arctic and Subarctic archaeology, focusing on site structure, settlement patterns, economy, and technology of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. His research spans Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene adaptations in Alaska, including groundbreaking work at the Upward Sun River and Mead sites, where he led NSF-funded excavations uncovering early human remains, residential structures, and salmon use in the Americas.

His expertise includes spatial analysis, lithic/faunal studies, GIS modeling, and cultural resource management. He has collaborated internationally, including at Minzu University of China (2013) and in northern China on Late Upper Paleolithic technologies. His projects involve multidisciplinary approaches, such as experimental archaeology, geochemical sourcing, and biochemical methods for paleodiet analysis.

• Key Collaborations: NSF, Denali LLC, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management.
• Research Highlights: Dene-Yeniseian linguistic hypothesis, predictive GIS site modeling, and Holocene climate change impacts on human systems.