Richard Edwards

Dr. Richard Edwards is a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he specializes in anthropological archaeology. His research focuses on Late Precontact periods in the western Great Lakes region, particularly Oneota and Langford village sites. Dr. Edwards investigates subsistence systems, risk management strategies, and cultural responses to agricultural adoption through paleoethnobotanical, zooarchaeological, and ceramic analyses.

Education includes:

• PhD in Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• MS in Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• BA in History and Sociology/Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Parkside

Research examines how agricultural adoption influenced economic organization, social structures, and identity networks in prehistoric societies. Current fieldwork includes Zimmerman, Koshkonong Creek Village, and Crescent Bay Hunt Club sites. Dr. Edwards directs UWM's Cultural Resource Management projects and serves as Book Review Editor for the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology.

Publications demonstrate integrated approaches combining multiple archaeological sciences to reconstruct past human-environment interactions. Recent work establishes methodologies for dietary reconstruction using isotopic analysis and GIS modeling of settlement patterns.