Shane Miller

Shane Miller serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Mississippi State University, specializing in prehistoric archaeology with primary research on Ice Age colonization of the Americas and agricultural origins in eastern North America.

His academic credentials include:

• B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee
• M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee
• Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Arizona

Miller employs lithic technology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and geoarchaeology to investigate past human behavior, with geographic focus on the southeastern United States—particularly the lower Mid-South. His primary field projects include the Swag Site (a Paleoindian quarry in Martin, South Carolina) and the Hester site (a Late Paleoindian/Early Archaic site near Amory, Mississippi). Additional field experience encompasses mammoth kill sites in Arizona, Sonora, and New Mexico; archaeological surveys across Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas; and GIS analysis for projects spanning the Southwest, Great Basin, and Great Plains.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals dominant themes in Clovis and Paleoindian archaeology, with concentrated attention on southeastern United States sites. Key research trajectories include spatial organization of domestic structures at Topper site, Early Holocene landscape use modeling in river valleys, methodological advances in lithic analysis, and critical evaluations of early occupation claims in the Americas. His work consistently integrates technological approaches like GIS with traditional archaeological methods to address questions of human migration, settlement patterns, and cultural transitions during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene.