Duncan
WILLIAM N. DUNCAN
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology advisement coordinator
CONTACT
E-mail: duncanwn@etsu.edu
Phone: 423.439.6650
Office: 223B Rogers-Stout Hall
COURSES TAUGHT
Introduction to physical anthropology
Forensic anthropology
Paleoanthropology
Race and human variation
The Aztec, Maya and their neighbors
CURRENT RESEARCH
Full CV
My primary research emphasis is Mesoamerican bioarchaeology, which is to say I study human remains from archaeological sites in northern Central America and Mexico. This covers a range of topics including issues microevolution, trauma and taphonomy, cultural modification, mortuary practices, and indigenous ideas about embodiment. My particular interests include identifying evidence of violence among individuals buried in distinct ritual contexts among the Maya, Mixtec, and Zapotec cultures and understanding biological relationships among individuals subjected to ritual violence. In addition to my work in Mesoamerica I am currently involved in a historical forensics case as a part of the canonization process of a martyred 16th century Spanish priest and a study of dental morphology among populations in the United States.
RECENT GRANTS
2011 National Science Foundation - $250,000
Integrating developmental morphogenetic theory with dental biodistance practices
CM Stojanowski, WN Duncan, J Femiani, GR Scott
2008 NSF-Research Experiences for Undergraduates - $7,950
REU Supplementary grant for BCS #0640170
AK Balkansky, WN Duncan
2007 National Science Foundation - $176,222
The archaeological precursors of the Mixtec civilization.
AK Balkansky, WN Duncan
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2012 Duncan, WN. Biological distance analyses in contexts of ritual violence. In The bioarchaeology of violence. D Martin, R Harrod, V Pérez (eds). University Press of Florida. In press.
2011 Duncan, WN. A bioarchaeological analysis of sacrificial victims from a Postclassic Maya temple from Ixlú, Petén, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 22(4):549-572.
2011 Duncan, WN, CA Hofling. Why the head? Cranial modification as protection and ensoulment among the Maya. Ancient Mesoamerica 22:199-210.
2011 Stojanowski, CM, WN Duncan. Heredity and cranial morphology: A forensic case study from Spanish colonial Georgia. In The bioarchaeology of the human head: Decapitation, deformation, and decoration. M Bonogofsky (ed). University Press of Florida. pp. 179-201.
2009 Duncan, WN. Supernumerary teeth in two Mesoamerican archaeological contexts. Dental Anthropology (by invitation) 22(2):39-46.
2009 Stojanowski, CM, WN Duncan. Constructing exclusionary profiles in historical forensic contexts. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 140(2):275-289.
2009 Duncan, WN. Cranial modification among the Maya: Absence of evidence or evidence of absence? In Bioarchaeology and identity in the Americas. KJ Knudson, CM Stojanowski (eds.) University Press of Florida. pp. 177-193.
2008 Duncan, WN, AK Balkansky, K Crawford, H Lapham, N Meissner. Human cremation in Mexico 3,000 years ago. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105(14):5315-5320.
2008 Duncan, WN, CM Stojanowski. A case of squamosal craniosynostosis from the 16th century Southeastern United States. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 18(4):407-420.
2008 Stojanowski, CM, WN Duncan. Anthropological contributions to the cause of the Georgia martyrs. Occasional Papers of the Georgia Southern Museum, Number 3.
2005 Duncan, WN. Understanding veneration and violation in the archaeological record. In Interacting with the dead: perspectives on mortuary archaeology for the new millennium. GFM Rakita, JE Buikstra, LA Beck, SR Williams (eds.) University of Florida Press. pp. 207-227.