Brian Hoffman

Professor Brian Hoffman has been doing fieldwork for around thirty five years – mostly in Alaska and the Midwestern United States. He has a variety of interests from experimental archaeology to public archaeology. Much of Brian’s Alaskan research has focused on the evolution of social organization and complex hunter-gatherers. He primarily uses a household archaeology approach, which he feels gives him great insight into how people lived in the past. The Alaska sites Brian works on usually produce an extraordinarily well-preserved collection of artifacts including stone tools, ivory carvings, bone sewing needles, and an abundance of faunal remains (bones and shell from ancient meals).

Brian’s Midwestern research has covered everything from 20th Century backyard sites on Hamline University’s campus to a short-lived 19th Century lighthouse in Wisconsin. Professor Hoffman’s students have also taken part in research at both of these sites. Through these different projects Brian has been exploring questions about place-making and micro-history through neighborhood archaeology, and consumerism and survival for people living on the rocky shores of Lake Michigan.