About
Honours B.A. (Toronto), M.St. (Oxford), Ph.D. (McGill)
Dr. Stemp is an Associate Professor of Anthropology who joined the faculty in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology in the fall of 2004. He earned his Ph.D. from McGill University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) in 2000. His doctoral research examined chipped stone tool use in the economies of Marco Gonzalez and San Pedro, two Maya coastal sites located on Ambergris Caye, Belize. Based on his education and training, he is best described as an anthropological archaeologist whose research focuses on the past life-ways of the ancient Maya; specifically in relation to their stone tool technology. Dr. Stemp’s main areas of research include the socioeconomics of complex societies, design theory, lithic analysis, lithic use-wear analysis, experimental archaeology, stone tool replication, the quantification of lithic use-wear, and the Maya.
Currently, Dr. Stemp is engaged in a number of research projects, including:
Lithic assemblages and the sociopolitics and socioeconomics of the Lowland Maya at the site of Minanha in Belize.
The possible functions of grooved ground stone tools in the Maya lowlands.
The application of laser profilometry, laser scanning confocal microscopy and fractal geometry to investigate use-wear on stone tool surfaces.
The technological and use-wear analyses of lithic assemblages from caves and rockshelters in Belize.
The symbolic and ritual use of obsidian in Maya caves in Belize.
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He has excavated sites in Canada and Great Britain, but has spent most of his archaeological career digging in Belize, Central America. He has previously taught anthropology and archaeology at the University of Victoria (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), Trent University (Peterborough, Ontario, Canada), the School for Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Durham College (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada), and Nipissing University (North Bay, Ontario, Canada). He has analyzed lithic assemblages from Canada, Great Britain, Croatia, and Belize.
Dr. Stemp is the Director of the Surface Metrology and Archaeological Research Technologies [SMART] Project at Keene State College.
Dr. Stemp regularly teaches:
ISANTH 110: Cultural Anthropology
ISANTH 111: Archaeology and Physical Anthropology
ANTH 314: World Prehistory
ANTH 318: The Ancient Maya
ANTH 321: Lithic Technology
ANTH 323: Anthropology of Conflict and Violence
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Contact Information:
W. James Stemp
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Keene State College
229 Main Street
Keene, NH
03435-3400
Phone: 603-358-2902
E-mail: jstemp@keene.edu