Grace Ward
Graduate Student of Archaeology
Research Interests
My research focuses on the relationships between people and plants in the Lower Mississippi Valley during the Late Archaic period (4000-3000 BP). Working at the Jaketown site in the Mississippi Delta, I'm interested in landscape management practices beyond domesticate-based agriculture, specifically inhabitants' engagement with perennial food producers such as fruit and nut trees. My previous work examined the varietal diversity of maize grown in the Central Mississippi Valley prior to European contact, situated in my broader interest in agrobiodiversity in the indigenous Americas.
Awards
2017 National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship
