Digging In

Aspen Greaves
spent part of this summer on an excavation dig in Mongolia, working toward her Honors thesis. She is a senior majoring in Anthropology, with an emphasis in Archaeology and a Minor in Global Women's Studies. She is planning to graduate in April of 2020, and we asked her about her experiences in Honors and her research this summer. Here's what we learned!

Help us get to know you- tell us about yourself!
“I grew up in Arizona (although my family is now in Idaho) with two amazing parents and two brothers. I'm the middle child as well as the only girl, which worked out well. I've always been more immersed in books than anything else, and have found anthropology and archaeology fulfilling in getting to know the stories of other people. I'm deeply interested in how gender and other axioms of identity affect one's experience of the world, particularly people and experiences that can only be accessed through their material remains.”

What are some of your recent academic achievements?
“I placed third in Geography at the Fulton Poster Conference (in a group with Robert Bordon, Joe Evans, and Elizabeth Harrison) and the same poster/research was accepted to the Utah Conference of Undergraduate Research.”

We have heard about your incredible Honors Thesis- what’s your official title, and how did you decide what to research?
“The title of my Honors Thesis is ‘Gendered Material Culture in Prehistoric Eurasian Archaeological Record.’ I had already done an archaeological field school through BYU in Southern Utah, an experience I thoroughly enjoyed. However, I knew that the research I wanted to focus on for the rest of my career would not be in North America, even if I didn’t know where exactly it would be. I decided to do another field school and write my thesis about that to get experience with a new area of the world that I could focus on for graduate work as well. I went on online forums and websites dedicated to archaeological fieldwork and found several options of places and projects I wanted to work on. I narrowed it down to Mongolia and South Africa, and so took classes in Humanities of Africa and History of the Mongol Empire. I really enjoyed both classes but ended up finding Mongolian history more interesting, particularly with gender issues which is my particular focus. I applied to the Mongolian excavation and got in… I [received] funding from the Archaeology department and the Honors Program that made the excursions possible.

I knew that I wanted my topic to be about gender, and the experience of women within the society I was studying. With this particular excavation, a Neolithic era campsite on the far northern edge of Mongolia, research is still being done on basic questions like where people camped, and how they switched from hunting and gathering to nomadic pastoralism. No one had asked any questions yet about things like class or gender roles. My question was simply if I could learn anything about gender from artifacts that were mostly limited to stone tools.”

So now you’ve completed a good portion of your research - what happened once you got to Mongolia? What was your research experience like?
“We spent the first few days of our excavation trying to finish the previous session’s work in looted Medieval burials from the height of the Mongol Empire. These burials had amazing artifacts, some of which are unique in the world and provide immense amounts of information. I’m actually not allowed to go into much detail on them because they are so important. Unfortunately, these burials were also degrading really quickly, as in 2016-2017, looters had come in and taken gold artifacts, leaving other pieces and human remains scattered across the surface of the ridge. The artifacts had been protected for 800 years in permafrost, but were now exposed to weather, animals, and more. The project directors made the tough decision to stay at the burials instead of moving to the Neolithic site that everyone had planned on excavating.

While it was difficult to change my question entirely, it also become clear that there were questions to ask about these burials and the remains and goods they still contained. My research question became about the comparison between the graves and the kinds of materials and artifacts they contained. I used a statistical comparison of the 60+ graves currently excavated as well as the specific trauma on the bones. I want to see if there are trends in any of the artifacts or remains that can be associated to gender, and what those trends might mean. Of course, all of the burials were looted before our arrival and so there has to be consideration for what that disturbance does to the record. I’m still in the process of gathering data, but I’m looking forward to learning about these individuals. The bodies were taken out of their final resting place and destroyed, and hopefully our efforts will give some closure to that act.“

Do you have any tips for people wanting to embark on a similar endeavor?
“There is no reason to not apply for things. My mom always tells me that I have to make other people tell me no. Even if you don't think you will get in, or get the funding, it's always worth it to try. Just apply for anything and see what happens!“

Why did you decide to join the Honors Program?
“I've always been the overachiever and highly competitive. My older brother goes to BYU as well, so I needed something to top him, and he wasn't in Honors. I stayed because I have found some the most genuinely awesome people in Honors, and I have loved all of the classes. The support the BYU Honors Program offers is incredible.”

What has been your favorite part of your Honors Experience?
“I really loved the Great Questions Essay class and am more proud of that paper than almost anything else I've ever done. I undoubtedly have used the ideas of exploration when asking questions in my thesis research. Allowing myself to explore meaning strengthens my conclusions rather than trying to prove a point. I'm also a much better writer, which is useful in absolutely everything I do. I also really enjoy getting to know the fascinating people in the program- both the professors and the students.”

What is your next step in Honors?
“I still have one more class left, and then I'll be writing and defending my thesis!”