Elizabeth Sobel
Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology | Missouri State University
Springfield, MO, UNITED STATES
Dr. Sobel researches the archaeology and ethnohistory of North America, with a focus on the Pacific Northwest and Ozarks regions.
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Biography
Dr. Elizabeth Sobel is an associate professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Missouri State University. Her research interests include: archaeology and ethnohistory of North America, with a focus on the Pacific Northwest and Ozarks regions, native peoples of North America, historical archaeology of Native Americans and African Americans, and anthropology of hunter-gatherers.
At MSU, she teaches several courses, some of which she developed. Among them are Introduction to Archaeology, Anthropology of Hunters and Gatherers, Archaeology of Hunter-Gatherers, Material Culture and Research Design and Writing in Anthropology.
She has published more than 10 journal articles and book chapters.
Industry Expertise (2)
Education/Learning
Research
Areas of Expertise (4)
Archaeology
Anthropology
Native Americans
Ethnohistory
Education (3)
University of Michigan: Ph.D., Sociology 2004
University of Michigan: M.A., Anthropology 1994
Yale University: B.A., Archaeology 1989
Links (3)
Minds-Eye (1)
Looking beyond the surface to reveal our hidden past
Beauty may be skin deep, but like archaeology, it’s what lies beneath the surface that counts. Dr. Elizabeth Sobel, associate professor of anthropology at Missouri State University, thinks the secrets of the past reveal a great deal about who we are today.
Articles (3)
Sticks with Stones: An Experimental Test of the Effects of the Atlatl Weight on Atlatl Mechanics
Ethnoarchaeology
2015 Archaeologists debate the impact of the North American atlatl weight on atlatl performance. Some argue that the atlatl weight offers an advantageous effect. Others believe it has no meaningful effect, and still others believe it has a disadvantageous effect. Experimentation ...
Las Colonias along the Texas-Mexico Border
Ten Gallon Economy
2015 Texas has more than 2,200 colonias—unincorporated settlements often lacking basic services such as water, sewer, paved roads, and electricity. Primarily located along the border with Mexico, these communities are home to an estimated half-million people (mostly US citizens of Mexican-American descent) and represent some of the nation’s largest clusters of concentrated poverty...
An archaeological test of the “Exchange Expansion Model” of contact era change on the Northwest Coast
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
2012 Recent anthropological studies show that traditional views of indigenous communities in the wake of European colonialism are constrained by Eurocentric biases. These biases can be overcome, in part, by greater reliance on archaeological data as an independent line of ...