Dr. Scott Palumbo
Hello! I am the Principal Investigator of the Chiriquí Archaeological Project. I received my Ph.D. in Anthropology in 2009 (U Pittsburgh), a Master's in Anthropology in 2004 (U Florida), and a Bachelor's in Anthropology in 2001 (U Connecticut). I am currently a tenured Professor and Department Chair of Anthropology at the College of Lake County, and am certified by the Register of Professional Archaeologists. I am an anthropological archaeologist (and occasional ethnographer) interested in the comparative study of social organization and long-term change. I have decades of archaeological field experience in southern Central America, Andean South America, and the United States.
I am an award-winning instructor, successful in securing external grants, and instrumental in developing undergraduate curricula. Methodologically, I specialize in GIS and statistical applications in anthropology.
My Curriculum Vitae
I am a former first-generation college student with decades of experience in archaeology. I am the editor of the volume Multiscalar Approaches to Studying Social Organization and Change in the Isthmo-Colombian Area (2013), and the author of numerous articles, chapters, and grants. I am the Principal Investigator on three active projects, two archaeological and one ethnographic. I spent the first part of my professional career teaching the social sciences at Oglala Lakota College; a tribal college in western South Dakota. Today, I spend my days teaching undergraduates at the College of Lake County; a medium-sized community college located between Chicago and Milwaukee. After hours, I enjoy spending time with my wife, sons, and dog.
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My full C.V. can be viewed at this LINK.
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Selected publications
2022 Palumbo, S., K. Rodríguez S., F. Morales C., J. Marinescu*, and R. Rivera*. The Indigenous uses of knotted string records in Costa Rica. Textile Museum Journal 49.
2021 Berrey, C.A., and S. Palumbo. Survey, Shovel probes, and population estimates: Studying regional demography in the Intermediate Area using subsurface sherd deposits. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 28(2): 1-55.
2021 Palumbo, S. Bolas dataset. Center of Comparative Archaeology dataset, University of Pittsburgh.
2020 Rodríguez S., K., Palumbo, S. Morales C., F. Los sistemas de registro numérico entre los grupos indígenas del sur de Costa Rica. Cuadernos de Antropología 30(2): 1-23. (Spanish for “The numeric register system among the Indigenous groups of southern Costa Rica”)
2018 Palumbo, S. Conspicuous consumption in ancient Costa Rica and Panama. In Breaking boundaries: Testing a graphic model of cross-cultural interaction in ancient borderlands, edited by U.M. Green and K. Costion, pp. 143-166. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
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Classes taught
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Undergraduate
Archaeological field methods (field school)
Archaeological lab methods (field school)
The archaeologist looks at death
Cultural anthropology
Cultures of the Pacific
Ethnographic field methods (field school)
Forensic anthropology
Inkas and their ancestors
Introduction to anthropology
Introduction to archaeology
Introduction to physical anthropology
Introduction to social science
Mesoamerica before Cortez
Statistics for social scientists
World regional geography
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Graduate
Directed research
Archaeological applications in GIS
Special topics in archaeological GIS
GIS internship