1 Steven R. James Brief Biographical Sketch Professional ...

Steven R. James
Brief Biographical Sketch
Professional Preparation
University of California, Berkeley Anthropology B.A. 1975
University of Utah Anthropology M.A. 1982
Arizona State University Anthropology Ph.D. 1994
Appointments (Recent Years)
2006-present
2006-present
Associate Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology,
California State University, Fullerton, CA.
Director, Archaeological Research Facility, Department of Anthropology,
California State University, Fullerton, CA.
2003-2006 Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology,
California State University, Fullerton, CA.
2000-2003 Associate State Archaeologist, Cultural Resources Division, California
Department of Parks and Recreation, Sacramento, CA (Headquarters
Office).
1995-2000 Project Director and Senior Research Analyst, Cultural Resources
Management Program, Gila River Indian Community, Sacaton, AZ.
1994-2003 Adjunct Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, Arizona
State University, Tempe, AZ.
1993-1994 Faculty Member in Anthropology, Social Sciences Department, Glendale
Community College, AZ.
Service on Environmental Studies M.S. theses and projects
2005-2007 Committee member on Jay Litvak’s thesis (with Bob Voeks [chair] and Mike Horn)
2006-2007 Advisor on Ryan Cordero’s project
2007-2008 Advisor on Matt Hon’s project
Other Background Information
As part of the anthropology and archaeology courses that I teach in the Anthropology
Department, I have taught archaeological survey and excavation techniques to undergraduate
and graduate anthropology students (and a few Environmental Studies graduate students) at
Cal State Fullerton (Anthropology 403, five fall semesters, 2003-2007). Fieldwork in the class
has involved a cultural resources survey of a new California state park near Yucaipa in San
Bernardino County (2003), three seasons of test excavations at archaeological sites on San
Nicolas Island (a Navy missile test base) in the southern Channel Islands (2004-2006), and
most recently an archaeological survey (Abalone Cove) of a portion of the land managed by the
Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy in Los Angeles County (fall 2007). In addition to the
1

fall field class, I have been conducting a field school (Anthropology 476, four summer sessions,
2004-2007) in northern Arizona near Sedona at a major prehistoric pueblo cliff dwelling,
Honanki Ruins, which dates from A.D. 1100 to 1300. This project is a joint effort with the
Coconino National Forest archaeologist in Flagstaff and the Sedona Ranger District.
Aside from students learning field techniques in the fall field class, the San Nicolas
Island archaeological project has provided a number of opportunities for undergraduate and
graduate students at Cal State Fullerton to be involved in this research. The research potential
of the San Nicolas Island project and educational experiences for students include analyzing
prehistoric materials for their class projects (Anthropology 404 taught in spring semester),
developing master theses on this research (prehistoric marine mammals, fishes, and
invertebrates), and enabling them to present papers on the results of their research at
professional meetings (e.g., Southern California Academy of Sciences, Society for California
Archaeology, etc.).
I have been a member of the Nature Conservancy and other conservation organizations
(e.g., Archaeology Conservancy, Sierra Club) for a number of years. I also served as an
Associate State Parks Archaeologist for California State Parks (2000-2003) at the State Parks
Headquarters Office in the Resources Building in Sacramento, and among a variety duties that I
conducted, I was involved in reviewing land acquisitions for new state parks that were to be
purchased with Park Bond funds. Before my position at State Parks, I served as a tribal
archaeologist (1995-2000) with the Gila River Indian Community, which is located just south of
the Phoenix metropolitan area in southern Arizona. This cultural resource management tribal
program was funded as part of a large irrigation water project by the Bureau of Reclamation,
Arizona Projects Office. I have also lived and worked as an archaeologist in other areas of the
West and Southwest, including northern California, the Great Basin (Nevada and Utah), New
Mexico, Texas, and Hawaii. From my interests and experience, I have attempted to instill in my
students a conservation ethic for the preservation of both natural and cultural resources.
Recent Refereed Publications
In prep Prehistoric Human Impacts on Marine and Terrestrial Mammals, Fish, and Shellfish:
Examples from the American Southwest and the Channel Islands of Southern California.
Chapter prepared for Archaeology of Anthropogenic Environments, edited by Rebecca
M. Dean. Occasional Paper Series, Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern
Illinois University, Carbondale (in prep. 2008)
2007 Late Prehistoric Human Impacts on Marine Fauna in Southern California: An Example
from San Nicolas Island in the Southern Channel Islands. Bulletin of the Southern
California Academy of Sciences 106(2):97.
2006 Southwest Animals. In Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 3: Environment,
Origins, and Population, edited by Douglas Ubelaker and others, pp. 313-330.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
2005 Archaeofaunal Research at Late Holocene Prehistoric Sites on San Nicolas Island:
Recent Excavations and Experimental Studies. Bulletin of the Southern California
Academy of Sciences 104(2, Supplement):27 (with J. Wallace).
2004 The Archaeology of Global Change: The Impact of Humans on Their Environment.
Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C. 292 pp. (co-edited with C. L. Redman, P. R.
Fish, and J. D. Rogers).
2

2004 Dogs, Deer, or Guanacos: Zoomorphic Figurines from Pueblo Grande, Central Arizona.
Journal of Field Archaeology 29(1 & 2):165-176. Published by Boston University,
Boston, MA. (with M. S. Foster).
2004 The Ecology of Human Colonization in Pristine Landscapes. In The Settlement of the
American Continents: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Human Biogeography, edited by
C. M. Barton, G. A. Clark, D. R. Yesner, and G. A. Pearson, pp. 138-161. University of
Arizona Press, Tucson (with C. M. Barton and S. Schmick).
2004 Part I: Habitat Transformations and Animal Extinctions. In The Archaeology of Global
Change: The Impact of Humans on Their Environment, edited by C. L. Redman, S. R.
James, P. R. Fish, and J. D. Rogers, pp. 9-12. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
2004 Hunting, Fishing, and Resource Depression: Prehistoric Cultural Impacts on Animals in
Southwest North America. In The Archaeology of Global Change: The Impact of
Humans on Their Environment, edited by C. L. Redman, S. R. James, P. R. Fish, and J.
D. Rogers, pp. 28-62. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
2004 Introduction: Human Impacts on Past Environments. In The Archaeology of Global
Change: The Impact of Humans on Their Environment, edited by C. L. Redman, S. R.
James, P. R. Fish, and J. D. Rogers, pp. 1-8. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
(with C. L. Redman, P. R. Fish, and J. D. Rogers).
2004 Mineral Hill Cave Avifauna. In Paleontological Investigations at Mineral Hill Cave, edited
by B. Hockett and E. Dillingham, pp. 136-142. Contribution to the Study of Cultural
Resources No. 18. Bureau of Land Management, Reno.
2004 Fishing and Marine Mammal Hunting Patterns from a 2500-Year Old Campsite on San
Nicolas Island. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 103(2,
Supplement):58-59.
2003 Hunting and Fishing Patterns Leading to Resource Depletion. In Centuries of Decline
during the Hohokam Classic Period at Pueblo Grande, edited by David Abbott, pp. 70-
81. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
3