Lauren Norman

Lauren Norman
  • Assistant Professor
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences Anthropology
  • College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
  • Ph.D., University of Toronto, 2015
  • Fall 2025 Office Hours: Mondays 10am - 11am and Wednesdays 12pm - 1pm in 610 Fraser Hall, and by appointment - send email to lauren_norman@ku.edu
  • I am accepting new graduate students for the January 2026 NEW graduate application review.

Contact Info

Office Phone:
785-864-1854
ANTH Office Phone:
785-864-4103
610 Fraser Hall
1415 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence, KS 66045

Personal Links

Education —

B.A. in Anthropology, University of Victoria, 2006
M.S. in Anthropology, University of Toronto, 2009

Research —

Research Areas:  Zooarchaeology analysis, environmental archaeology, ancient faunal DNA, small-scale societies, environmental archaeology, community collaboration. North America, Arctic

My research examines the resilience of small-scale societies during periods of environmental and social change. I employ molecular methods to supplement traditional studies of faunal material in investigating the relationship between people and their environment. I am especially interested in community-based research with northern communities and multi-vocal interpretations of the past. 

Selected Publications —

Lauren E. Y. Norman, Claire Alix, Owen K. Mason, Dennis O’Rourke. (in press). Variations on a theme: Comparison of precolonial Iñupiaq cultural landscapes through subsistence strategies at Cape Espenberg, Alaska. The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology.

Alix, Claire, Lauren E. Y. Norman, Anthony Krus, Juliette Taieb, Shelby Anderson, Dennis O’Rourke, and Owen K. Mason. (2025). The Birnirk to Thule transition as viewed from radiocarbon and tree-ring dating within two adjacent houses at Cape Espenberg, Northwest Alaska. American Antiquity. https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2025.21

Unkel, Sarah L., Lauren E. Y. Norman, Justin Tackney, Anthony M. Krus, Anne E. Jensen, Claire Alix, Owen Mason, and Dennis O’Rourke. (2022). Genetic analysis of Birnirk Inuit from the Alaskan North Slope. Arctic 75(1): 121-132. https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic74916

Reuther, Joshua D., Scott Shirar, Owen K. Mason, Shelby Anderson, Joan B. Coltrain, Adam Freeburg, Peter M. Bowers, Claire Alix, Christyann M. Darwent, and Lauren E. Y. Norman. (2021). Marine reservoir effects in seal (Phocidae) bones in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas, northwestern Alaska. Radiocarbon 63(1): 301-309. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2020.127.

Vanlandeghem, Marine, Bruno C. Desachy, Tammy Y. Buonasera, Lauren E. Y. Norman, Isabelle Théry-Parisot, Alain Carré, Christopher Petit, Michelle Elliott, and Claire Alix. (2020). Ancient arctic pyro-technologies: Experimental fires to document the impact of animal origin fuels on wood combustion. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 33: 102414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102414

Braymer-Hayes, Katelyn, Shelby Anderson, Claire Alix, Christyann M. Darwent, John Darwent, Owen Mason, and Lauren E. Y. Norman. (2020). Studying pre-contact gendered use of space in the Arctic: Spatial analysis of ceramics in northwestern Alaska. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 58: 101165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2020.101165