Research Summary
My research consists of identifying where past maize farmers were able to farm in the Arid West and explaining how these populations settled across the landscape using spatiotemporal modeling. This includes tracking past adaptive responses to climate change.
Education
- M.S., Anthropology, University of Utah
- B.S., Anthropology, University of Utah
Recent Work
In-Prep, Medina, Ishmael D., Kenneth B. Vernon, Jerry S. Spangler, Brian F. Codding. A Reconstruction of Utah’s Indigenous Maize Farming Niche. Target journal: Journal of Archaeological Science.
In-Prep, McCool, Weston C., Kenneth B. Vernon, Ishmael D. Medina, Joan Brenner Coltrain, Kurt M. Wilson, Brian F. Codding. Socio-climatological drivers of violent conflict in the pre-contact Bears Ears National Monument, Utah. Target journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In review, Medina, Ishmael, Kenneth Blake Vernon, Kate E. Magargal, Weston C. McCool, Jerry D. Spangler and Brian F. Codding (in review) Archaeological Survey of Cottonwood Wash, San Rafael Desert, Emery County, Utah. Prepared for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Price Field Office, Utah, and State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, Salt Lake City, Utah. Prepared by the University of Utah Archaeological Center and the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance. BLM Cooperative Agreement L20AC00267 United States Department of Interior Permit No. 21UT85115, State of Utah Antiquities Project No. U22UA031, University of Utah Archaeological Center Project No. UUAC22052.
Codding, Brian F., Heidi Roberts, William Eckerle, Simon C. Brewer, Ishmael Medina, Kenneth Blake Vernon, Jerry S. Spangler (2023) Can we detect adaptive responses of hunter-gatherers to past climate change? Examining the impact of Mid-Holocene drought on Archaic settlement in the Basin-Plateau Region of North America. Quaternary International.
Spangler, Jerry D., Matthew Zweifel, Heidi Roberts, Keith Hardin, Kenneth B. Vernon, Ishmael Medina D., Valerie Russell, Michael Terlep, Brian Storm, Lisbeth Louderback, Samantha Paredes, and Brian F. Codding (2022). Over the Hills and Far Way: The Search an Upland Basketmaker II Presence in the Johnson Canyon-Wygaret Terrace Area of Kane County, Utah. Prepared by the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance and the University of Utah Archaeological Center. BLM Assistance Agreement L20AC00132 United States Department of Interior Permit No. 19UT82469, State of Utah Antiquities Project No. U22C10102.