This project looks at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which is one of the most significant pilgrimage sites for Christians and many other religions since it was constructed in 326 CE under Constantine. I explore the history and architectural changes of the church, and I follow the journey of pilgrims who visit sacred sites like the Stone of Unction, Calvary, and the Tomb Aedicule within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher through manuscripts of 12th century pilgrimage accounts. I analyze the effects of political turmoil, like that of the Crusades, and art and architecture, on the pilgrimage experience from both the 12th century and today. By using interviews to learn more about contemporary pilgrim narratives, I am able to maintain the idea of the significance of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as a place of spiritual sanctuary and historical importance for many people throughout time.

Archaeological and historical narratives often leave out the stories of women, especially in the ancient world. The goal of this project was to explore the lives of women in ancient Assyria and find similarities to our life in the twenty-first century. Using books with translations, the analysis focused on ancient cuneiform tablets found in modern day Turkey. The women who wrote, or who were written about, on these tablets were businesswomen, queens, sisters, and mothers. The letters discuss things we still write about today: jealousy, love, frustration at family members, annoyed business reviews, and more. Learning about women in ancient Assyria leads to a more comprehensive understanding of not only their society, but also our shared human experience.

When private cemeteries deem portions of their properties suitable for “beautification” renovations, this can result in the nonconsensual exhumation of human remains. In the case of Cypress Grove Cemetery #1, utilized between 1840-1920 in New Orleans, Louisiana, over 700 individuals were removed from their burial sites due to a wall of vaults falling into disrepair. The disinterment led bioarchaeologists to analyze the commingled remains that the private cemetery had displaced to a shipping container. This case raises questions regarding the ethics of individuals retaining the right to their own grave, and how bioarchaeologists should handle the remains of those unethically disinterred. Notions of personhood are stripped from these individuals and cultural symbolism of cemeteries, acting in honoring the deceased and as a resource for the living, are contested. Instilling respect and dignity to all human remains indiscriminately is the only way in which bioarchaeology can progress into an ethical field.

When tattoos were first introduced negative stigma was quickly created around the meaning and idea of having one. Individuals who had them were often connected to criminal behavior either by having been convicted of committing a crime or being in a gang. This led to the meaning of tattoos being stigmatized among society for many years. However, as more individuals started to get tattoos the negativity around them has slowly altered to where we look at them with awe and wonder what the inspiration or reasoning behind specific artwork is. To better understand how inspiration and reasoning has slowly altered the meaning behind having a tattoo, individuals with either one or multiple tattoos will be interviewed and given questionnaires that seek to collect information about their tattoos. Gathering this information and hearing individuals share their thoughts should allow us to better understand how the meaning tattoos has changed over time.