Edward A. Jolie

About Edward A. Jolie

Edward A. Jolie is an anthropological archaeologist with broad interests in the Native American archaeology and ethnology of the Americas. Much of his research has focused on the study of perishable (organic) material culture (e.g., string, nets, footwear, baskets, and textiles) to address a wide range of anthropological questions including those that bear on technological innovation and change, social interaction and identities, and population movement. He is particularly interested in the social learning context and cultural transmission of crafting knowledge, and how that informs stylistic patterning in the archaeological record. Recently, Dr. Jolie has been engaged in more hands-on work with fiber plant collection, processing, and weaving, as part of an effort to find solutions to problems posed by landscape change and raw material inaccessibility among contemporary artists. He is presently in the process of re-establishing his Perishable Material Culture Laboratory at the Arizona State Museum. His lab is one of a handful, globally, that specializes in the documentation and analysis of perishable material culture. The lab receives perishable material culture from all over the world for study, and currently it contains multiple items from the United States, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru. Beyond perishable technologies, Dr. Jolie has long held an interest in Native American-Anthropologist relations, repatriation matters, and broader ethical practice within the discipline. Being of mixed Oglala Lakota (Sioux) and Hodulgee Muscogee (Creek) ancestry, and an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma, he strives to cultivate collaborative relationships and research partnerships with Native Americans and other descendant communities. He has primarily engaged these concerns with students in courses he teaches that bear on the experiences of contemporary Native Americans and those that seek to train students in ethical reasoning. Dr. Jolie is equally focused on 'putting anthropology to work,' and adopting an anthropology-as-tool approach that emphasizes cultivating awareness of, and critical reflection on, a variety of philosophical and religious ethical frameworks to foster greater understanding and appreciation of sociocultural diversity.

Selected Publications

Bostwick, Todd W., and Edward A. Jolie (2020) Matting, Baskets, and Sandals. In The Dyck Cliff Dwelling: A Sinagua Habitation Site Overlooking Beaver Creek, Central Arizona, edited by Todd W. Bostwick, pp. 485-515. Verde Valley Archaeology Center, Camp Verde, Arizona.

Geib, Phil R., and Edward A. Jolie (2018) The Rise of Broad-Spectrum Foraging on the Colorado Plateau during the Early Holocene. In The Archaic Southwest, edited by Bradley J. Vierra, pp. 189-214. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Jolie, Edward A. (2019) Analysis of Perishables. In Archaeological Laboratory Methods: An Introduction, 7th ed., by Mark Q. Sutton and Brooke S. Arkush, pp. 127-144. Kendall/Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, Iowa.

Jolie, Edward A., (2014) Technology, Learning and Innovation in Textile Arts: Integrating Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives. North American Archaeologist 35:303-329.

Jolie, Edward A., Thomas F. Lynch, Phil R. Geib, and J. M. Adovasio (2011) Cordage, Textiles and the Late Pleistocene Peopling of the Andes. Current Anthropology 52(2): 285-296.

Jolie, Edward A., and Maxine E. McBrinn (2010) Retrieving the Perishable Past: Experimentation in Fiber Artifact Studies. In Designing Experimental Research in Archaeology: Examining Production and Use of Technology, edited by Jeffrey R. Ferguson, pp. 153-193. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.

Jolie, Edward A., and Laurie D. Webster (2017) Perishable Technologies. In The Oxford Handbook of Southwestern Archaeology, edited by Barbara J. Mills and Severin Fowles, pp. 645-662. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Jolie, Edward A., and Laurie D. Webster (2015) A Perishable Perspective on Chacoan Social Identities. In Chaco Revisited: New Research on the Prehistory of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, edited by Carrie C. Heitman and Stephen Plog, pp. 96-131. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

Kotoula, Eleni T., David W. Robinson, Devlin Gandy, and Edward A. Jolie (2019) Computational Photography, 3D Modelling and Online Publication of Basketry for Cache Cave (CA, USA). Advances in Archaeological Practice 7(4):366-381.

Recent Public Outreach Media

2021 Heritage Voices Podcast, Episode 57, "Perishable Artifacts and Tribally Driven Archaeology," first aired 16 November. 61 min. https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/heritagevoices/57

2021 Video: Basket Weaving in the Mesa Verde Tradition. Webinar for the Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, 15 April. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qyMe1qWPtI

2021 Interviewee for "More Than A Stereotype: Mascot debate continues as Native Americans ask to be seen and heard," by Kimberly Firestine, Erie Reader, 6 April. https://www.eriereader.com/article/more-than-a-stereotype    

2020 Our Erie Podcast featured guest, Episode 11, "Stolen Lands, Stereotypes, and Suspect History," first aired 29 December. 47 min. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8zNjc4NDZjNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==