Almost from its beginning in 1866, the University of Kansas has had faculty interested in archaeology.  Perhaps the first archaeological collections to be recovered and curated at KU were excavated by Handel T. Martin and Samuel Williston from the El Cuartelejo site in Scott County Kansas. Believed to represent an occupation of resident Plains Apache and escaped Pueblo Indians from Picuris and Taos who fled Spanish rule in 1680, the site consists of a 7-room pueblo-type structure and a mix of Apache and Pueblo artifacts.  In 1895, paleontologists with the University of Kansas excavated deposits in Logan County, Kansas and recovered a fluted projectile point with the remains of 13 Bison antiquus skeletons. Known as the 12-Mile Creek site, this recovery demonstrated the association of humans with Pleistocene fauna, but for various reasons did not have a significant impact on the profession.

The first professional archaeologist employed within the state of Kansas was Loren C. Eiseley, who was hired by the University of Kansas in 1937.His position was a dual appointment in sociology and in the Museum of Natural History. During his 7-year stay at KU, Eiseley established good contacts with local collectors and conducted limited, but significant, investigations at area sites believed to be of great antiquity. Most importantly however, his work resulted in anthropology and archaeology becoming firmly established in the KU curriculum. Albert C. Spaulding, Eiseley’s replacement, is best known for achievements accomplished elsewhere. During Spaulding’s short stay at KU (1946-1947) he initiated the long cooperation between the University of Kansas and the River Basin Surveys (RBS).

Trained by William Duncan Strong at Columbia University, Carlyle Smith was hired in 1947 to become the first full-time archaeology faculty at KU.  His early work at KU included excavations at the late 18th century Pawnee site – the Kansas Monument site (14RP1),   initial surveys and testing within the boundaries of the Kanopolis, Melvern, Milford, Perry, and Tuttle Creek Reservoirs, and the acquisition of the Floyd and Ada Jane Schultz collection.  This work established the foundation for many other researchers and for the extensive KU archaeological collections from Kansas.  Smith’s work along the Missouri River trench in South Dakota at the Talking Crow (38BF3), Two Teeth (39BF204), and Spain (39LM301) sites resulted in a major ceramic chronology for the late prehistoric to post-contact periods.  Of equal note was Smith’s extensive research on European gun flints and trade guns, and later, archaeological investigations in the South Pacific, including his involvement with Thor Heyerdahl on Easter Island (1955 – 1956) and his later work on the Marqueses Islands (1963).

Robert Squier joined the KU faculty with a specialty in Mesoamerican  prehistory.  Perhaps his most significant contribution to the collections came from his 1965-66 investigations at LaVenta, a large Olmec site in Mexico. Squier, along with Smith and other Anthropology faculty, helped establish the Department of Anthropology in 1964.  The current archaeology division at KU continues to maintain strong ties with the Anthropology department.

A native Kansan, Alfred Johnson’s career in archaeology started with an interest in local prehistory.  As a teen, he volunteered with C.S. Smith on the Kanopolis Lake project and later was hired as a crew member to work with Smith in South Dakota. Hired by KU in 1965, he established an annual summer KU fieldschool, often in cooperation with Patricia O’Brien at Kansas State University and W. Raymond Wood at the University of Missouri-Columbia.  Anta Montet White was hired a few years after Johnson and along with Smith and Squier, was responsible for a significant increase in the size of the archaeological collections. White initiated fieldwork at several sites in Europe and Asia.

Johnson played a key role in developing the Museum of Anthropology, the Museum Studies Program, and the contract archaeology program (Office of Archaeological Research).  His research interests in the late Archaic, the Kansas City Hopewell, and Plains Woodland periods lead to numerous site investigations and publications.  He was responsible for directing major survey and data recovery projects for the US Army Corps of Engineers (El Dorado, Clinton, Fort Scott, Perry, Tuttle, Kanopolis, Longview, and Blue Springs Lakes), and the Missouri Department of Transportation [Kansas City Hopewell Young (23PL4) and the late Archaic Nebo Hill.  While collections increased significantly during Johnson’s position as Director of the Museum of Anthropology, the R.B. Aker collection is perhaps one of the best documented and researched collections that was acquired with Johnson’s involvement.

John Hoopes joined the Anthropology faculty in 1989 with specialties in Central America and ceramics. Several years later, in 1993, Jack Hofman filled a faculty vacancy and a research focus on Great Plains Paleoindian. Ivana Radovanovic was hired by the Anthropology Department in 2000 and provides expertise in Old World prehistory and lithic technology. In 2002, a generous donation established the Odyssey Geoarchaeology Research Program. The director, Rolfe Mandel, holds half time positions in the Anthropology Department and the Kansas Geological Survey. With the addition of Fred Sellet in 2010, the Anthropology department strengthened their focus on lithic studies and pre-ceramic cultures of the North American Plains.  Additional research strengths that focus on the archaeological collections include Plains paleoethnobotany, the Central Plains tradition social organization, historic Native America, and early European settlements.