UNEARTHING ANCIENT WONDERS

MSU’s Shane Miller and students undertake Moroccan archaeological adventure

By Joseph Newell

On a muggy Mississippi morning, MSU

Associate Professor Shane Miller of the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures left the state with two of his students—Jesse Weaver and Bailey Stephenson—to embark on an archaeological research journey to Morocco.

Leaving the sweltering Mississippi heat behind, they quickly felt a different kind of warmth—that of the Moroccan culture and hospitality. Miller’s fascination with Moroccan archaeology was sparked by the groundbreaking work of his former Ph.D. advisor, Steve Kuhn, who has been studying the Bizmoune Cave. This site is known for containing the earliest documented personal adornments—marine shell beads dating back 130,000 years. Inspired by this, Miller expanded his research to explore the broader landscape and understand how early humans interacted with their environment.

“Our oldest dates [at the Hester site in Mississippi] are over 12,000 years old. In Morocco, that is considered ‘recent’ archaeology.”

– Shane Miller

During Miller’s project in the Bizmoune Cave, he found an interest of his own. He started conducting archaeological surveys beyond the cave and working with MSU and Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine students to find and record artifacts.

“Now we have a better idea how people were using the landscape beyond the cave,” Miller said.

With its fresh insights, Morocco gave Miller a compelling narrative and he drew comparisons to North America’s archaeology.

“I, along with Derek Anderson (MSU Cobb Institute of Archaeology) and Jim Strawn (University of Georgia), am currently working on the oldest dated site in Mississippi, which is the Hester site in Amory,” Miller said. “Our oldest dates there are over 12,000 years old. In Morocco, that is considered ‘recent’ archaeology.

“We have basically applied the same approach to archaeological survey that you would use in arid landscape in the U.S., like Arizona or New Mexico. I study Ice Age archaeology in North America, and I mostly use stone tool economics and human behavioral ecology to figure out how people adapted to climate change. A lot of my expertise has been pretty transferable to Morocco. It’s a lot of the same questions but in a very new place for me,” Miller said.

Morocco has a breadth of history and cultural phenomena. During his previous travels, Miller found an unexpected cultural gem in a small barbershop tucked away in the old Medina of Marrakech.

“On a whim, I decided to get a haircut in a back-alley barbershop. The only way that I could communicate with the guys in the barbershop was by using a translation app,” Miller said. “They found out that I was an archaeologist, started showing me pictures of ruins from their home village, offered to take me camping in the Atlas Mountains and now they all follow me on Instagram. I took Jesse Weaver and Bailey Stephenson to the barbershop on our return trip, and they both got haircuts. While I was waiting, I showed the guys how to use the Duolingo app and I could hear the barbers brushing up on their English when we left. It was a fun and unexpected cultural experience.”

Miller, Weaver and Stephenson not only engulfed themselves in the richness of Moroccan culture, but they also explored the country’s prolific archaeology. Miller plans to return to Morocco soon to continue his archaeological surveys at a Middle Stone Age cave site. This work enriches scientists’ understanding of ancient human societies and also connects diverse archaeological narratives across continents, showcasing the enduring quest to uncover the mysteries of a shared past. u

“On a whim, I decided to get a haircut in a backalley barbershop. The only way that I could communicate with the guys in the barbershop was by using a translation app. They found out that I was an archaeologist, started showing me pictures of ruins from their home village, offered to take me camping in the Atlas Mountains and now they all follow me on Instagram.”

— Shane Miller

About The Author

Joseph N. Newell is a composition lecturer in the English Department at Mississippi State University, where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English. A native of Cary, Mississippi, he is passionate about literature and plans to pursue a doctorate in English. His research interests include power dynamics, gender and societal structures in literature, with award-winning work on Shakespeare and A Room with a View. In addition to his academic research, his poetry has been published in The Streetcar. Newell aspires to teach literature at the collegiate level, inspiring future students through his scholarship and writing.