Areas of Expertise:

Native American societies in the southeastern U.S., Native-European colonial interactions, foodways, paleoethnobotany, participatory research methods

Research Interests:

Dr. Purcell is an archaeologist who studies foodways of Native peoples in the southeastern United States. She specializes in paleoethnobotany, and is interested in intercultural interactions and working collaboratively with living Native American populations to understand past foodways. Her research involves the analysis of archaeological plant material from Colonial-era Native American sites to understand how Native peoples chose to incorporate European-introduced foods into their cuisine and agricultural practices.

Dr. Purcell has worked on field projects throughout the Southeastern U.S. on sites dating from the Woodland through Historic periods.