Columbus State University student Ashley Brand recently had the opportunity to discuss her life-long passion of archeology with Atlanta’s Consul General of Peru Jaime Sparks. Sparks and his wife visited CSU in October to collect a section of the Paloma Archeology Collection - a set of rare and well-preserved 7,000 year old human remains, which CSU lecturer Danielle Cook obtained from the Peruvian Ministry of Culture for her students to study along with artifacts from six other sites around coastal Peru.

“They took time to talk with me about my work on the collection, what I thought about it, and my plans for the future,” states Brand. “They were very eager to work with us and excited to see what we have to put out when we are done with our research.”

Brand, a history major and anthropology minor, has dreamt of becoming an archeologist since she was 10 years old. She says that she has obtained opportunities at CSU that she never would have obtained elsewhere. Her work on the Palmoa collection has included a study on a possible correlation between metal found in bones within the collection and the Paloma people’s diet that was primarily composed of fish. She has also had the opportunity to work on other archeology projects, such as the local Abercrombie collection.

“If it wasn’t for the faculty that I have had, I wouldn’t have had these opportunities. Danielle Cook has created CV and resume-building opportunities for me - almost out of thin air,” said Brand. “I have catalogued, scanned electronic microscopes, learned how to take samples of bones and handle them properly, and sorted pottery. As such, I can say that nothing helps quite like physically getting your hands on the artifacts.”

Brand, who graduates in May, hopes to present her findings of the Paloma study at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) conference in Los Angeles in April. Any published work will also be sent to the Peruvian Ministry of Culture. Her next step will be to pursue a graduate degree in her journey towards becoming an archeologist. However, thanks to her CSU experience, she has already gotten a taste of archeology work.

“Holding 7,000 year old remains that are extremely well-preserved in the palms of your hands is something that not everyone will get to do in their life.Those were mothers, daughters, fathers, civilization leaders.I’m glad to be a part of that,” states Brand. “Getting to know who they were based on a piece of a femur or a sliver of a clavicle makes all the effort worthwhile.”