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Laboratory of Southeastern Archaeology

Mark C. Donop

Deputy Director, Office of Archaeological Research and Curator of Archaeological Collections, University of Alabama

Ph.D., Anthropology, Univ. of Florida, 2017
M.A., Anthropology, Univ. of Florida, 2005
B.A., Anthropology, Univ. of Florida, 2000

In 2013, Mark joined the Laboratory of Southeastern Archaeology and began dissertation research along the Florida Gulf Coast. He has conducted archaeology in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, California, Texas, Brazil, Tobago, Peru, and Guyana at sites dating to the last 5,000 years. Mark’s M.A. thesis was focused on precolumbian ceramics from Grenada. He combined archaeological fieldwork, collections research, and bundling theory to study Palmetto Mound (8LV2) in Levy County, Florida for his doctoral research, receiving his Ph.D. in December of 2017. Mark accepted a position as Deputy Director of the Office of Archaeological Research and Curator of Archaeological Collections at the University of Alabama in 2019. His research interests include Circum-Caribbean archaeology, ceramics, Native Americans, archaeological collections, museums, and cultural heritage management.

Current Research Projects

Mark currently working on publications stemming from his dissertation research on Palmetto Mound.

Recent Publications

  • Sassaman, Kenneth E., Meggan E. Blessing, Joshua M. Goodwin, Jessica A. Jenkins, Ginessa J. Mahar, Anthony Boucher, Terry E. Barbour, and Mark C. Donop. 2020. Maritime Ritual Economy of Cosmic Synchronicity: Summer Solstice Events at a Civic-Ceremonial Center on the Northern Gulf Coast of Florida. American Antiquity 85:22-50.
  • Wallis, Neill J., Ann S. Cordell, Erin Harris-Parks, Mark C. Donop, and Kristen Hall. 2017. Provenance of Weeden Island “Sacred” and “Prestige” Vessels: Implications for Specialized Ritual Craft Production. Southeastern Archaeology 36:131-143.
  • Donop, Mark C., George D. Kamenov, Tiffany E. Birakis, and Matthew D. Woodside. 2016. A Rare Galena Artifact from Palmetto Mound (8LV2), Levy County, Florida. The Florida Anthropologist 69(4):164-171.
  • Donop, Mark C. 2014. Three entries (Cassava, Griddles, Suazan Troumassoid). In The Encyclopedia of Caribbean Archaeology, edited by Basil A. Reid and R. Grant Gilmore III. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

Technical Reports

  • Donop, Mark C. 2015. Palmetto Mound (8LV2). In Lower Suwannee Archaeological Survey 2013-2014, by K. E. Sassaman et al., pp. 103-115. Technical Report 21. Laboratory of Southeastern Archaeology, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville.