Vanessa N. Hanvey | University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences

Vanessa N. Hanvey

Anthropology Ph.D.

[vah-NEH-sah] [han-VEE]

My career in archaeology began at the University of Georgia, where I graduated with Honors in 2011 with a B.A. in Anthropology. I worked at the UGA Laboratory of Archaeology as an undergraduate and blame the wonderful archaeologists there for setting me on my current path! Following graduation, the Arkansas Archeological Survey hired me as a Research Assistant. Working at the Henderson State University Research Station, I conducted research alongside Dr. Mary Beth Trubitt, who inspired my passion for public outreach and intrigue with stone tool technologies. With the support of my colleagues at ARAS, I decided to attend graduate school in 2014.

Interest in the Archaic period of the Southeastern U.S. led me to the work of my advisor, Dick Jefferies, and I was accepted into the UK Anthropological Archaeology doctoral program. My research explores how the products of stone toolmakers represent shared knowledge of stone tool manufacture using community of practice and geometric morphometric approaches. My methods include the morphometric analysis of 3D scans of Kirk Corner Notched hafted bifaces from the lower Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers of western Kentucky (see image below). I completed my dissertation "Communities of Stone Toolmakers along the Lower Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers" in April 2025.

While completing my doctoral research, I worked for the Kentucky Heritage Council (State Historic Preservation Office) as a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet archaeology liaison and National Historic Preservation Act compliance reviewer. Currently, I work for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation as a program analyst and liaison providing cultural resource program support and dedicated Section 106 assistance to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Contact Information

vanessahanvey@uky.edu

Education

Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Kentucky (2025)

M.A. Anthropology, University of Kentucky (2018)

B.A. (Hons) Anthropology, University of Georgia (2011)

Research Interests

Historic Preservation
Public Outreach and Education
Southeastern Archaeology
Lithic Technology
Morphometric Analysis

Affiliations

Anthropology
Historic Preservation (College of Design)
Kentucky Heritage Council
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP)

Education:

Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Kentucky (2025)
"Communities of Stone Toolmakers along the Lower Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers"
Graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation (2019)
Professional Development Certificate in Practices of Inclusion and Equity in the Classroom (2019)

M.A. Anthropology, University of Kentucky (2018)

B.A. (Hons) Anthropology, University of Georgia (2011)
Summa Cum Laude with Highest Honors
Certificate in Archaeological Science (2011)

Professional Training:

National Park Service Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA):

NAGPRA Civil Penalties (September 2024)
NAGPRA Determining Cultural Affiliation (August 2024)
Unassociated Funerary Objects, Sacred Objects, and Objects of Cultural Patrimony (March 2024)
NAGPRA Subpart C (February 2024)
Revisions to Implementing Regulations of NAGPRA (January 2024)

Shipley Group National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

NEPA Tools (October 2023)
NEPA and Environmental Permitting Regulatory Update (July 2023)
NEPA for Non-Practitioners (January 2023)

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP)

Resolving Disputes in Section 106 (January 2021)
Managing Confidential Information and Section 304 (January 2021)
Archaeological Sites and Section 106 (January 2021)
Section 106 Agreement Documents (October 2020)
What is Section 106? (May 2020)
Defining an Area of Potential Effect (May 2020)
Planning for Successful Section 106 Agreement Documents (May 2020)
Section 106 Documentation and e106 (May 2020)
Basics of NEPA and Section 106 Integration (August 2019)
Coordinating NEPA and Section 106 (August 2019)
Early Coordination with Indian Tribes for Infrastructure Projects (August 2019)
Successfully Navigating Section 106 Review (August 2019)

National Park Service Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) Snapshot Series

ARPA and Tribal Partners (October 2021)
Resource Damage Assessment (August 2021)
Field Damage Assessment (August 2021)
ARPA Basics (June 2021)

Publications & Technical Reports:

2025 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Communities of Stone Toolmakers along the Lower Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington.

2023 Thomas A. Jennings, Ashley M. Smallwood, Jacob Ray, Vanessa N. Hanvey, Shaylee Scott, Heather L. Smith, Don Miller, and Devin Stephens, Early Archaic Landscape Use, Cultural Transmission, and Aggregation in the Lower Ohio River Valley. Southeastern Archaeology 42:12-30.

2021 Mary Beth Trubitt, Jami J. Lockhart, and Vanessa N. Hanvey, Investigating a Caddo Mound Site in the Ouachita River Valley. Caddo Archeology Journal 31:22-33.

2021 Stephen R. Ahler, Michael L. Loughlin, Michael F. Kolb, Bruce L. Manzano, Vanessa N. Hanvey, Tyler R. Stumpf, Jack Rossen, and Milaina Floyd, Phase II National Register of Historic Places Eligibility Assessment and Phase III Data Recovery Mitigation at 15Tr1 Area C, Trigg County, Kentucky. Limited distribution report, University of Kentucky, Program for Archaeological Research, Lexington.

2019 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Nicole Konkol, Charles D. Hockensmith, Kenneth Carstens, William A. Huser, and David Pollack (editors), Current Archaeological Research in Kentucky Volume Ten, Kentucky Heritage Council, Frankfort.

2016 Joshua Thomson, Steven Ahler, and Vanessa Hanvey, Phase I Archaeological Survey for Proposed Construction on the Greg Porter Farm in Montgomery County, Kentucky. Limited distribution report, University of Kentucky, Program for Archaeological Research, Lexington.

2014 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Predictive Modeling of a Caddo Structure in the Ouachita Mountains, Montgomery County, Arkansas. Caddo Archeology Journal 24:43-52.

2014 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Mary Beth Trubitt, and Jami J. Lockhart, Investigating a Community in the Borderlands: Archeological Testing at Two Sites in the Saline River Valley, Arkansas. Limited distribution report, Arkansas Archeological Survey, Henderson State University Research Station, Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

2012 Mary Beth Trubitt and Vanessa N. Hanvey, A Cultural Resources Survey of Arkadelphia’s Ouachita Bluff Property, Clark County, Arkansas. Limited distribution report, Arkansas Archeological Survey, Henderson State University Research Station, Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

2011 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Spatial and Temporal Analysis of the Ceramics at the Burnt Village, 9TP9. Unpublished Honors Thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia.

Select Conference Presentations:

2022 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Preliminary Results of a Procrustes Analysis Investigating Stone Toolmaking at the Canton (15Tr1) and Lawrence (15Tr33) Sites, Trigg County, Kentucky. Paper presented at the 39th Annual Kentucky Heritage Council Archaeology Conference, Bowling Green, KY.

2021 Thomas Jennings, Ashley Smallwood, Jacob Ray, Vanessa Hanvey, Shaylee Scott, Don Miller, and Devin Stephens, Early Archaic Aggregation along the Lower Ohio River Valley. Paper presented at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Asheville, NC.

2020 Vanessa N. Hanvey, The Archaic Period Craft of Stone Toolmaking at the Canton Site (15TR1). Paper presented at the 37th Annual Kentucky Heritage Council Archaeology Conference, Bowling Green, KY.

2019 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Morphometric Analysis and the Investigation of Communities of Stone Toolmakers. Paper presented at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM.

2018 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Hafted Biface Morphology at an Archaic Period Site on the Cumberland River, Trigg County, Kentucky. Paper presented at the 75th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Augusta, GA.

2017 Tyler R. Stumpf, Vanessa N. Hanvey, and Richard W. Jefferies, Searching for Spanish Footprints: Recent Geophysical Prospection on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Poster presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, BC.

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2016 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Characterizing the Archaic Period in the Flint and Chattahoochee River Valleys of Georgia. Poster presented at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Athens, GA.

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2015 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Karen Stevens, Michael Loughlin, Steve Ahler, and Tyler Stumpf, Raw Material Procurement and Use at an Archaic Period Site on the Cumberland River, Trigg County, Kentucky. Paper presented at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Nashville.

2014 Mary Beth Trubitt, Meeks Etchieson, Leslie L. Bush, and Vanessa N. Hanvey, A Caddo Community in the Ouachita Mountains. Paper presented at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Caddo Conference, Tyler, TX.

2013 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Predictive Modeling of a Caddo Structure in the Ouachita Mountains, Montgomery County, Arkansas. Paper presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Tampa Bay.

2012 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Jessica Howe, Robert Scott, and Jami Lockhart, The Borderlands Project: A Closer Look at the Transitional Zone between the Caddo and Mississippian Cultural Regions. Paper presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Caddo Conference, Natchitoches.

2011 Mary Beth Trubitt and Vanessa N. Hanvey, Reconstructing the Novaculite Reduction Sequence at Jones Mill, Arkansas. Poster presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Jacksonville.

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Select Public Outreach:

2019 Vanessa N. Hanvey, WPA Archaeology: The Legacy of an Era, 30 Days of Kentucky Archaeology, blog of the Kentucky Heritage Council.

2018 Vanessa N. Hanvey, What are Lithics? 30 Days of Kentucky Archaeology, blog of the Kentucky Heritage Council.

2014 Vanessa N. Hanvey, Radiocarbon Dates for the Arkadelphia Canoe. Field Notes (Newsletter of the Arkansas Archeological Society) 379:3-4.

2014 Arkansas Archeological Society Ouachita Chapter, What’s for Supper? Native American Foods in the Ouachita Mountains. Ouachita Chapter Arkansas Archeological Society, Hot Springs, AR.

2013 Vanessa N. Hanvey, ARF Grant Funds AMS Date from Caddo Structure at 3SA295. Field Notes (Newsletter of the Arkansas Archeological Society) 374:3-6.

2013 Mary Beth Trubitt, Tyler Stumpf, Vanessa N. Hanvey, and John Samuelson, Arkansas Novaculite: A Virtual Comparative Collection. Website, http://arkarcheology.uark.edu/novaculite/index.html, last updated April 13, 2021.

Teaching Experience:

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Section 106 Essentials
Section 106 Agreements
Defining the Area of Potential Effect

University of Kentucky

Archaeology: Mysteries and Controversies (ANT 102)
Native People of North America (ANT 221)
Introduction to Biological Anthropology (ANT 230)
Cultural Diversity in the Modern World (ANT 160)
Academic Preparation Program Reading (UK 120)
Theft, Looting, Forgery, and Other Issues in Art (HON 252)

Awards, Assistantships, & Grants:

Writing Fellowship, University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology (2022)
Teaching Assistantship, University of Kentucky Transformative Learning (2018-2019)
William Y. Adams Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student (2017)
University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award (2017)
Teaching Assistantship, University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology (2014-2016)
Susan Abbott-Jamieson Pre-Dissertation Research Fund Award (2016)
University of Kentucky Graduate School Travel Funding (2015, 2016)
Arkansas Archeological Society Archeological Research Fund Grant [with Mary Beth Trubitt] (2012)
University of Georgia Department of Anthropology Head’s Award (2011)