Colin Quinn

Colin Quinn is an anthropological archaeologist interested in understanding how social inequality first emerged in human societies. In his research he examines the emergence of inequality through the intersection of political economy, identity, mortuary ritual, material culture signaling, and landscapes.

Combining fieldwork in Transylvania, Ireland, Jordan, and the southern Appalachians, his ongoing research explores the dynamics of inequality in mining communities in the past and present. He is the co-director of four ongoing archaeological and public archaeology projects in Romania and the southeastern United States.

As a teacher, Quinn seeks to foster critical thinking skills, challenge students to link course concepts beyond the classroom, and equip students to engage as independent scholars and global citizens. He combines hands-on learning opportunities with theoretical frameworks from anthropological archaeology. He focuses on how material culture structures space and human interactions in both the past and the present.

Recent Courses Taught

Stuff: Materiality and Inequality
Archaeology of Migration
Principles of Archaeology
Landscapes: People, Place, and the Past
Analytical Methods in Archaeology
Human Ancestors
Archaeology of Death
The Quinn Lab

Select Publications

• Quinn, C.P., E. Walker, and A. Wright. 2022. Late Woodland Settlement Ecology of the Appalachian Summit. Southeastern Archaeology 41(1): 32-52.

  Beck, J., and C.P. Quinn (eds). 2020. Living and Dying in Mountain Landscapes. Special Issue of Bioarchaeology International, Volume 4, Number 2.

  Quinn, C.P., H. Ciugudean, and J. Beck. 2020. The Politics of Placing the Dead in Bronze Age Transylvania. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 34A: 102574.

  Quinn, C.P., H. Ciugudean, G. Balan, G. Hodgins. 2020. Rethinking Time, Culture, and Socioeconomic Organisation in Bronze Age Transylvania. Antiquity 94(373):44-61.

  Quinn, C.P. 2019. Costly Signaling Theory in Archaeology. In Handbook of Evolutionary Research in Archaeology, edited by A.M. Prentiss, pp. 275-294. Springer Press: New York.

Professional Affiliations

Society for American Archaeology 
American Anthropological Association 
American Institute of Archaeology 
European Association of Archaeologists 
Romanian National Registrar of Archaeologists 
CREES Graduate Student Associate (University of Michigan) 
Lambda Alpha Anthropological Honors Society 

Appointed to the Faculty

Educational Background

Ph.D., University of Michigan
M.A., Washington State University
B.A., University of Notre Dame

Dissertation