Leadership Team

Meghan Buchanan is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology specializing in archaeology. Dr. Buchanan earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, her Master of Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and her PhD at Indiana University.

She has taken part in archaeological projects throughout the Midwestern (Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas) and Southeastern (Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky) United States and Mexico. She has directed archaeological projects in Missouri, Indiana, and Alabama. Her research explores the intersections between warfare, sociopolitical transformation, and daily activities among the indigenous towns and communities of the Southeastern United States during and after the Mississippian Period (ca. AD 1000-1600). Her current research analyzes archaeological collections housed at Auburn University, looking at the material practices of indigenous communities along the Tallapoosa River in east Alabama, as people negotiated social, political, and economic practices during a period of great upheaval.

Since coming to Auburn University in 2016, Dr. Buchanan has taught a variety of on-campus and online courses such as Anthropology: Culture and Adaptation, World Prehistory, Archaeology, Curation, Archaeology of North America, Archaeology of the Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Applied and Practicing Anthropology, Archaeological Lab Methods, and Archaeological Field School.