Dr. Kevin Nolan
Director and Senior Archaeologist
Department:
Applied Anthropology Laboratories
Kevin is the Director and Senior Archaeologist in the Applied Anthropology Laboratories (AAL), an institute within the College of Sciences and Humanities at Ball State University. The AAL is a highly productive Knowledge Unit that executes external contracts and grants to help further Ball State University’s mission of being the model student-centered, community-engaged 21st-century public research university. Our motto in the AAL is “Learn. Work. Discover.” We realize this mission by conducting ground-breaking research while providing thousands of hours of hands-on entrepreneurial learning for our dozens of graduate and undergraduate employees. We regularly fund graduate assistantships for anthropology and archaeology students through our research grants, especially those interested in the material record of the Midwest.
Kevin is an Ohio Valley archaeologist with a primary research interest in the Late Prehistoric period (ca. AD 1000 – 1600) of the Middle Ohio Valley, particularly how humans interact with the environment. He has published collections-based research, results of fieldwork, and theoretical models for the Middle Woodland (ca. 50 BC – AD 400) and Late Prehistoric periods. Other research interests include evolutionary approaches to human behavior, siteless survey, and regional analysis, paleoenvironments, and systematics. Kevin also has an interest in public education and has regularly given presentations to grade school and high school classes about archaeology and science.
See Kevin’s full CV
Select Publications
* indicates co-author was a student at the time of drafting
Shott, Michael J., Kevin C. Nolan, Eric Olson
2024 Morphometric analysis of allometry and modularity in early Holocene Thebes and St. Charles points of midcontinental North America. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 49(3):319-346. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377805259_MORPHOMETRIC_ANALYSIS_OF_ALLOMETRY_AND_MODULARITY_IN_EARLY_HOLOCENE_THEBES_AND_ST_CHARLES_POINTS
Purtill, Matthew P., Chyan M. Gilaspy, Charity Munro, Kaylee Ellrod, and Kevin C. Nolan
2024 Seek, And Ye Shall Find: The Rediscovery of Singapore, Michigan. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 49(3):297-318. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/386048687_Seek_and_Ye_Shall_Find_The_Rediscovery_of_Singapore_Michigan
Peacock, Evan, and Kevin C. Nolan
2024 Representativeness, Occupations, and Information: Critical Considerations on the Evaluation of Archaeological Significance in CRM. Journal of Ohio Archaeology 10:38-54. https://ohioarchaeology.org/file_download/inline/49c834a3-7ec9-49c4-91e2-3d3a5bab867d
Shott, Michael J., Kevin C. Nolan, and Eric Olson
2024 Original design and allometric variation in Kirk points of the Central Ohio Archaeological Digitization Survey. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 31(2):593-618. Product of BCS 1723879 and BCS 1723877. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10816-023-09612-x
*Wright, Carson, Sarah Kerchusky, Erin Powers, *Rachel Wonders, Kevin C. Nolan, and Christine Thompson
2024 Archaeological Investigation and Comparison of Segregated Civilian Conservation Corps Camps in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest, Monroe County, Indiana. Indiana Archaeology 17(1):39-50. https://www.in.gov/dnr/historic-preservation/files/hp-2024-Archaeology-Journal-Vol-17-No-1.pdf
Nolan, Kevin C., Andrew W. Weiland, Bradley T. Lepper, Jennifer Aultman, Laura R. Murphy, Bret J. Ruby, Kevin Schwarz, Matthew Davidson, DeeAnne Wymer, Timothy D. Everhart, Anthony M. Krus, Tim McCoy
2023 Refuting the sensational claim of a Hopewell-ending cosmic airburst. Scientific Reports13: 12910. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-39866-0
Seeman, Mark F., and Kevin C. Nolan
2023 Building the Ohio Hopewell Chronology: An Incremental Approach to Historical Reckoning. American Antiquity 88(2):144-162. (product of BCS 1419225) https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2023.6
Purtill, Matthew P., *Cecilia M. Szmutko, Kevin C. Nolan, and Christine K. Thompson
2023 Archaeological Investigations of Fulton County, Indiana: Summary Results for a FY17 Historic Preservation Fund Survey. Indiana Archaeology 16:6-25. https://www.in.gov/dnr/historic-preservation/files/hp-2023-Archaeology-Journal-Vol-16-No-1.pdf
*Wathen, Kelli, Christine Thompson, and Kevin C. Nolan
2023 An Archaeological Investigation of the Calvert and Porter Woods Nature Preserve, Montgomery County, Indiana. Indiana Archaeology 16:26-44. https://www.in.gov/dnr/historic-preservation/files/hp-2023-Archaeology-Journal-Vol-16-No-1.pdf
Nolan, Kevin C., Michael J. Shott, and Eric Olson
2022 COADS: A Demonstration of Amplified Public Good from Collaboration with Private Collectors. Advances in Archaeological Practice 10(1):83-90; special issue: Professional-Collector Collaboration: Moving Beyond Debate to Global Practice, edited by BL Pitblado, B Schroeder, S Thomas, and MJ Rowe. Product of BCS 1723879 and BCS 1723877. 10.1017/aap.2021.33 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/advances-in-archaeological-practice/article/central-ohio-archaeological-digitization-survey/D2E5CF61886608CBA54C31C86BE84EBE
Purtill, Matthew P, Jamie M. Leeuwrik*, Colin L. Macleod, Abby Clark*, Amanda Balough*, Kevin C. Nolan, and Christine Thompson.
2021 Of Marshes, Moraines, and Sand Dunes: New Perspectives into Historic and Prehistoric Settlement Patterns for Benton, Jasper, and Newton Counties, Indiana. Indiana Archaeology 15:45-60. https://www.in.gov/dnr/historic-preservation/files/hp-2021-Archaeology-Journal-Vol-15-No-1.pdf
Nolan, Kevin C.
2020 Bringing Archaeology into the Information Age: Entropy, Noise, Channel Capacity, and Information Potential in Archaeological Significance Assessments. Quality and Quantity 54: 1171–1196. doi: 10.1007/s11135-020-00980-0
Hill, Mark A., Kevin C. Nolan, Mark F. Seeman
2020 Social Network Analysis and the Social Interactions that Define Hopewell. In Archaeological Networks and Social Interaction, edited by LD Donnellan, pp. 173-195. Routledge. (product of BCS 1419225)
Nolan, Kevin C., Mark A. Hill, Mark F. Seeman, *Eric Olson, *Emily Butcher, *Sneha Chavali, and *Nora Hillard
2020 Scale and Community in Hopewell Networks (SCHoN): Summary of Preliminary Results. In Encountering Hopewell in Ohio and Beyond, Volume Two: Settlements, Foodways, and Interaction, edited by BG Redmond, BJ Ruby, and J Burks, pp. 148-175. (product of BCS 1419225)
Hill, Mark A., Mark F. Seeman, Paul J. Pacheco, Jarrod Burks, *Eric Olson, *Emily Butcher, and Kevin C. Nolan
2020 Material Choice and Interaction on Brown’s Bottom. In Encountering Hopewell in Ohio and Beyond, Volume Two: Settlements, Foodways, and Interaction, edited by BG Redmond, BJ Ruby, and J Burks, pp. 124-147. (product of BCS 1419225)
Nolan, Kevin C., Amanda E. Balough*, and Christine Thompson
2019 Archaeological Investigations of Northern Benton County, Indiana. Indiana Archaeology 14:34-53.
Seeman, Mark F., Kevin C. Nolan, and Mark A. Hill
2019 Copper as an essential and exotic Hopewell metal. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 24:1095-1101. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.12.019 (product of BCS 1419225)
Thompson, Christine, and Kevin C. Nolan
2018 A Village Built over a Battlefield: Urban Archaeology and Preservation at the Battle of the Wabash (1791). Indiana Archaeology 13(1): 43-48.
*Leeuwrik, Jamie, Christine Thompson, and Kevin C. Nolan
2018 Archaeological Investigations of the Northern half of Newton County, Indiana. Indiana Archaeology 13(1): 7-26.
Hill, Mark A., Mark F. Seeman, Kevin C. Nolan, and Laure Dussubieux
2018 An Empirical Evaluation of Copper Procurement and Distribution: Elemental Analysis of Scioto Valley Hopewell Copper. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 10(5): 1193-1205. DOI: 10.1007/s1252 (product of BCS 1419225).
Nolan, Kevin C., James Leak, and Cameron Quimbach
2018 The Single-Pass Survey and the Collector: A Reasonable Effort in Good Faith? In Collaborative Engagement: Working with Private Collections and Responsive Collectors, edited by Michael Shott, Mark F. Seeman, and Kevin C. Nolan, pp. 51-66. Occasional Papers No. 3, Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology.
Shott, Michael J., Mark F. Seeman, and Kevin C. Nolan (eds.)
2018 Collaborative Engagement: Working with Private Collections and Responsive Collectors.Occasional Papers No. 3, Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology.
*Leeuwrik, Jamie M., *Shelbi Long, Christine Thompson, *Erin Steinwachs, and Kevin C. Nolan
2017 A Data Deficient Region: An Archaeological Survey of Newton County, Indiana. Indiana Archaeology Journal 12(2):124-153.
*Macleod, Colin, *Shelbi Long, Christine Thompson, Kevin Nolan, and *Erin Steinwachs
2017 Archaeological Investigations of the Southern Half of Jasper County, Indiana. Indiana Archaeology 12(1):12(2):154-180.
*Swihart, Matthew R., Kevin C. Nolan, Robert A. Cook, and Erin Steinwachs*
2017 Investigations of Fort Ancient Settlement and Community Patterns in Dearborn County, Indiana. Indiana Archaeology 12(1):9-33.
Hart, John P. and Kevin C. Nolan
2015 Comment on Cook and Comstock’s “Evaluating the Old Wood Problem in a Temperate Climate: A Fort Ancient Case Study”. American Antiquity 80(3):610-612.
Nolan, Kevin C., Samantha Blatt, Paul Sciulli, and Christine K. Thompson
2015 A Late Woodland Red Ochre Burial Cache in Madison County, Ohio. North American Archaeologist 36(3):197-236.
Nolan, Kevin C. and Brian G. Redmond
2015 Geochemical and Geophysical Prospecting at Three Multicomponent Sites in the Southwestern Lake Erie Basin: A Pilot Study. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2:94-105. DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.01.002
Nolan, Kevin C. and Paul Sculli
2014 Rejoinder to Sciulli and Purcell: Two Late Prehistoric Dogs from the Reinhardt Site (33PI880), Pickaway County, Ohio. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 84(2):65-73.
Nolan, Kevin C.
2014 Prehistoric Landscape Exploitation Strategies Through Time in Central Ohio: A GIS Analysis. Journal of Ohio Archaeology 3:12-37.
Nolan, Kevin C.
2014 Prospecting for Prehistoric Gardens: Results of a Pilot Study. Archaeological Prospection 21(2):147-154. DOI: 10.1002/arp.1465.
Nolan, Kevin C. and Robert A. Cook
2012 A Method for Multiple Cost Surface Evaluation of a Model of Fort Ancient Interaction. In Least Cost Analysis of Social Landscapes: Archaeological Case Studies, edited by DA White, and S Surface-Evans, pp 67-93, plate 5. University of Utah Press.
Roos, Christopher I. and Kevin C. Nolan
2012 Phosphates, Plowzones, and Plazas: A Minimally Invasive Approach to Infer Settlement Structure of Plowed Village Sites in the Midwestern USA. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(1):23-32, doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.06.033.
Nolan, Kevin C. and Robert A. Cook
2011 A Critique of Late Prehistoric Systematics in the Middle Ohio Valley. North American Archaeologist 32(4):293-325.
Nolan, Kevin C.
2011 Distributional Survey of a Fort Ancient Village in Pickaway County, Ohio: Summary of 2007 Reinhardt Site Survey. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 36(1):105-130.
Nolan, Kevin C. and Steven P. Howard
2010 Using Evolutionary Archaeology and Evolutionary Ecology to Explain Cultural Elaboration: The Case of Middle Ohio Valley Woodland Period Ceremonial Subsistence. North American Archaeology 31(2):119-154.
Nolan, Kevin C. and Robert A. Cook
2010 Volatile Climate Conditions Cahokia: Comment on Benson, Pauketat and Cook 2009. American Antiquity 75(4):978-983.
Nolan, Kevin C. and Robert A. Cook
2010 An Evolutionary Model of Social Change in the Middle Ohio Valley: Was Social Complexity Impossible During the Late Woodland but Mandatory During the Late Prehistoric? Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 29:62-79; doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2009.10.004.