Mary Malainey, Anthropology
Dr. Mary Malainey came to Brandon University in 2000 from the University of Manitoba, where she was a Lecturer and Post-Doctoral Fellow.
Dr. Malainey taught in the Department of Native Studies at Brandon University from 2000 until 2004, when she began teaching in the Department of Anthropology. She is presently an Associate Professor in Anthropology. Dr. Malainey was awarded the Tier II Canada Research Chair in Archaeological Residue and Functional Analyses in 2004.
Canada Research Chairs at Brandon University have a smaller teaching load than other faculty members, so that they may devote more time to their research. Over the past several years, Dr. Malainey has taught several courses in the Department of Native Studies (2000-2004) and in the Department of Anthropology (2004-2007), including (past & current):
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173 Human Origins
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193 Introduction to Artifact Analysis
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Anthropology of Food
12: 284 Human Animal
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290 Archaeology of the Americas
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353 An Introduction to Archaeological Method and Theory
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359 Pottery Analysis
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393 Zooarchaeology I
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394 Zooarchaeology II
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454 Introduction to Archaeological Science
In her research on Western Canadian Late Precontact pottery, Dr. Malainey draws on techniques associated with chemists and engineers to recover information from Aboriginal pottery and other artefacts. She analyzes ancient fat (lipid) residues that were absorbed into pottery, cooking rocks, food-processing tools, and other materials to learn about the diet and activities performed by the previous inhabitants of archaeological sites. By extracting residues from archaeological materials and studying the lipid components using gas chromatography, she is able to characterize the former contents of the pots: foods prepared using hot rock cooking techniques or ground with milling stones.
With her Chair, Dr. Malainey also received grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Province of Manitoba and Brandon University to support the creation of an Archaeological Residue Analysis Laboratory, which is housed in the basement of the A.E. McKenzie Building at Brandon University.
For more information about Dr. Malainey please visit: http://www.brandonu.ca/Native/mary_malainey.htm
CV for Dr. Malainey [PDF]