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Biography
I am a Professor of Anthropology and co-director of the Laboratory of Anthropology. I served as Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence from 2015-2017. I am also a Presidential Teaching Professor Emeritus at Northern Illinois University, where I spent 20 years as a faculty member and served as Associate Vice Provost.Research Interests
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My archaeological research interests include complex societies, monumental architecture, and the archaeology of power and ritual. I have an active research programs in Colorado, Hawai'i, and Italy. I have published a book on my research entitled: Making Sense of Monuments (2020).
Other recent publications include: Status and Gender in Hawaiian House Complexes (2021); The Salemi Survey Project: The long-durée of interior western Sicily 1500 BC – AD 1500 (2021); A pixelated landscape survey in the forest: Merging space, time, and context at Monte Bonifato, Sicily (2020); Labor mobilization and medieval castle construction at Salemi, Western Sicily (2019): Pharonic power and architectural labor investment at the Karnak Temple Complex, Egypt (2019).
Teaching Interests
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I teach a variety of courses in archaeology.
Education
PhD in Anthropology
University of California - Los Angeles
Other in Archaeology
Cambridge University
MA in Anthropology
University of Wisconsin
BS in Biology
St. John's University
Personal Website
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael-J-Kolb
Published Works
- Kolb, J. M., Hill, A., Leek, P., Luiz, W. J., McConnell, R., Wheaton, G. (2025). Tracing the use-life of an early Denver neighborhood cistern: A multi-proxy analysis of soil development, domestic practices, and urban privacy. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 64, 105117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105117.
- Kolb, J. M., Conte, J. P., Curtis, V., Hayden, J. (2023). Household Labor Practices and Dryland Agroforestry in Upland Kula, Maui Island. Journal of Field Archaeology, https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2023.2263698.
- Kolb, M., Weaton, G. (2023). The Water Supply Infrastructure of Early Denver. Journal of Urban History, https://doi.org/10.1177/00961442231197438.
- Kolb, J. M., Balco, M. W. (2021). Indigenous Urbanism in Iron Age Western Sicily. (pp 281-295). McDonald Institute. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.76145.
- Vacca, K., Kolb, M. (2021). Status and Gender in Hawaiian House Complexes. Hawaiian Archaeology, 15, 47-63. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351985981_Status_and_Gender_in_Hawaiian_House_Complexes?_sg%5B0%5D=TWIWH4nlPf8XaYG6zvPM679v4LTHeOcSoj8mBL3G1iVl11fCknM2cI-COxmXy3EdSMT6q0RlXW6OC7dZKAFXXP3IZbFY_7OAsEQy2Sxx.tLD3RtM2jrvqmV8NAkmIYcu3P3iAc3IHKNqplyPYovmctDuVh_ms5XZXczMenl-Mqh-U6G07Szv20CNE1zyxLA.
- Kolb, J. M., Vecchio, P., Giglio, R. (2021). The Salemi Survey Project: the longue durée of interior western Sicily 1500 BC–AD 1500. (pp 137–146). Oxbow. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv24q4z4h.20.
- Balco, M. W., Kolb, J. M., Kolb, J. M. (2020). A pixilated landscape survey in the forest: Merging space, time, and context at Monte Bonifato, Sicily., 33(4), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102515.
- Kolb, M. (2020). Making Sense of Monuments: Narrative of Time, Movement, and Scale. Routledge. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/article/abs/making-sense-of-monuments-narratives-of-time-movement-and-scale-michael-j-kolb-2020-routledge-london-xx-228-pp-16000-hardcover-isbn-9780138371101-4895-paperback-isbn-9781032085012-4895-ebook-isbn-9780429427756/84E43EB76760E1959129EDA63F16071B.
- Kolb, M., Kirk, S., Balco, W. (2019). Labor mobilization and medieval castle construction at Salemi, Western Sicily. (pp 114-137). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315109794-6.
- Drennan, M., Kolb, M. (2019). Pharaonic power and architectural labor investment at the Karnak Temple Complex, Egypt. (pp 56-74). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315109794-3.