Department of Anthropology

B.A. 1974, University of Wyoming
M.A. 1977, Arizona State University
Ph.D. 1983, Arizona State University

julie.francis64@gmail.com • 307-777-4740 • WYDOT, Environmental Services, 5300 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY, 82009

Dr. Francis' current research interests include hunting and gathering cultures and rock art, primarily in the Plains and Intermountain West. After working for the Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist for nearly 15 years, she became the archaeologist for the Wyoming Department of Transportation in 1992. She is the only cultural resource specialist at WYDOT, handling all matters related to archaeology, history, historic bridges, architecture, Section 106 compliance, Native American consultation, cultural resources, and NEPA. Through this position, her interests have expanded considerably to include historic highways and modern transportation networks, many aspects of Wyoming history, and the material record of Native American religions.

Dr. Francis has an adjunct appointment in the University of Wyoming Anthropology Department, where she periodically teaches "The Anthropology of Rock Art". She has coauthored Ancient Visions, a synthetic work on the rock art of the Bighorn and Wind River basins with Larry Loendorf, contributed numerous articles to professional journals such as American Antiquity and Plains Anthropologist, as well as to edited volumes, most recently on the Medicine Lodge Creek State Archaeological Site and the third edition of Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains.

Courses Taught:

ANTH 4020   Anthropology of Rock Art

Recent/ Selected Publications:

Ancient Visions: Petroglyphs and Pictographs of the Wind River and Bighorn Country, Wyoming and Montana. 2002, University of Utah Press. (With Larry Loendorf)

The Imagery of Medicine Lodge. In Medicine Lodge Creek, Volume I. Clovis Press, 2007.

The Medicine Lodge Plaquette. In Medicine Lodge Creek, Volume I. Clovis Press, 2007.

Rock Art Studies in the Northwestern Plains: Quantitative Approaches to Mostly Qualititative Stuff. In Managing Archaeological Data: Essays in Honor of Sylvia W. Gaines. Anthropological Research Papers No. 57, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University. 2006.

 

 

Research Interests:

Native American Rock Art, Hunter-gatherer religious systems, Traditional views of landscape, Historic transportation systems