Contact Information
607 S. Mathews Ave.
607 S Mathews
M/C 148
Urbana, IL 61801
Biography
I am a historic archaeologist specializing in pottery analysis, kiln technology, industrial slavery, geophysics, and elemental analysis.
Throughout my career, I have honed my expertise in excavation and comparative research, site direction, and the technology integration that resolves complex scientific questions and can be applied across the spectrum of research projects. My person research interest is in pottery, with an expertise in clay minerology and kiln technologies. This focus ranges from the 6,000 BCE to present day, affording me the ability to view human history over an extended time-period without being limited to solely one time horizon or cultural context.
Currently, I serve as the Division Chief for Operational Science and Engineering (OSE) at the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. In this capacity, I lead a 150-person federal workforce, and more than 30 student interns. My division is subdivided into three branches and further into 10 competencies that include cultural resource management (CRM), climate change, energy optimization, water reuse, and robotics; to name a few. This interdisciplinary team is comprised of archaeologists, historic preservationists, and engineers.
Additionally, I conduct research focused on cultural heritage, protection of cultural properties, and reciprocal affects that occur between local populations and person from outside the cultural traditional boundaries.
Education
Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2013
- Dissertation: “Nineteenth Century Stoneware Manufacturing at Pottersville, South Carolina: The Discovery of a Dragon Kiln and the Reinterpretation of a Southern Pottery Tradition”
- Specializations: Historical and African Diaspora Archaeology, quantitative methods, and interdisciplinary research methods
M.A., Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2011
B.A., Anthropology & Mathematics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2008
Courses Taught
Anthropology 477 Pottery Analysis
Anthropology 106 Historic Archaeology
Anthropology 105 World Archaeology
Additional Campus Affiliations
Research Affiliate Department of Anthropology
Registrar—Register of Professional Archaeologists
Research Affiliate Center for African Studies
Research Affiliate Collaborative for Cultural Heritage Management and Policy
Recent Publications
Archaeological Research Publications
Calfas, George, “The Words and Wares of David Drake: Revisiting ‘I Made This Jar’ and the Legacy of Edgefield Pottery”. Koverman Jill Beute, and Jane Przybysz, eds. Univ of South Carolina Press, (2024) 85-100.
Calfas, George. "Shifted Perspectives on Dave." Where Is All My Relation?: The Poetics of Dave the Potter. Chaney, Michael ed. Oxford University Press, (2018): 58-80.
Calfas, George. "A Dragon Kiln in the Americas: European-American Innovation and African American Industry." Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage 6.2 (2017): 133-154.
Calfas, George W. Nineteenth century stoneware manufacturing at Pottersville, South Carolina: The discovery of a dragon kiln and the reinterpretation of a southern pottery tradition. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013.
Calfas, George W. "Pottersville Site Interpretation and Early Artifact Analysis." South Carolina Antiquities 44 (2012): 102-103.
Calfas, George. "Asian inspired kilns in South Carolina?." South Carolina Antiquities 43 (2011): 76-77.
Calfas, George, et al. "Archaeological Investigations, LiDAR Aerial Survey, and Compositional Analysis of Pottery in Edgefield, South Carolina." South Carolina Antiquities 43 (2011): 33-40.
Calfas, George, et al. "Compositional Analysis of Pottery in Edgefield, South Carolina." South Carolina Antiquities 43 (2010): 33-39.
Fennell, Christopher C., et al. "New Philadelphia Archaeology Project: 2008 Archaeology Report." (2009).
Calfas, George "New Philadelphia, Illinois in the Time of Lincoln" Illinois Antiquity, 44 3&4 (2009): 39-42.
Engineering Research Publications
Al-Chaar, Ghassan, and George Calfas. "A Systematic Methodology for Pre-Reconstruction Planning in Post Conflict Scenarios." The Open Construction & Building Technology Journal 13.1 (2019).
Lu, Liqun, et al. "Vulnerability of interdependent urban infrastructure networks: Equilibrium after failure propagation and cascading impacts." Computer‐Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering 33.4 (2018): 300-315.
McMillan‐Wilhoit, Juliana, et al. "A four‐part framework for geodesign software creation and research." Transactions in GIS 22.5 (2018): 1299-1309.
Fay, Kathryn O., and George W. Calfas. “Heritage at Risk: Mapping as a Form of Protection and Preservation for Global Heritage Sites” NATO Legal Gazette 38 (2017) 92-99.
Al-Chaar, Ghassan K., et al. "Construction material-based methodology for contingency base selection." The Open Construction & Building Technology Journal 11.1 (2017).
Garfinkle, Noah W., et al. "Geoparsing text for characterizing urban operational environments through machine learning techniques." Geospatial Informatics, Fusion, and Motion Video Analytics VII. Vol. 10199. SPIE, (2017).