IWD 2020 In her own words… Marya D’Alessio

International Women's Day 2020

In her own words...

- Marya D’Alessio

Marya D’Alessio stands in front of a poster about double Mycenaean story
Marya presenting a poster at Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology Association (BARFAA) 2014 in Michigan during her MA research.

Hello everyone, I’m Marya, and I’m a Field Director and Osteologist for TMHC. My job includes supervising a field crew in various stages of archaeological assessments throughout Ontario, and identifying human remains during site excavations. Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between faunal (animal) remains and human remains in the field, which is where my specialization comes in handy! I am extremely lucky that I am able to act as a Field Director and Osteologist for TMHC when needed, as this usually means that I get to see a variety of different types of archaeological sites and contexts.

From a young age I always enjoyed playing in the dirt and looking for fossil impressions on playground pea gravel in my neighbourhood, but I never thought I would end up in archaeology as a career. I distinctly remember learning about Anthropology in a grade 11 class, and I was immediately hooked!  I attended the University of Western Ontario, where I earned my BA in Anthropology. I became very interested and focused on Bioarchaeology/Mortuary Archaeology, which focuses on the study of human remains within their archaeological and mortuary contexts. I knew that I wanted to learn more about Bioarchaeology, therefore I was determined to continue my education at a graduate level.  I earned my MA from the University of Waterloo in 2015, where I studied Late Bronze Age Mycenaean Double Burials.

I began working at TMHC in September 2015 and have had the privilege to work alongside some truly amazing and talented women.
Looking forward to the next field season – bring on the dirt!