Portrait image of Allison Byrnes
Allison Byrnes

Staff Archaeologist; Lithic Analyst; Lecturer

Contact Information

OFFICE: Zurn 69
PHONE: 814-824-2982

Ms. Byrnes is currently in her 19th year as a Staff Archaeologist, Lithic (stone) artifact analyst, and lecturer for the Anthropology/Archaeology program within the Department of Anthropology and World Languages. A trained lithic analyst, Ms. Byrnes has teaching and research interests related to the organization of technology and the social and behavioral experiences of hunting and gathering peoples.

Hands-on, experiential approaches to material culture studies in her classroom serve to develop students’ practical insights into the manufacture and use of traditional technologies, as well as to offer complimentary approaches to instruction that foster success in students with variable learning styles. She views traditional skills as representations of Indigenous innovation, collective knowledge, and deliberate decision-making, a philosophy that plays a central role in her teaching and community outreach.

Ms. Byrnes is active in the Erie community, hosting local middle and high school groups, conducting value-added learning experiences at the ExpERIEnce Children’s Museum, assisting with initiatives designed to address food insecurity and other social injustices, among other things. She has also served as a consulting archaeologist for other universities and cultural resource management firms.

Prior to Mercyhurst, she taught courses at the University of Wyoming and Laramie County Community College (Albany County campus). She is also the advisor to Anthropology Club and the Mercyhurst chapter of Lambda Alpha, the National Anthropology Honor Society.

About Allison Byrnes
    • M.A., University of Wyoming (2003)
    • B.S., Mercyhurst College (1999)
    • ANTH 130/131: Archaeology/Lab
    • ANTH 236/237: Analytical Lab Methods/Lab
    • ANTH 229: Lithic Studies
    • ANTH 300: Hunters and Gatherers
    • Chipped stone technologies of the Great Lakes, Midwest, and High Plains.
    • Technology as problem solving.
    • Paleoindigenous lifeways in North America.
    • Public outreach and community engagement.

    Ms. Byrnes has mentored undergraduate and graduate student research related to the analysis of stone artifact assemblages and experimental archaeology and has served on several Senior Capstone and Master’s thesis committees.

    As a specialist in the analysis of flaked stone assemblages, she has trained many students in the analysis of lithic artifacts and associated theoretical frameworks.  A broader interest in human relationships with technology has expanded her scope beyond stone tools; as such, she has been introducing basic analytical methods for other forms of material culture, such as ceramics and basketry. 

    • Society for American Archaeology
    • Register of Professional Archaeologists

    • 2017-2023: Portal to the Past exhibit (design and maintenance),ExpERIEnce Children’s Museum (2017-2023)

    • 2015: Midden or Slope Wash? Site Formation at the Eastern Edge of the Ripley Site, Chautauqua County, New York, by A. M. Byrnes, A. G. Quinn, D. R. Pedler, and C. A. McCoy.  Paper presesented at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California.

    • 2014: A Spatial Analysis of Surface Artifacts from the Ripley Site, An Iroquoian Manifestation on Lake Erie, by A. M. Byrnes, A. G. Quinn, and D. R. Pedler. Paper Presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, Texas.

    • 2014: Archaeological Investigation of 41CV115, Subarea B, Rockshelter A, An Archaeological Site on the Fort Hood Military Reservation, Coryell County, Texas, by James M. Adovasio and Allison M Byrnes. Prepared for Cultural Resources Management Program Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Hood Department of the Army by Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute, Mercyhurst College Erie, Pennsylvania in partial fulfillment of Contract DAMD17-03-2-0064 Delivery Order No.1.

    • 2013: Lithics. In Excavations at the Millstone Site (36EL204), Allegheny National Forest, Millstone Twp., Elk County, Pennsylvania, by S. Prezzano with contributions by A. Byrnes and J. McKnight.  Report prepared for Allegheny National Forest, Marienville District, United States Forest Service by Clarion University.

    • 2012: Spatial Analysis of Lithic Artifacts From Irvine Flats, a Prehistoric Site Complex on the Upper Allegheny River in Northwestern Pennsylvania, by D. R. Pedler, A. M. Byrnes, T. Grote, and A. G. Quinn.  Poster presented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Memphis, Tennessee.

    • 2011: Technological Continuity and Site Use at 41CV115A, a Rockshelter in Coryell County, Texas, by A. M. Byrnes and D. R. Pedler.  Paper presented at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Sacramento, California.

    • 2010: Lithic Technology at the Breinigsville Site Complex (36LH42), Southeastern Pennsylvania, by A. M. Byrnes and D. R. Pedler.  Paper presented at the 75th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, St. Louis, Missouri.

    • 2010: Phase I Archaeological Investigation of the Cress Mine Project, Area, Plain Grove Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, by A. G. Quinn, A. M. Byrnes, D. R. Pedler, and T. Grote. Report prepared for Slippery Rock Materials, Inc., Volant, Pennsylvania, by Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute, Erie, Pennsylvania 16546.

    • 2009: Frederick Component at Locality I. In Hell Gap: A Stratified Paleoindian Campsite at the Edge of the Rockies, edited by Mary Lou Larson, Marcel Kornfeld, and George C. Frison, pp. 216-228. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

    • 2009: Recent Archaeological Investigation of the Scarem-Kramer Site (36WH22), A Scarem Phase Monongahela Village in Hanover Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, by D. R. Pedler, A. G. Quinn, A. M. Byrnes, and A. Dzubak.  Paper presented at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Eastern States Archaeological Federation, Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

    • 2008: The Heat is On: Use of Heat Treatment at the Frederick Level at the Hell Gap site Wyoming, by M.L. Larson and A.M. Byrnes.  Paper presented at the 66th Annual Plains Anthropological Conference, Laramie, Wyoming. 

    • 2008: Lithic Technology and Site Use at the Scarem-Kramer Site, A Monongahela Settlement in Southwestern Pennsylvania, by A. M. Byrnes and D. R. Pedler. Paper presented at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

    • 2007: Erie Bluffs State Park Phase I Archaeological Survey, by A. G. Quinn, D. R. Pedler, A. M. Byrnes, and J. E. Thomas. Report prepared for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection by the Lake Erie Region Conservancy and Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute, Erie, Pennsylvania, 18 May 2007.  Federal Coastal Zone Management Project No. NA04NOS4190054.

    • 2007: Phase I Archaeological Reconnaissance of the Snow Waters Land Development Project Study Area, Summit Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, by A. G. Quinn, D. R. Pedler, A. M. Byrnes, T. Grote, and J. E.Thomas. Report prepared for Porter Consulting Engineers, Meadville, Pennsylvania, by Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute, Erie, Pennsylvania, 12 November 2007. Pennsylvania Bureau For Historic Preservation File No. ER062264039A.

    • 2007: The 41CV115A Lithic Assemblage: Late Prehistoric and Archaic Occupation of a Rockshelter on Fort Hood, by A. M. Byrnes. Paper presented at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, Texas.

    • 2006: The Irvine Flats Lithic Assemblage: Raw Material Exploitation and Land Use in the Great Lakes and Midwest Regions, by A. M. Byrnes, T. M. Yucha, and S. K. Glennon. Paper presented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

    • 2004: Stratigraphy and Cultural Chronology of the Hell Gap Site, Wyoming: Current Research and Interpretations, by M. M. Prasciunas, A. M. Byrnes, and C. V. Haynes.  Poster presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Plains Anthropological Society, Billings, Montana.

    • 2004: Finding Frederick: Late Paleoindians and the Archaeology of Archaeology, by A. M. Byrnes and M. L. Larson.  Paper presented at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

    • 2003: Late Paleoindian on the Plains: The Frederick Component at Hell Gap, Locality I, by A. M. Byrnes. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Plains Anthropological Society, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

    • 2003: Frederick: A Late Paleoindian Component at the Hell Gap Site, Locality I, by A. M. Byrnes.  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Wyoming Archaeological Society, Riverton, Wyoming.

    • 2002: House Reconstruction at the SunWatch Site (33 MY 127), a Late Prehistoric Village in the Central Ohio Valley, by A. M. Byrnes. Paper presented at the Chapter Meeting of the Wyoming Archaeological Society, Laramie, Wyoming.

    • 2002: Defining Frederick: A Late Paleoindian Component at the Hell Gap Site (48 GO 305), Locality I, Guernsey, Wyoming, by A. M. Byrnes. Paper presented at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Denver, Colorado.

    • 2001: Everybody Get Together: Archaeology and the Public at the Boonshoft Museum, Dayton, Ohio, by A. M. Byrnes and S. R. DeAloia.  Paper presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana.

    • 2000: Scratching the Surface: A Preliminary Report on the Role of Atomic Force Microscopy in Identifying Use-Wear Patterns on Stone Tools, by A. M. Byrnes and M. J. Sanderson. Paper presented at the Joint Midwest Archaeological/Plains Anthropological Conference, St. Paul, Minnesota.