Lecturer and Undergraduate Program Director
Department of Anthropology
Loyola University Chicago
Lake Shore Campus, BVM 715
1032 W. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60660
Office Phone:  773-508-3434
ptomczak@luc.edu

Paula Tomczak (PhD, University of New Mexico) is a bioarchaeologist who specializes in the analysis of human skeletal remains.  She uses information from ancient human populations to reconstruct the lives of past peoples, focusing on diet, disease, and mobility.  Dr. Tomczak has conducted research primarily in southern Peru, but has also worked in northern Mexico.  Her fieldwork in Peru focuses on socioeconomic relations among the Chiribaya through dietary and genetic analysis. 

Dr. Tomczak has been a recipient of research grants from various scholarly organizations, including Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and Sigma Xi – The Scientific Research Society. 

Selected Publications and Presentations                                                                                             

Tomczak, P.D. (2015).  Secrets from the Dead:  An Insight into Forensic Anthropology.  Invited paper presented at ACA Seminar series, Benedictine University.

Huskey, B.L and P.D. Tomczak (2012).  Trauma, Psychiatric, Substance Use, and Thought Disorders Among Youth in the Juvenile Justice System and How to Deal with Them.  Juvenile-in-justice.com.

Knudson, K.J., H. Williams, J.E. Buikstra, P.D. Tomczak, G. Gordon and A.D. Anbar (2010).  Introducing ⁸⁸Sr/⁸⁶Sr Analysis in Archaeology:  A Demonstration of the Utility of Strontium Isotope Fractionation in Paleodietary Studies.  Journal of Archaeological Science 37: 2352-2364. 

Berryman, C.A., P.D. Tomczak, D. Blom and R. Tykot (2006).  Paleodiet and the Tiwanaku State: A Bioarchaeological Assessment of Exchange Networks and State Formation Processes. Invited paper presented in the symposium Bioarchaeological Insights into Ancient Imperialism: Perspectives from the Old and New Worlds, 71st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Juan, Puerto Rico .

Blom, D.E., J.E. Buikstra, L. Keng, P.D. Tomczak, E. Shoreman and D. Stevens-Tuttle (2005)  Anemia and Childhood Mortality:  Latitudinal Patterning along the Coast of Pre-Columbian Peru.  American Journal of Physical Anthropology.  127:152-169.

Buikstra, J.E., P.D. Tomczak, and M.C. Lozada (2005).  Chiribaya Political Economy: A Bioarchaeological Perspective.  In Interacting with the Dead: Perspectives on Mortuary Archaeology for the New Millennium, edited by G.F. Rakita, J.E. Buikstra, L.A. Beck, and S.R. Williams. pp.66-80. 

Lozada, M.C., P.D. Tomczak and J.E. Buikstra (2004).  A View of Social Structure and Gender Roles in the Señorío of Chiribaya, Southern Peru.  Paper presented at the Society for American Archaeologists Annual Meetings, Montreal, Canada.

Malcom, C.M. and P.D. Tomczak (2004).  Spatial and Temporal Population Dynamics at the Middle Valley Site of Estuquina in Southern Peru: Biological Distance Estimates from Cranial Metric and Nonmetric Data.  Paper presented at the Society for American Archaeologists Annual Meetings, Montreal, Canada.

Tomczak, P.D. (2003).  Intra-site Variation as an Indicator of Social Structure at the Middle Valley Site of Estuquina in Southern Peru:  Isotopic Evidence.  Paper presented at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Meetings, Tempe, AZ.

Tomczak, P.D. (2003).  Prehistoric Diet and Socio-Economic Relations within the Osmore Valley of Southern Peru.  Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.  22(3):262-278.

Tomczak, P.D. and J.F. Powell (2003).  Postmarital Residence Practices in the Windover Population:  Sex-based Dental Variation as an Indicator of Patrilocality.  American Antiquity.  68(1):90-113.

Tomczak, P.D., S. Ambrose and D.E. Blom (2002).  Prehistoric Population Movements in Southern Coastal and Highland Peru: Bone Isotopic Evidence.  Paper presented at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Meetings, Buffalo, NY.

Tomczak, P.D. (2001).  Prehistoric Diet and Socio-Economic Relations within the Osmore Valley of Southern Peru.  Symposium Presentation.  At the Society for American Archaeologists Annual Meetings, New Orleans, LA.

Tomczak, P.D. and J.E. Buikstra (1999).  Analysis of Blunt Trauma Injuries:  Vertical Deceleration versus Horizontal Deceleration Injuries.  Journal of Forensic Sciences.  44(2):253-262.

Buikstra, J.E., K.M. O'Briant, and P.D. Tomczak (1998).  Human Paleopathology and Related Subjects:  An International Bibliography, edited by Rose A. Tyson.  Reviewed in Journal of Archaeological Research.  54(2).