Last revision: June 25, 2025
I am a retired anthropological archaeologist (Professor Emeritus at U of T) specializing in archaeological botany and environmental archaeology throughout my career. I began my faculty career at U of T (Mississauga Campus) in 1979, retiring in 2020. I'm still active, as much as my busy retirement allows. My geographical focus has been East Asia with a secondary interest in Eastern North America. I've been investigating the fascinating topic of the origins and intensification of agriculture. I first travelled to Japan in 1974. I had been working on issues in Hokkaido in the 1980s that pushed me to learn more about China, a region that wasn't the easiest for a Westerner to get involved with. I began establishing contacts there in 1986 when I made my first trip to assess the potential for research.
To accomplish this research I built a palaeoethnobotany lab and established the subdiscipline as a part of both undergraduate and graduate programs in the department. I'm proud of the legacy of the lab that saw so many graduate and undergraduate students come through (see the Student Research link for a snapshot of theses that resulted).
I have also investigated human and plant interactions in North America (mainly Ontario and Kentucky with my first field experience being a foray into the wilds of Wisconsin). My work is informed by a comparative approach. The similarities and differences between Eastern North America and East Asia between 10,000 and 1000 years ago are especially intriguing. The links at top right take you to my research, publications, and graduate students (past and present).
Lately, I've returned to astronomy and astrophotography, a hobby I gave up when I started my career (but I never lost interest, occasionally lecturing on archaeoastronomy). I studied astronomy a little as an undergraduate but it was a side interest. The technical aspects of astrophotography are similar to microscope photography, although some big differences present challenges, for example, astrophotography involves photographing darkness so one needs to adapt rather than provide better lighting. From a philosophical perspective, the subject links to my interest in understanding and appreciating our place in the universe. For more on what I'm up to, please check here:
https://www.zwoastro.com/2024/03/06/astrophotographers-story-gary-w-crawford/
and
https://gwc.smugmug.com/Astrophotography
Instagram: @crawfprof