Dr. Jeffrey Miller may have studied history and archaeology in the United Kingdom and worked on archaeology digs in Ireland, but he says a small New England town still holds plenty of interest for him.

In October, Miller became the new curator at the Mattapoisett Historical Society, taking over for Elizabeth Hutchinson who left to take a teaching position.

The Rehoboth native and current Holbrook resident said he was attracted to the job because it was a “place I felt I could really engage with the community but be immersed with things I love and the past.”

Miller said it took him until his third year at Connecticut College to nail down his major in anthropology, but his first encounter with the subject came during a middle school summer camp when he was 13 or 14.

At age 15, he went on his first archaeological dig to Ireland.

After taking college courses in everything from literature to philosophy, he landed on archaeology and spent the summer of his junior year and the year after he graduated at a dig site on the island of Achill in County Mayo, Ireland.

The project was connected to the Achill Folklife Center, and over the next five or six summers, Miller got to see how artifacts went from being unearthed to ending up in a museum exhibit.

He also met his future wife, Belgian-born Anja, backpacked around Europe, and got his masters in archaeology and history management and a doctorate, which he completed at the Queen’s University Belfast.

Miller’s PhD thesis explains, in part, why he was interested in becoming the curator of the Mattapoisett Historical Society.

Focusing on the islands of Achill and Valentia, Miller said, “I wanted to explore the idea of a sense of place. If you look at literature in archaeology, it’s very physical based. There’s not a whole lot of engagement with feelings or how people experience a place.”

Miller’s interdisciplinary project hit on aspects of sociology, geography and anthropology as well as archaeological evidence. He also interviewed the local people to get their perspectives.

“I was realizing more and more that the meat and bones of archaeology was not what was interesting to me,” he said. “More interesting is the history and how it relates to communities.”

Once finished with his PhD, Miller and his wife decided to move to Massachusetts to be near family. Now back in his native state, Miller says he’s looking forward to building on his knowledge of the South Coast.

He’s also working to improve organization at the historical society, sort through the collection and pare down what is redundant or not needed (i.e. 20 vintage irons), and update the main room of the museum.

“I want to focus more on telling the story of Mattapoisett,” said Miler.