Past Events

Stephen Dan Humphreys, PhD, RPA

Dr. Humphreys founded American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR), a 501c3 nonprofit, in 2016. AVAR provides American military veterans and service personnel with the opportunity and training to carry out archaeological fieldwork in a way that improves their mental health. Many of the individuals who have participated in the program have diagnosed mental health-related disabilities and as a result, the program has continuously adapted to better serve this population. He holds a Ph.D. in archaeology from Durham University (2020) as well as an MA in Archaeology and Biblical Studies and an MA in Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a National Geographic Explorer with excavation experience in Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Sicily, and the USA.

This seminar will provide practical measures that field excavation directors can implement with minimal additional financial commitment in order to better safeguard the mental health of project participants. The information presented is research-based, and the suggested measures have been gathered, implemented, and refined by American Veterans Archaeological Recovery in their work with military veterans and civilian students since the program's inception in 2016.

1. Understand the commonality of mental health issues in the fieldwork environment, and the need for change
2. Identify elements of the fieldwork environment that are potentially damaging to the mental health of all participants
3. Recognize reasonable, practical methods that can be implemented on field projects to mitigate or eliminate elements of the fieldwork environment that negatively impact mental health

Suanna Selby Crowley, PhD, RPA, HeadFort Consulting, LLC

Also known as "Dr. Dirt" for her domestic and international work in CRM, heritage preservation, and geoarchaeology, Suanna Selby Crowley is an applied anthropologist with a background in digital media, public relations, fundraising, and advocacy. On a mission to make information resonant, Dr. Crowley conducts and supports research and policy initiatives across the hard and social sciences to better communicate the data that impacts our lives—even “breaking the internet” in 2019 with a custom media plan for Harvard
University and the Smithsonian Institution. Originally from Washington, D.C., she is the founder of HeadFort Consulting, LLC, in Greater Boston, and teams with global clients, research collaborations, and individuals to amplify discovery and cultural understanding. Connect with Dr. Crowley on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Archaeology and archaeological resources are in the spotlight as never before. Digital, print, and traditional media raise tremendous awareness for discoveries and cultural data. This enhanced visibility means that researchers and historic preservation professionals need better tools to shape policy on issues such as preservation, repatriation, funding, access, and equity. How can archaeologists become skilled advocates for important research and resources? This workshop will introduce the methods and best practices of cultivating outreach to federal, state, and local policymakers. Learn how to start the conversation, create impact, and follow up with lawmakers for positive change.

1. Explain best practices and approaches to advocacy with federal, state, and local policymakers
2. Describe the structure of a typical advocacy meeting and to outline a conversational script appropriate for federal, state, and local policymakers
3. Highlight the importance of building robust quantitative and qualitative approaches through a case for support and through storytelling
4. Describe the process of building a relationship with policymakers through follow-up and continued partnership

Alison Rose Jefferson, MHC, PhD

Dr. Jefferson is a publicly engaged independent historian, heritage conservation consultant and a third generation Californian. Her research interests explore the intersection of American history, the African American experience in California, historical memory, spatial justice, and cultural tourism. She has worked extensively across Los Angeles to elucidate, re-center, and reinsert the erased and overlooked African America experience in local history, heritage conservation efforts and the American identity. She is the author of the book Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era (University of Nebraska Press, 2020).

This seminar includes a discussion of research methods in illuminating erased and overlooked stories about African Americans’ fight for dignity, equal access, and the full range of human experience and self-fulfillment. Drawing from her research in California, the instructor takes a fresh approach to looking at the historical practices of relaxation and recreation at outdoor and public spaces for all people at beaches, mountains, and other scenic locales connected to the long freedom rights struggle. Leisure was not an optional add-on to civil rights, but an essential component of liberty. Attendees will learn how some of these site histories and present-day public programming are shaping today and the future with examples from Los Angeles. Most of these places demonstrate a social heritage of action and occupation of space that have implications for broadening the American identity and for commemorative justice due to reinsertion of the African American experience into landscapes and civic memory where it has been ignored.

1. Describe new ways to think about exploration of marginalized histories.
2. Provide overview of public programming examples that illuminate and reinsert erased or overlooked stories of marginalized groups into local landscapes and civic memory and how this is shaping these communities and broader society today for the future.
3. Explore new ways to think about intangible heritage illumination and social justice programming for historic preservation/heritage conservation, nature conservation and cultural tourism.

Carlos Osores Mendives

La ponencia de Carlos Osores Mendives girará en torno a la aplicación de la experiencia estudiantil en arqueología a través de diferentes niveles (estudiantes de pregrado, egresados y egresadas, y un licenciado que recientemente egresó de posgrado de maestría en Gobierno y Políticas Públicas) dentro del Proyecto de investigación arqueológica vida cotidiana en el antiguo Lambayeque (PIAVCAL). Este proyecto se desarrolló en la costa norte del Perú, específicamente en la región Lambayeque y valle bajo del río Zaña. El proyecto tuvo un doble objetivo: (1) entender la vida diaria y doméstica a partir del entendimiento de dos complejos arqueológicos (Cerro la Guitarra y Complejo Úcupe, El Pueblo) con énfasis en el periodo intermedio tardío (principalmente entre los años 1100 – 1470 d.C.), y (2) conocer los conflictos actuales entre la comunidad local y la conservación de los dos complejos arqueológicos. Adicionalmente, debido a que las unidades de excavación se realizaron, mayoritariamente, en "zonas periféricas" o espacios muy próximos a las viviendas actuales, todo el equipo tuvo contacto constante con la comunidad a través del diálogo y su participación en el proyecto; de manera muy interesante, la comunidad se mostró abierta para mostrar sus opiniones y dudas en torno a los complejos arqueológicos.

The Student Affairs Lecture Series in Archaeology (SALSA) provides an opportunity to hear student members present on their current research as well as a space to discuss and connect with other students.

Lucas R M Johnson, PhD, RPA, Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc.

Dr. Johnson's research at Caracol, Belize began in 2010 and initiated his training and application of ED-XRF on over 2,000 ancient Maya obsidian artifacts. Through this geochemical and technological analysis, he learned the basics of XRF physics, the importance of source reference material, and advanced statistical methods used to assign artifacts to known sources to assess ancient regional trade through time. Concurrent with this project, he worked with an international team to characterize obsidian artifacts from two project locations in Ethiopia. Through these projects, he established relationships with XRF specialists and developed a deeper knowledge of portable XRF instruments. Currently, as a practicing archaeologist in cultural resource management, he is expected to apply XRF analysis to obsidian, other volcanic rocks, and potentially other materials in conventional and in often creative ways. As a member of a laboratory team at Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc. and working toward advancing technical reports and research papers, he has stayed current with XRF literature describing analyses of various materials, taught other lab staff the fundamentals of XRF, and trained them to use an XRF instrument.

Marc Marino, MA, RPA, University of Arkansas

Marc Marino’s archaeological training with pXRF as an undergraduate student began with Dr. Lucas Johnson at the University of Central Florida Archaeology Laboratory in 2011. Subsequent training with Dr. Wesley D. Stoner, in both pXRF analysis and statistical analysis of data obtained with Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), built on that foundation at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. His internship at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) with Dr. Brandi Lee MacDonald focused on the trade and exchange of decorated ceramics and obsidian in Aztec Period Mexico (specifically on the independent Tlaxcallan State). While his dissertation research was accomplished using NAA, XRF, and pXRF of obsidian, ceramics, clays, and sediments, Dr. MacDonald also introduced him to other applications of chemical analysis, including the analysis of ochres and pigments. Combined, these experiences have provided exposure to a wide range of projects across broad geographic areas.

Applications of XRF in archaeology have expanded beyond the analysis of homogenous materials, such as obsidian, to include more heterogenous materials used, created, formed, or associated with human practices. Applications therefore include characterizations of ceramics, metals, glasses, soils, sediments, plasters, pigments/ residues, cherts, and metavolcanic or metasedimentary rocks. While obsidian analysis is relatively straightforward, the other materials require additional procedures before formulating interpretations based on geochemical attributes. This online seminar presents two case studies, one using obsidian artifacts from the western Great Basin and one using both coarse and fine-paste ceramics from Mesoamerica. In this seminar, the instructors examine appropriate methods to prepare specimens, to assess the precision and accuracy of results obtained, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different sample preparation techniques. While it is recognized that a ‘one size fits all’ method does not exist for all pXRF applications, we discuss what factors should be given careful consideration if the goal is to share data across projects and emphasize that such results are of the greatest utility to clients and stakeholders alike.

1. Introduce the method of XRF to those who may or may not have access, but are interested in using XRF to answer anthropological questions relating to obsidian and ceramics.
2. Present case studies by which attendees may learn how to perform a specific analysis.
3. Outline what is required for XRF analysis of a given material and the limitations of XRF in analyzing certain materials.
4. Describe the fundamental physics of XRF and how software transforms XRF spectral to analytical units (i.e., calibrations).
5. Explain the basics of analyzing parts per million or weight percent versus untransformed photon peak counts (i.e., statistical procedures).