Past Events

Robert L. Kelly, PhD, University of Wyoming

Robert L. Kelly is an international authority on the archaeology and ethnology of hunting and gathering societies. He has participated in research projects in western North America since 1973.  He has been president of the SAA (2001-2003), editor (2015-2018) of American Antiquity, a department head for 9 years and director of the Frison Insitute. He has lectured in many countries and has received $2+ million in grant funding and has authored 100+ articles, reviews, and books, including the widely-used textbook, Archaeology, in its 7^th edition, co-authored with David Hurst Thomas; The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers (Cambridge University Press, 2013); The Foraging Spectrum (Smithsonian, 1995) and The Fifth Beginning (2016; Archaeological Institute of America Felicia Holton book award; translated to Chinese, Korean, German). He holds a Senior Humboldt Research Award (Germany) and is a fellow of two University of Cambridge colleges. A recent study places him among the top 2% of cited scientists in the world. Years ago, he lobbied SAA leadership to create the Native American Scholarship, and with Joe Watkins created the Native American Relations Committee; he is a strong advocate for tribal involvement in archaeology. He currently researches the use of radiocarbon dates as measures of prehistoric population, the long-term effects of demography and climate in NW Wyoming, ice patch archaeology in the Rocky Mountains, and with colleagues a Clovis mammoth kill site in Wyoming. His most recent publication (with Madeline Mackie and Andrew Kandel), in J. Arch. Sci. (2023), is “Rapid increase in production of symbolic artifacts after 45,000 years ago is not a consequence of taphonomic bias”).

My career began in 1973, at the age of 16, when I participated in the excavation of Gatecliff Shelter in central Nevada. Fifty years later, I’ve retired (but no plans to quit archaeology). I have lived through debates over the new archaeology (1960s/70s), processual vs. post-processual archaeology (1980s/90s), and NAGPRA (late 1980s, and apparently continuing). Archaeology today faces yet another challenge – I don’t know what to call it yet – and might become a very different field than it has been. I’ve spent my career in academia, but I’ve stayed in touch with the reality of careers in CRM, museums, and the government. My primary fieldwork has been in the western United States, mostly pre-contact foraging societies, but I’ve also done ethnographic work in Madagascar, and recently dabbled in Old World paleolithic archaeology. Writing textbooks has forced me to think about the field, where it is headed, and what students need to know; and The Fifth Beginning forced me to think about the bigger meaning of world history. So, put simply, I’d like to use my career, my “life in ruins,” to help students ask themselves: what kind of archaeologist do I want to be?

The Knowledge Series seminars are opportunities to learn from prominent archaeologists as they share their experiences and expertise.

Paul S. Martin, RPA, Martin Archaeology Consulting, LLC

Working a cold case investigation as a human remains detection canine handler I didn't know that my life was going to be changed forever. From that case I was introduced to archaeology and the greater world of anthropology, and that it would be the archaeologists looking at me, a dumb canine handler for answers that I didn't have. This put me on the pursuit of knowledge with questions being answered by anthropologists, archaeologists, research chemists, and more. At the same time, I was learning and being mentored by archaeologists and anthropologist while exploring the feasibility of utilizing dogs as a survey tool for historic and precontact remains. This pursuit of knowledge, my own questions, and work pushed me to return to school where I was able to also begin partnering the work of the dogs with shallow surface geophysical surveys. From there I have been able to work on a variety of projects across the world that have partnered both dogs and geophysics as part of the survey process to help direct excavations to either
enhance or prevent excavation of human remains.

Participants will be introduced to the growing survey method of archaeological or historical human remains detection dogs (AHRDD) and what makes them different when compared to the volunteer search and rescue human remains detection dog (SAR-HRDD) team. When to utilize canine resources during a project, what factors may impact their efficacy, and how to quantify/qualify the results.

1. Participants will learn more about suitable canine teams for archaeological surveys.
2. Participants will learn when or when not to include canines in a survey.
3. Participants will learn how to quantify/qualify the results of the canine survey.

Dr. Tamira Brennan, PhD, RPA, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, University of Illinois

Dr. Tamira Brennan has been practicing archaeology for over 20 years in the Midwestern US, primarily in a research-based CRM setting. The first 17 years of her career included time as the Coordinator of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey’s American Bottom field station and as an instructor on many archaeological field schools in Illinois and Missouri. More recently, she has served as a curator, first at the Center for Archaeological Investigations at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and presently at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, where she strives to work out creative solutions to address collections needs in a field that routinely underfunds curation. She has taught collections management to undergrads/graduate students in several formats, including traditional classroom/lab, internships, and most recently as a 4-week field school through the Institute for Field Research.

This seminar provides a framework for teaching curation/collections management in archaeology in two formats: as a matter of course within a general archaeology curriculum, and as a specialized class with a focus on experiential learning, either in a traditional classroom/laboratory setting or as an intensive field school. Individuals with no prior experience in curation and those with a strong curation background will benefit alike, as participants will walk away with the tools to improve unfunded archaeological collections in a novel way and understand how to better teach and uphold the SAA principles of ethics and RPA Standards of Research Performance in relation to what is left once an excavation has occurred - its collections.

1. To help professional archaeologists avoid unknowingly contributing to the curation crisis (and therefore failing to meet RPA standards/SAA Code of ethics) by discussing the genesis of it, as well as common missteps made by practitioners in our field today
2. To provide a starting point/framework for general archaeologists (non-curators) to incorporate curation into undergrad/grad curriculum either as a stand-alone class, or as a unit within a general archaeology course as a matter of course
3. To frame curation as salvage archaeology and promote the potential of collections work as “field work”
4. To lay out a framework for successfully teaching curation as field work

John White, Texas A&M University

Questions remain regarding the Peopling of the Americas, despite advances in multidisciplinary studies of the topic. Southcentral Alaska is an area with potential to elucidate these questions, but it has received little archaeological investigation to date. My dissertation research seeks to understand the nature and timing of the earliest human occupations of southcentral Alaska and how they related to the Peopling of the Americas and includes two components. Nataeł Na’ is a multi-component site located in the northern Copper River Basin, identified by NPS archaeologists in 2016. In 2019 I helped lead expanded test excavations at the site. We were able to recover additional radiocarbon samples and a robust lithic assemblage from the ~12 thousand cal BP occupation. Additionally, we identified a small lower cultural component dating to ~13 thousand cal BP, currently the oldest culturally-affiliated date in the state south of the Alaska Range.

I also seek to create a GIS-based predictive model to aid in locating preserved Pleistocene-aged sites along the southern Alaskan coast by testing the applicability of an existing methodology applied successfully in British Columbia. Decolonization is an important aspect of my approach to archaeology and I have been fortunate enough to develop strong working relationships with the Alaska Native community in both of my research areas.

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.

Bridget A. Alex, PhD, SAPIENS Magazine

Dr. Alex is the archaeology and biological anthropology editor for SAPIENS, a digital magazine produced by anthropologists for the public. As a freelance writer, she has published more than 140 popular science stories for outlets including Discover, Science, Archaeology, Atlas Obscura, and Smithsonian. Bridget has taught anthropology and science communication at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena City College, and Harvard University. 

Dr. Alex earned her Ph.D. in archaeology and human evolutionary biology from Harvard. Supported by the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Program, and other awards, her research focused on the spread of Homo sapiens and extinction of other humans, such as Neanderthals, over the past 200,000 years. More broadly, she used biogeochemical methods like radiocarbon dating to reconstruct the chronology and biogeography of past human groups. This methodological expertise allowed her to work and publish on diverse archaeological contexts including Paleolithic Eurasia, Stone Age Africa, Iron Age Near East, Moche South America, and Teotihuacan-era Mesoamerica.

Great research is not enough. Archaeologists must effectively communicate their work to non-archaeologists, including scholars in other fields, funding agencies, journalists, and diverse publics. However, few archaeologists are trained to write for non-specialists. This seminar will provide a foundation for researchers who want to write or create content for diverse audiences. After reviewing the challenges and opportunities of public communication, the seminar will deliver technical and artistic guidance on the craft of public writing. The session will discuss story structure, audience characterization, and the qualities of engaging, accessible prose. By analyzing exemplary models from public-facing pieces, the instructor will distill elements that make pop-science writing effective and sometimes beautiful. Participants will develop their public writing skills and learn the steps to publishing with popular media outlets. They will also compose (and come away with) short descriptions of research ready to share with public audiences.

1. Review potential risks and rewards of public communication
2. Discuss elements of public writing, including structure, story-telling, and accessibility
3. Summarize the process of writing for popular media outlets from pitch to publication