
Registration Closed!
Perishable Material Culture: An Introduction to Analysis and Documentation
When: February 04, 2021 1:00-3:00 PM
Duration: 2 hours
Certification: RPA-certified
Pricing
Individual Registration: $99 for SAA members; $149 for non-members
Group Registration: $139 for SAA members; $189 for non-members
Dr. Edward A. Jolie, RPA, is the director of the Perishable Artifact Laboratory at Mercyhurst University, one of only a handful of labs globally that specializes in the documentation and analysis of perishable material culture such as string, textiles, baskets, nets, and footwear. His scholarly interests include the archaeology of the Americas (with particular reference to the western U.S.), sociocultural diversity in the past and present, perishable material culture worldwide, Native American-Anthropologist relationships, and ethics in anthropology. Being of mixed Oglala Lakota (Sioux) and Hodulgee Muscogee ancestry, and an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma, he strives to cultivate collaborative relationships and research partnerships with descendant communities.
Perishable material culture, including items such as string, nets, baskets, mats, footwear, and clothing, has been critical to human lives and livelihoods for tens of millennia, but has historically suffered from a lack of scholarly attention owing to the biases of preservation and gender. This seminar introduces participants to the diversity of perishable material culture that they may encounter in field and museum settings and provides a foundation for pursuing more intensive research on these objects. The instructor will place particular emphasis on the essential knowledge required for the proper recognition, handling, basic analysis, and documentation of perishable artifacts.
- Improve knowledge of the recognition and proper handling of perishable material culture.
- Explore the basic structural and analytical attributes of the major technological classes of perishable material culture.
- Establish the basics of perishable artifact analysis and documentation.

Registration Closed!
Rising Scholars: Queer Archaeology and Archaeological Practice with Gabriela Oré Menéndez
When: January 28, 2021 3:00-4:00 PM
Duration: 1 hour
Certification: None
Pricing
Individual Registration: Free to SAA members; not available to non-members
Group Registration:
Gabriela Oré Menéndez is a doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt University. She has been the social media co-chair of SAA's Queer Archaeology Interest Group and one of the webmasters of the Queer Archaeology web page since 2017. She has given invited talks at universities in Peru and the United States on the topic of Queer Archaeology. She has developed and given workshops and syllabi for complete courses for the undergraduate level on Queer Theory and Anthropology.
Queer Archaeology is a way to question the approach and biases of the discipline of archaeology. The topic has regained traction twenty years after the publication of the journal of World Archaeology special issue on Queer Archaeologies. This one hour-long seminar will discuss how to apply the concepts of Queer Theory to archaeological contexts and how to make archaeological practice more welcoming to folks from all genders and sexualities.

Registration Closed!
Professional Rock Art Recording: Simplified and Accurate
When: January 12, 2021 3:00-5:00 PM
Duration: 2 hours
Certification: RPA-certified
Pricing
Individual Registration: $99 for SAA members; $149 for non-members
Group Registration: $139 for SAA members; $189 for non-members
2. Explain how to record rock art within the context of the surrounding resources, like water/springs, edible plants, game trails, eco-zones, and archaeological features.
3. Identify threats to the images including natural weathering, spalling areas, and human threats.
4. See how to photograph the viewscapes to place the panel within the context of the rock formation, and surrounding land features.

Registration Closed!
Improving Your Archaeological Skills: How to Write Better Technical Reports
When: December 15, 2020 1:00-2:00 PM
Duration: 1 hour
Certification: RPA-certified
Pricing
Individual Registration: Free to SAA members; $69 for non-members
Group Registration: Free to SAA members; $89 for non-members
Mary Beth Trubitt has worked in Cultural Resource Management and academia, and for the last twenty years has served as a research station archaeologist for the Arkansas Archeological Survey. She has written archaeological reports and has read many more of them, and brings a perspective on what makes reports interesting to write and useful to read. In 2020, Trubitt concludes a term as editor for Southeastern Archaeology and begins a term as editor for Caddo Archeology Journal.
- Identify the audiences for your technical report and the information they expect
- Discover helpful resources for organizing and supporting your report
- Learn some do’s and don’ts for better writing technical reports

Registration Closed!
Introduction to Bayesian Chronological Modeling
When: December 03, 2020 1:00-3:00 PM
Duration: 2 hours
Certification: RPA-certified
Pricing
Individual Registration: $99 for SAA members; $149 for non-members
Group Registration: $139 for SAA members; $189 for non-members
Carla Hadden is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory at the University of Georgia Center for Applied Isotope Studies. Dr. Hadden specializes in radiocarbon dating, environmental archaeology, and zooarchaeology, and is an Associate Editor for Radiocarbon, the main international journal of record for research articles relevant to radiocarbon techniques. She regularly publishes on radiocarbon method development and archaeological applications in high-impact journals such as Science Advances, American Antiquity, and Radiocarbon, and is regularly called upon to peer review manuscript submissions on radiocarbon dating and Bayesian chronological modeling in archaeology.
Bayesian chronological modeling revolutionized chronology building in archaeology. It provided a robust mathematical framework for incorporating all the dating information available, including radiocarbon dates, stratigraphy, artifact typologies, and the written historical record. The purpose of this seminar is to provide archaeologists with an introduction to the key concepts, assumptions, and terminology used in Bayesian chronological modeling; an overview of the basic structures and applications of age models; and an introduction to the “iterative approach” to sample selection and chronological modeling. We will introduce the audience to the several software options available for age modeling (OxCal, BCal, and various packages implemented in R) and compare their pros and cons. We will not provide a step-by-step “how to” for constructing models in any one program, but participants will receive a workbook and “quick start” guide for modeling in OxCal. This course will enable participants to understand and evaluate age models that they encounter in archaeological literature; will provide a necessary foundation for those interested in exploring how Bayesian models could contribute to their own projects; and will provide resources for those who wish to learn more about constructing chronological models. The intended audience includes those who have no previous experience in Bayesian chronological modeling.
- Understand the basic terminology related to Bayesian chronological modeling, e.g., event; phase; sequence; boundary; MCMC; prior probability; posterior probability; likelihood; parameter; convergence; agreement
- Evaluate and interpret model outputs
- Understand and follow the conventions for reporting modeled dates in technical reports and scientific journals