Past Seminars

Kimberlee Sue Moran, MSc, RPA has been an archaeologist, educator, and forensic consultant since 2002. She holds an undergraduate degree in archaeology from Bryn Mawr College and a Master of Science degree in forensic archaeological science from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. Kimberlee has worked on a number of cases in a range of capacities both in the UK and US. She provides forensic services and training to legal professionals. She helped to launch the JDI Centre for the Forensic Sciences in 2010 and has run an educational organization, Forensic Outreach, since 2004. Kimberlee is a member of the CSI sub-committee, part of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees under the National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST) tasked with establishing standards of best practice for forensic science.  She is an Associate Teaching Professor and Director of Forensic Science at Rutgers University – Camden.

This two-hour seminar will introduce participants to the intersection of archaeological and forensic methods and techniques.  Through this course, participants will learn the ways that archaeology can provide standards of best practice for crime scene investigation. Participants will become familiar with both the theory behind forensic archaeology as well as the methods that distinguish it from other forms of archaeology.  Finally, the seminar will discuss the forensic recovery of human remains using archaeological techniques in order to maximize evidence recovery at outdoor crime scenes.

1. Understand and be able to articulate the core theoretical concepts that form the foundation of forensic archaeology today
2. Understand how an outdoor scene should be processed using archaeological methods and how human remains should be excavated to ensure optimal evidence recovery
3. Be familiar with the tools, techniques, and data sources necessary for empirical analysis of environmental evidence
4. Be able to apply their understanding of core concepts and practical tools to the evaluation of real-world casework, including current crime scene processing procedures for outdoor scenes and clandestine grave excavation, and assess the practicality of utilizing environmental evidence

 

Fred Limp has been involved in the application of geomatics methods to archaeology for more than three decades. He was the founder and director of the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies for 18 years. He has served as PI or Co-PI on four major NSF projects applying geomatics to archaeology and heritage management and in 2013 he was appointed by Interior Secretary Salazar to the Board of the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training.  He has taught numerous undergraduate and graduate and short courses on the topic. He is a past-President of the SAA and was a founding Director of the Open Geospatial Consortium. OGC is the international body that developed spatial data interoperability specifications

More than 60 years ago, Gordon Willey famously stated that the objectives of archaeology are “approached by the study and manipulation of three basic factors: form, space and time.” Since then, we have seen the huge impact that improved technologies for the measurement of time have had on the field. We are currently in the midst of a similar revolution in the methods for the measurement of space and form. This lecture updates one first offered by SAA in 2014 and is designed as a state-of-the-art introduction to these developments, specifically for archaeology students.

As a two-part series, Part II of this course examines analysis, display, and dissemination of High-Density Survey and Measurement (HDSM) data. Building on Part I, this lecture also provides further considerations and strategies for choosing the “best” approach in using these technologies.

Completing Part I of this course is not a requirement, but it is encouraged. Members can listen to Part I in the SAA Online Seminar Series Archive, available in the Member Center.

1. Define characteristics and archaeological and heritage management uses of new technologies and methods in high density survey (HDSM) methods (typically sub-millimeter to centimeter)
2. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches in consideration to specific project limitations
3. Describe the general process and tools of extraction, analysis, display, and dissemination of HDSM data.

Michael T. Searcy, PhD, RPA has worked as an archaeologist in the Greater Southwest for the last 15 years in both academia and contract settings. He is currently an assistant professor of archaeology at Brigham Young University in the Department of Anthropology. Over the past five years, he and his colleague have been integrating drones into their research, including studies based in Mexico and Utah. They have also been working to refine UAV methods using multiple drone formats.

Scott M. Ure, MA is a research archaeologist for the Department of Anthropology at Brigham Young University and has worked at a variety of sites in the Great Basin, American Southwest, Middle East, and Mexico for 18 years. He is an FAA certified UAV pilot and has operated several different multi-rotor and fixed-wing unmanned aerial systems domestically and internationally for five years.

This course is designed to provide basic information on the use of drones in archaeological mapping and other field contexts. Instructors will explore some of the variables that have to be considered in the planning, pre-flight, flight, and post-processing stages involved in the integration of Unmanned Aerial Systems. This course will also provide important information regarding the legal use of drones in accordance with associated federal regulations.

1. Familiarize seminar participants with drone formats and their potential applications.
2. Instruct participants on the basic workflow of drone use in archaeology (flight planning, permissions to fly, site preparation, automated and manual flights, post-flight processing of aerial imagery).
3. Provide information on the legal and safe operation of drones in the United States.
   

Jodi Reeves Eyre holds a PhD in archaeology from the University of Exeter (2013), where she studied how experimental archaeology is perceived in archaeological research. She has worked with EXARC, the ICOM-affiliated organization representing archaeological open-air museums, experimental archaeology, ancient technology and interpretation, since 2010. She currently manages the EXARC Experimental Archaeology Collection in tDAR, has conducted participant observation of experimental projects, woven on models of ancient Greek looms, and painted people blue. Jodi is also a co-founder of Eyre & Israel, LLC, which provides research, editing, and digital curation consulting for non-profits, non-fiction publishers and authors, and cultural organizations.

This seminar will focus on designing experimental research to test hypotheses by replicating cultural or past processes. It will highlight the importance of being informed of past experimental research and other archaeological research, the importance of developing experiments in a suitable manner, and making data available and usable to colleagues in order to increase the impact of experimental research. It will also cover experimental archaeology’s historical context, key concepts, and its relationship to experiential research and to interpretation.

The seminar is suitable for researchers, students, and museum professionals who are new to experimental archaeology, or who have not received formal training, and who are interested in including this method in their work. People familiar with experimental archaeology who want to increase the impact of their work by learning about new ways to make data more widely available and who want to learn more about work being conducted by EXARC and its members will also benefit from the seminar.

1. Understand established ways of using of experimental archaeology in research and in public presentation, its relationship with experiential archaeology and interpretation, and basic terminology.
2. Understand the basics of designing an archaeological experiment and what makes an experiment different from an experiential exercise. The importance of technical knowledge acquisition will be discussed.
3. Identify sources of experimental information and data and understand the purpose and basics of recording experiment data and making it available as part of the research process.

Ian Hodder was trained at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London and at Cambridge University where he obtained his PhD in 1975. After a brief period teaching at Leeds, he returned to Cambridge where he taught until 1999. During that time he became Professor of Archaeology and was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. In 1999 he moved to teach at Stanford University as Dunlevie Family Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Director of the Stanford Archaeology Center. His main large-scale excavation projects have been at Haddenham in the east of England and at Çatalhöyük in Turkey where he has worked since 1993. He has been awarded the Oscar Montelius Medal by the Swedish Society of Antiquaries, the Huxley Memorial Medal by the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Fyssen International Prize, the Gold Medal by the Archaeological Institute of America, and has Honorary Doctorates from Bristol and Leiden Universities. His main books include The leopard’s tale: revealing the mysteries of Çatalhöyük (2006 Thames and Hudson).

The aim of this course is to reflect back on 25 years of research at the 9000 year old site of Çatalhöyük in central Turkey. Over the past decades, the instructor has been leading a large team of about 160 people as they try to make sense of this intriguing mound or tell site. Çatalhöyük has 21 meters of occupation deposits consisting of multiple layers of houses with under-the-floor burials, roof entries, and elaborate wall art and symbolism. In this one-hour course, the instructor will explain the changes in methods over time as the archaeologists moved to paperless, digital techniques. He will also explain some of the main interpretive challenges for the archaeologists and how they solved them – what we now think about life at Çatalhöyük. But the instructor will also raise the question of if we have been successful in creating a shared past in which multiple stakeholders participate, and in applying community based participatory research. He will ultimately raise questions about whether it is really possible to decolonize archaeology.

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