Past Seminars

Malcolm Williamson is a Research Associate with the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST). He has been using mid- to long-range terrestrial laser scanners for heritage, architectural, and geological applications for over a dozen years. Williamson has worked on five continents at major sites such as Machu Picchu, Amarna, and Petra. In addition, he has project and teaching experience in airborne LiDAR and photogrammetry and has contributed to the development of laser scanning metadata “best practices”. As CAST’s projects have a broad variety of objectives and range from simple visualization to temporal documentation, to object extraction and classification, Williamson is well positioned to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of laser scanning compared to alternative approaches for a wide range of applications.

Terrestrial laser scanning is becoming cheaper, smaller, faster, and more common. Is it the right technology for your project? Terrestrial laser scanning has become reasonably commonplace in archaeology, yet many potential users (and even current users) are not comfortable in determining the best applications and most efficient workflows for this technology. This two-hour seminar will provide enough background information and practical tips to enable participants to better evaluate and apply laser scanning to their work. The seminar will provide a starting point for beginners and help experienced users feel more confident in their decisions.

1. Better assess terrestrial laser scanning’s applicability to their needs;
2. Become familiar with the current state-of-the-art technologies;
3. Compare terrestrial laser scanning to alternative/complementary technologies; and
4. Learn efficient workflows and practices.

In 2017, Danielle Benden launched Driftless Pathways, LLC, a museum consulting business.  As owner of Driftless Pathways, she develops collections assessments, provides guidance on collections planning and rehabilitation projects, and offers professional development training for small museums and historical societies.  She has taught Archaeological Curation and Field Methods courses at the university level for over ten years. In addition, Ms. Benden has instructed a variety of professional development trainings including SAA online seminars for archaeologists, and tailored curatorial programs for small museum staff. She has more than 15 years of archaeological fieldwork experience, ten of which have been directing field projects.  She received a Bachelor of Science in Archaeology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a Master of Science in Museum and Field Studies with an archaeology emphasis from the University of Colorado-Boulder. She served as the Senior Curator in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2007-2016.

She is the current Chair of SAA’s Committee on Museums, Collections, and Curation and serves on the Archaeological Collections Consortium. This work puts her at the forefront of the most current issues involving archaeological curation.

This two-hour online seminar is intended for students who have never taken a course in archaeological collections management. It will be specifically useful for those with no formal collections management training, who are nearing graduation and about to enter the professional world of archaeology; and students majoring in anthropology who are considering a career focused on managing and/or caring for archaeological collections.

1. Provide attendees with an overview of preventive conservation; collections management policies and procedures; and the tasks associated with managing archaeological collections.
2. Teach participants about their roles and responsibilities as they relate to archaeological collections, to ensure that curation is effectively considered at each stage of the archaeological process.
3. Offer solutions and resources that participants can refer to as they encounter different collections management scenarios.

John Brimsek is a volunteer with experience on and off Capitol Hill. He began his career working for a governor after college in 1972. He later worked in the US Senate and US House of Representatives. He has had a law/government relations practice in Washington, DC since 1989. For a total of 45 years of experience, Mr. Brimsek has been on both sides of the advocacy process.

American political parties have become more partisan lately. There are fewer and fewer moderates in Congress. However, agreement is possible and Senators and Representatives do listen to their constituents and national organizations. There are critical issues facing archaeology in the next few years. It is more important than ever for archaeologists to advocate now, during next year’s SAA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, and thereafter. This seminar will include a brief review of American civics. It will describe steps that archaeologists can take to engage in the political process. SAA consists of highly experienced members who are passionate about the field and its importance to society. This course will help direct that passion into mobilized efforts to make a difference.

1. Prepare participants to advocate on behalf of issues of concern to archaeologists to American Senators, Representatives, and regional or local Federal department and agency offices,
2. Describe the systems and structure of Congressional offices; and
3. Direct participants to the resources that SAA provides, such as talking-points and alerts about upcoming legislation.

Sandra L. López Varela received her Ph.D. in Archaeology from the University of London in 1996. After her working experience in CRM in the United States, she has dedicated her efforts to implement new perspectives to balance heritage preservation with economic growth and development. She has measured the effects of economic and social development policies to combat poverty on Mexico’s heritage, a research project awarded with the Bessel-Forschungspreis excellence in science of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. She held the Archaeology Seat at the Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), served as Past President of the Society for Archeological Sciences, was elected recently as Treasurer of the Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, and is a member of the Cultural Heritage Task Force of the AAA. She is general editor of the upcoming Wiley International Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences and has published articles in various journals, including Journal of Archaeological Science, American Anthropologist, and Advances in Archaeological Practice. She is a professor at Mexico’s National University (UNAM) where she teaches cultural heritage management and heritage business and marketing.

This course will be presented in Spanish.

Cultural resources management (CRM) around the world emerged within a context of economic growth. Infrastructure development, its main instrument, poses great risk to the preservation of heritage resources. CRM is a thriving industry contributing strongly to a country’s economy, while preserving heritage resources in the context of complex public and state negotiations. Latin America is a key market for world investment opportunities. With businesses being invited to Latin America to invest and exploit natural and cultural resources, archaeologists are facing many preservation challenges. Thus, there is a need to adapt to existing laws and definitions of cultural heritage. It is necessary to accept that insufficient training has been provided to heritage professionals and archaeologists to meet the regulations imposed by financial institutions—for example, in developing land-use plans or social and heritage impact assessments. Environmental companies are mostly doing this work now, as CRM companies are rare in Latin America. Building CRM capacity in Latin America requires new professional credentials, close collaborative efforts with experienced companies, and above all, new business heritage models and regulated standards that recognize the CRM industry as an effective heritage preservation industry in Latin America. In this one-hour, online presentation, the instructor explores these avenues to building a fair business market for heritage preservation in Latin America.

1. Learn the standing of CRM or Cultural Heritage Management in Latin America;
2. Understand cultural heritage, economic growth and development, and the laws and ethics of doing CRM business in Latin America; and
3. Understand the value of CRM for Latin America.
   

Fred Limp has been involved in the applications of GPS (now GNSS) for more than two decades with experience in a wide range of navigation, mapping and survey GNSS hardware and software systems and with a special focus on archaeological and heritage applications. For 10 years he has taught advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in GNSS principles and applications at the university level. Recent applicable efforts involve detailed cost/performance comparisons of a range of systems and the development of workflows making GNSS, and especially high precision RTK solutions, more user friendly.

New developments in high precision GPS (also known as Global Navigation Satellite System or GNSS) systems now provide the capability to perform rapid (a few seconds per measurement) and precise (better than 5 cm) archeological mapping over large areas. Lower precision GNSS “mapping systems” have been long used to locate sites within a survey but these newer approaches can be used to provide detailed mapping of feature and architectural elements, individual artifacts, and other object locations. The new GNSS systems—often referred to as “real time kinematic” or RTK—can replace, or augment, traditional electronic distance measurement mapping tools and are especially valuable in sites that cover large areas. This online seminar will compare the traditional mapping grade systems with the new RTK based ones; review the strengths/weaknesses and cost/benefits of the systems; and provide specific high-precision workflows relevant to archaeologists. This course is designed for archaeologists with previous experience in mapping grade GNSS who are interested in improving the speed and precision of their mapping work.

1. Compare the traditional mapping grade systems with the new RTK based ones;
2. Review the strengths/weaknesses and cost/benefits of the systems; and
3. Provide specific high-precision workflows relevant to archaeologists