Upcoming Events

Joel Dukes, RPA, USDI National Park Service, Northeast Archeological Resources
Program

Joel Dukes has been an archaeologist with the National Park Service Northeast Archaeological Resources Program based out of Lowell, Massachusetts since 2008. Prior to that he was an archaeologist for the US Forest Service for eight years. As a regional NPS archaeologist he serves as an archaeological advisor for several parks including the Appalachian Trail, Statue of Liberty and Minute Man National Historical Park. Joel has an interest in exploring new archaeological methods for investigating and interpreting battlefields and has led and participated in projects at battlefield parks including Gettysburg, Appomattox, Minute Man, and Saratoga. Mr. Dukes holds an M.A. in Anthropology/Archaeology from the University of Georgia (1993). He is an Advanced Metal Detecting for the Archaeologist instructor and has also served as a Scientific Recovery Expert with the Defense Department POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Joseph Balicki, RPA, Archeological Consultant

Joseph Balicki is an instructor for Advanced Metal Detecting for the Archaeologist and is a graduate of the Catholic University of America (MA). During his career in Cultural Resource Management, the Archeology of Military sites was one of his primary areas of expertise, and he is proficient in conducting KOCOA analysis, primary research, and metal detector surveys on military archeological sites ranging from fortifications, battlefields, winter quarters, and cantonments to front-line temporary bivouacs. His 2011 article “The Watch-Fires of a Hundred Circling Camps: Theoretical and Practical Approaches to Investigating Civil War Campsites” conclusively demonstrated that, at present, metal detection is the most effective method for identifying and examining military sites. He is a strong advocate for the inclusion of realistic metal detection methodologies on all historic sites as these collection strategies will result in a different data set than traditional field methods. Current research interests include conflict theory and best practices for effective metal detection by archaeologists. 

In this seminar, participants will be introduced to the applications, efficacy, and best practices of metal detection in archaeological contexts. Participants will learn the basics of survey methods, detector techniques, data management, and general machine settings. The role of crew experience, metal detector quality, environmental conditions, and appropriate level of effort will be covered. Several case studies that were successful in defining archaeological sites will be discussed.

1). Introduce participants to when a metal detecting investigation is appropriate.
2). Participants will be introduced to a variety of metal detection survey methods and ways to improve performance.
2). Participants will learn the role that experience, quality metal detectors, environmental conditions, and appropriate time devoted to a project have on metal detecting investigations.

Dr. Ervan Garrison, PhD, RPA, University of Georgia

Dr. Garrison has recently retired from the University of Georgia where he taught geology and archaeology for 32 years. Archaeological sedimentology played a central role in his teaching and research, which encompassed the study of both terrestrial and lacustrine/marine sediments. From 1990 to 1992 he worked as a Marine Archaeologist at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and served as research faculty at Texas A&M University from 1979 to 1989. Dr. Garrison received his PhD. from the University of Missouri and both his B.S. and M.A. from the University of Arkansas.

A significant portion of any archaeological site is often in the dirt aka “sediments.” Even until the mid-to-late 20th century, sediments were simply discarded and ignored at many excavations. Sediment analysis or sedimentology together with pedology is largely the province of geoarchaeology. The geoarchaeological study of inundated and submerged soils and sediments is a relevant sub-specialty since more and more academic and CRM studies focus on drowned landscapes. This seminar will focus exclusively on “drowned dirt” and how best to use it for archaeological ends. Color, texture, parent material, micro-and- macro inclusions, eDNA will be discussed as well as important laboratory and instrumental methods that assist in our understanding of wet sediments and soils.

1. Learn how to best sample wet sediments and how their study differs from that of subaerial soils and sediments.
2. Learn the basic steps in the collection and characterization of wet sediments.
3. Appreciate the importance of sedimentological/pedological study in archaeology.

Ryan Seidemann, J.D., Ph.D., RPA, Arizona State University, University of New Orleans, The Water Institute, Southern University Law Center

Ryan has been studying cemeteries and biological anthropology for over 30 years. He holds a BA (Florida State) and an MA (Louisiana State) in anthropology and a Ph.D. (Univ. of New Orleans) in urban studies/urban anthropology. Ryan also holds two law degrees (Louisiana State) and has been a licensed lawyer for over 20 years (Louisiana and Vermont). Ryan's legal, anthropological, and academic pursuits have been guided by studying the intersections of law and archaeology, including historic and archaeological preservation, human remains law, and shipwreck law. As a lawyer for the State of Louisiana for 20 years, Ryan policed the illicit trade in human remains in that state and collaborated with other states and federal agencies engaged in such endeavors. At the same time, Ryan authored or coauthored the laws that today make Louisiana's cemetery site protections the strongest in the United States. In addition, Ryan regularly teaches CRM, historic preservation, property law, and the anthropology of death and burial through adjunct appointments at the University of New Orleans, Southern University Law Center, and Arizona State University.

This course provides practitioners, both within CRM and academia, with a basic overview of federal and Louisiana law governing cemeteries and human remains. The focus on Louisiana law is expanded to the rest of the United States, reviewing both statutory law, court interpretations (case law), and basic common and civil law concepts that relate to these unique spaces. This course also provides recommendations for amending existing law around the U.S. and highlights the importance of descendant community agency in the protection of these sites.

1. Provide a clear understanding of what the law does and does not protect in terms of cemeteries and human remains in the U.S.
2. Provide guidance for how these laws interact with the basic practice of CRM in the U.S.
3. Provide guidance for working to improve protections of these sites in jurisdictions around the U.S.

To be announced.

Join SAA to learn about career options in archaeology and heritage management! Attendees will be able to pick two career paths they want to learn more about and talk to professionals in the field.

• Each breakout room will be capped at 40 people per room.
• Registrants will receive a confirmation email immediately, an email with log in information about one week before the event, and a reminder email the day before. If you do not receive the automated confirmation email, please double-check that you have completed registration.
• This event is FREE to SAA members and not available to non-members.

Kaitlyn Davis, RPA, Ph.D., Northern Arizona University

Dr. Kaitlyn Davis was the lead author on a publication in Advances in Archaeological Practice’s 2021 special issue on Health and Wellness in Archaeology, specifically focusing on safety considerations for first time field directors (such as graduate students). She also co-led a well-attended SAA seminar in 2022 on safety and logistical considerations for preparing a first field project. She teaches one of Northern Arizona University's archaeological field schools.

Dr. Davis is an archaeologist with over 10 years of experience including cultural resource management, community collaboration, public lands management, and academic research. She is interested in community-based archaeology, public archaeology, artifact sourcing, paleoethnobotany, geoarchaeology, and landscape archaeology. She especially values community-based collaborative archaeology, having worked in cooperation with community members from the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes, the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) Tribe, the Santa Fe South Cooperative Association, the Friends of Fort Owen, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Ute Indian Tribe, and collaborating for 11 years with the Pueblo of Pojoaque. She has completed archaeological projects for the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Parks Service, New Mexico State Land Office, Archaeological Conservancy, and Montana State Parks. She has previously worked in several midwestern and western states and Ireland, and at archaeological sites ranging in date from the early archaic period through the early twentieth century. She has supervised the crews and planned the logistics for multiple of the projects previously described. These crews have ranged from volunteers of all ages and experience levels to university and federal employees. She earned her PhD from the University of Colorado in 2022 and is currently an Assistant Professor of Archaeology at Northern Arizona University and a Senior Archaeologist at Chronicle Heritage.

Graduate schools provide students opportunities for fieldwork and training in archaeological methods and theory, but can sometimes overlook instruction in field safety and well-being. More explicit guidance on organizational considerations for projects and how to conduct safe fieldwork will improve the overall success of student-led projects and prepare students to direct safe and successful fieldwork programs as professionals. This guidance can also be instilled during field school, and so a portion of this course will be dedicated to considerations for organizing and directing field schools to meet the needs of today’s workforce and to emphasize crew safety and training scaffolding. In this seminar, we will draw on the experiences of current and recent graduate students as well as professors who have overseen fieldwork to outline key considerations in improving field safety and well-being and to offer recommendations for specific training and safety protocols. While discussing these considerations and recommendations, we will use primarily domestic field project examples, particularly those involving community collaboration, but will briefly touch on international projects.

The resources and recommendations provided in this seminar will be especially useful for projects whose crews are comprised at least partially of students, interns, or volunteers (such as Passport in Time, university, or nonprofit-sponsored projects).

1. Learning how to protect and register your project.
2. Provide information to share with your crew (e.g. acknowledgement of risk form, code of conduct agreement, info packet).
3. Learning things to keep in mind when structuring your project (i.e. structuring a safe project).

Charles Cobb, Ph.D., RPA, Florida Museum of Natural History

Charles Cobb is the Curator of Historical Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, with current interests in historical anthropology, Indigenous histories of the American Southeast, and interactions between Native Americans and Europeans in the early colonial era. Charles received his PhD in 1988 from SIUCarbondale, and since that time has worked in a variety of archaeological settings: the CRM industry, academic departments, an archaeological state agency, and currently a natural history museum. Charles' publication record spans 40 years and includes over 40 journal articles, over 30 book chapters, two authored books, two edited books, in addition to a number of technical reports. Charles has a long-standing interest in the application of both quantitative and qualitative methods in archaeology.

There are many kinds of publications in archaeology, ranging from those intended for the public to heady theoretical treatises. In this seminar we will emphasize developing the skills for writing successful publications that rely strongly on empirical data analysis. Although publishing in journal articles and book chapters will be the primary focus, there will also be some attention to technical publications (such as CRM reports). The concept of research design will center the presentation: how do we initiate compelling questions or propositions, rationalize the material implications of those questions, and then evaluate these implications methodologically? We will also touch on issues of writing style and organization, the best uses of tables and figures, ethical guidelines, and aiming for an appropriate publication outlet.

• To demonstrate how the concept of research design is foundational to publications and grants.
• To develop the skills to publish in a variety of publication types.
• To raise awareness of the ethical importance of collaborative research and data accessibility.