Sara Anderson, Director of Outreach
(April 2, 2024)—When planning a trip to New Orleans, most people envision the vibrant music scene, mouthwatering Creole and Cajun cuisines, and lively festivals. This month, archaeologists from across the country are not only hungry for those experiences, but also preparing presentations and readying to network at the upcoming Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Conference, April 17–20, 2024.
The SAA Conference is much more than posters and PowerPoints, though—it’s a gathering of dedicated professionals committed to researching, interpreting, and protecting the archaeological heritage of the North and South American continents. Half our staff and several of our board members, volunteers, and current & former Field School staff & students will be at the meeting. From our dedicated volunteer group presenting on the Robinson collection to our Preservation Archaeology Field School alumni, we’ll be making a good showing and proudly sharing our projects and programs.
Preservation Archaeology is the principle that carries through the variety of topics we’ll be showcasing, including the Tribal Collaboration Model, site and landscape protection efforts across the Southwest, and research initiatives. These projects demonstrate our commitment to preserving cultural heritage and highlight the innovative approaches we’re taking to help bring archaeology forward into a new collaborative era.
Stay tuned for a follow-up blog post on how this year’s SAA inspired and invigorated our work. For those who are attending, see below for where to find us!
Staff and Volunteers
Amy Gillaspie, Steve Nash, Natalie Patton, Magen Hodapp, and Chrissina Burke— “The Jones-Miller Legacy Collection: Reexamining the 10,800- Year-Old Bison Butchery Site” in SYMPOSIUM PALEOAMERICAN SITES AND ARTIFACTS ACROSS THE AMERICAS; Thursday, April 18, 8:00–9:45 a.m.
Deborah Huntley [former staff], Michele Koons, Octavius Seowtewa, Ronnie Cachini, and Steve Nash— “Our World: Archaeologists and Zuni Knowledge Keepers Create a Shared Narrative of Life in the Mogollon Highlands” in SYMPOSIUM COLLABORATIVE ARCHAEOLOGY: HOW NATIVE AMERICAN KNOWLEDGE ENHANCES OUR COLLECTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PAST; Thursday, April 18, 1:00–5:00 p.m.
Erin Baxter, Steve Nash, Michele Koons, and Deborah Huntley— “Mogollon Murk: Ideas for Some New Ways Forward through Collections and Collaboration (and a Little Fieldwork)” in SYMPOSIUM EMERGING VOICES IN MOGOLLON ARCHAEOLOGY; Thursday, April 18, 6:00–7:30 p.m.
William Doelle, Skylar Begay, Ashleigh Thompson, and Shannon Cowell— “Transforming Archaeological Institutions: The Path toward Tribal Collaboration” in SYMPOSIUM COLLABORATIVE ARCHAEOLOGY: HOW NATIVE AMERICAN KNOWLEDGE ENHANCES OUR COLLECTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PAST; Thursday, April 18, 1:00–5:00 p.m.
Sarah Oas and R. J. Sinensky— “The Black Burned Bits of Prehistory: A Celebration of Dr. Karen R. Adams” in SYMPOSIUM ENDURING RELATIONSHIPS: PEOPLE, PLANTS, AND THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF KAREN R. ADAMS; Friday, April 19, 8:00–10:30 a.m.
R. J. Sinensky and Sarah Oas— “Goin’ on Forever: A Retrospective on Karen Adams and Relationships with Maize” in SYMPOSIUM ENDURING RELATIONSHIPS: PEOPLE, PLANTS, AND THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF KAREN R. ADAMS; Friday, April 19, 8:00–10:30 a.m.
Samantha Fladd, Sarah Oas, and Sarah Kurnick— “Collections Care as Care Work: Examining the Gendered Nature of Museum Work in Archaeology” in SYMPOSIUM IDEAS, ETHICAL IDEALS, AND MUSEUM PRACTICE IN NORTH AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS; Saturday, April 20, 1:00–4:45 p.m.
Paul Reed— “Putting Archaeology Southwest’s Indigenous Collaboration Model into Practice: A New Mexico Example” in SYMPOSIUM INDIGENOUS AND COMMUNITY-BASED ARCHAEOLOGIES IN NORTH AMERICA II; Friday, April 19, 10:00–11:30 a.m.
Karen Schollmeyer— Discussant in SYMPOSIUM EMERGING VOICES IN MOGOLLON ARCHAEOLOGY; Thursday, April 18, 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Karen Schollmeyer, Amanda Semanko, and Martin Welker— “Classic Mimbres Period Aviculture at Elk Ridge, New Mexico” in POSTER SESSION WHAT’S ON THE MENU? PART III: FAUNAL ANALYSIS AND OTHER ANIMAL PRODUCTS; Saturday, April 20, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Jaye Smith and Jeffery Clark— “Continued Work on the Ray Robinson Collection: Preliminary Investigations into the Clont’s Farm site, John’s Farm Site, and Other Nearby Sites in the Safford Basin of Southeastern Arizona” in SYMPOSIUM ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST; Thursday, April 18, 10:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Emma Britton, John Welch, Brandi MacDonald, Fred Nials, and April Oga— “Multimethod Forensic Sedimentology to Address Heritage Crime” in SYMPOSIUM THE INTERSECTION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE AND FORENSIC SCIENCE; Friday, April 19, 8:00–9:30 a.m.
Aaron Wright and John Welch— “Triangulating Piipaash History along the Lower Gila River, Southwestern Arizona” in SYMPOSIUM COLLABORATIVE ARCHAEOLOGY: HOW NATIVE AMERICAN KNOWLEDGE ENHANCES OUR COLLECTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PAST; Thursday, April 18, 1:00–5:00 p.m.
Radoslaw Palonka, Aaron Wright and Katarzyna Ciomek— “Rock Imagery, Cultural Landscapes, and Indigenous Ontologies in the North American Southwest” in SYMPOSIUM PAINTING THE PAST: INTERPRETIVE APPROACHES IN GLOBAL ROCK ART RESEARCH; Friday, April 19, 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Board Members
Carrie Heitman, Octavius Seowtewa, Curtis Quam, Gilbert Yuselew, and Michael Gchachu— “(Re)Connections through Time: Developing a Model for Multimodal Storytelling about Zuni Cultural Connections” in POSTER SESSION CULTURAL RESOURCES AND HERITAGE MANAGEMENT IN THE AMERICAS; Saturday, April 20, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Ruth Van Dyke— “Exploring the Chacoan Landscape of the North American Southwest” in SYMPOSIUM DEVELOPMENTS AND CHALLENGES IN LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY; Thursday April 18, 8:45–10:30 a.m.
Kris Primeau, Kellam Throgmorton, Ruth Van Dyke, and David Witt— “Sounds of Change: Mapping Auditory Experiences through Time in the Greater Chaco Landscape” in POSTER SESSION GIS PART II: LOOKING AT THE LANDSCAPE; Friday April 19, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Former Staff & Students
Jesse Casana, Carolin Ferwerda, Jonathan Alperstein, Zachary Silvia, and Michael Adler— “Remote Sensing of Archaeological Landscapes at Picuris Pueblo” in SYMPOSIUM COLLABORATIVE ARCHAEOLOGY AT PICURIS PUEBLO: THE NEW HISTORY; Thursday April 18, 1:00–4:30 p.m.
Jonathan Alperstein, Jesse Casana, Carolin Ferwerda, Madeleine McLeester, and Nathaniel Kitchel— “Woodland Villages in the Upper Connecticut River Valley: Landscape-Scale Geophysics as Evidence for Large Sedentary Settlements” in Northern New England in POSTER SESSION REMOTE SENSING AND GEOPHYSICS; Saturday, April 20, 1:00–3:00 p.m.
Lauren Bridgeman, María Nieves Zedeño, François Lanoë, Lucas Bond Reis, and Robert Bowman— “St. Pius X Mission Boarding School: An Archaeological Investigation” in SYMPOSIUM INDIGENOUS AND COMMUNITY-BASED ARCHAEOLOGIES IN NORTH AMERICA I; Friday April 19, 8:00–9:30 a.m.
Maxwell Forton— “Follow the Pictorial Path: Assessing Rock Imagery and Human Movement at Chaco Canyon” in SYMPOSIUM INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO ROCK ART DOCUMENTATION, RESEARCH, AND ANALYSIS; Saturday, April 20, 8:00–10:45 a.m.
Suzanne Eckert, Deborah Huntley, and Judith Habicht-Mauche— “Petrographic and Lead-Isotope Analysis of Pottery from Goat Spring Pueblo, New Mexico” in POSTER SYMPOSIUM CERAMIC PETROGRAPHERS IN THE AMERICAS: RECENT RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGICAL ADVANCES; Saturday, April 20, 1:00–3:00 p.m.
Barbara Mills and Kelsey Hanson— “Networks of Power in the Chaco World: Practices, Institutions, and Ideologies of Collective Action” in SYMPOSIUM STATES, CONFEDERACIES, AND NATIONS: REENVISIONING EARLY LARGE-SCALE COLLECTIVES; Thursday, April 18, 12:30–4:30 p.m.
Rebecca Harkness— “Embedded Identity: Preliminary Analyses of Mogollon Corrugated Vessels” in SYMPOSIUM EMERGING VOICES IN MOGOLLON ARCHAEOLOGY; Thursday, April 18, 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Jared Renaud and Rebecca Harkness— “On the Shoulders of Giants: A History of Archaeological Research in the Mogollon Vessels” in SYMPOSIUM EMERGING VOICES IN MOGOLLON ARCHAEOLOGY; Thursday, April 18, 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Christopher La Roche— “The Gila River Farm Site and Salado Coalescence during the Fourteenth Century in the Upper Gila, New Mexico” in SYMPOSIUM EMERGING VOICES IN MOGOLLON ARCHAEOLOGY; Thursday, April 18, 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Jonathan Schaefer, Kathryn Turney, Aliceia Schubert, Deborah Huntley, and Haley Wilkerson— “Chacoan Roads and Landscape Archaeology in the Eastern Red Mesa Valley, New Mexico” in POSTER SESSION LANDSCAPE, SURVEY, AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS PART II; Friday, April 19, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Kathryn Turney, Jonathan Schaefer, Aliceia Schubert, Deborah Huntley, and Haley Wilkerson— “Cultural Landscapes of the Red Rocks: Southern Sinagua Occupations in the Oak Creek-Sedona Region of Central Arizona” in POSTER SESSION CULTURAL RESOURCES AND HERITAGE MANAGEMENT IN THE AMERICAS; Saturday, April 20, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Stephen Uzzle— “Marxist Dendroarchaeology: Examining Labor’s Effects on Landscapes and Living Conditions in Cebolla Canyon, New Mexico” in POSTER SESSION NO, NOT TINDER: DATING METHODS AND CHRONOLOGICAL MODELING; Friday, April 19, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Verónica Vázquez López, Hannah Zanotto, Kazuo Aoyama, and Takeshi Inomata— “The Middle Preclassic Site of Pajonal and Its Interactions with La Venta and Aguada Fénix” in SYMPOSIUM AGUADA FÉNIX AND THE MIDDLE USUMACINTA REGION: INTERREGIONAL INTERACTIONS AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE MIDDLE PRECLASSIC PERIOD; Thursday April 18, 6:00–9:15 p.m.