Past Events

Dan Sandweiss, Ph.D., University of Maine

Dan Sandweiss es un arqueólogo andinista con casi 50 años de experience en la América Latina. Ha participado en comités de selección para premios de la SAA y hizo una nominación exitosa para un premio. Fue el presidente de la SAA de 2022 a 2025 y ortorgó los premios de la SAA a los ganadores cada año.

En este curso, vamos a hablar de como hacer una nominación para un premio de la SAA.

1. Saber que premios ofrece la SAA
2. Saber como extraer la información clave de las convocatorias para nominaciones para premios
3. Saber como escribir una nominación para un premio

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.

Elizabeth Reetz, Strategic Initiatives Director, University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist. Formerly a Cultural Resources Management fieldwork director, Elizabeth now focuses on archaeology education, communications, and making archaeology accessible to all ages.

Mary De La Garza, Research Technology Director, University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist. Mary is a Systems Administrator who uses her technical skills in the digital archaeological realm. She is a licensed drone pilot and produces and analyzes aerial lidar and thermal data collected from archaeological sites by a UAS.

Ervan Garrison, Professor Emeritus, Geology & Anthropology, University of Georgia. Ervan currently conducts geoarchaeological research using drone and ROV-hosted geophysical sensors.

This webinar is designed for those participating in the 2025-2026 FIRST® LEGO® League UNEARTHED^TM season focused on archaeology. Our expert panelists will discuss the various challenges archaeologists face with logistics, research, excavation, fieldwork, artifact analysis, storage, and more! We'll address common questions that archaeologists receive and will answer questions from attendees. Coaches and students are invited to attend, but an adult must be the one to register on behalf of their team. No matter what point your team is in preparations, this session will help you brainstorm the ways that new innovations can address real-world archaeological challenges.

The webinar was recorded and can be found here: Exploring Archaeological Challenges: A Webinar for FIRST® LEGO® League and Robotics Teams - YouTube

This webinar is designed for those participating in the 2025-2026 FIRST® LEGO® League UNEARTHED^TM season focused on archaeology. 

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.

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.