Thursday, April 29, 2010

The Titusville Historical Archaeology Field Study presented by Anthro-Teach and Parker High School



Anthro-Teach has teamed up with nine students from Parker High School to work on researching a historical cemetery in Titusville. The students receive one hour of college credit from UAB for their fifteen weeks of hands-on work and research. The students met one day a week after school for one hour, as well devoting eight Saturdays of the spring semester to fieldwork and field trips.The goal of the project is to educate the students in ethnohistory, archeology, genealogy, and to introduce anthropology and archeology as possible career paths.


The students were recognized Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 at The Birmingham City School Board meeting for receiving an award for the Best Poster in Science Education at The Alabama Academy of Science meeting.


(From left) Malcom Ryans, Sabrina Bone, and Delana Benford presenting at the Alabama Academy of Science meeting



Photo taken of the students, faculty, and Birmingham City School Board members


In addition to presenting at The Alabama Academy of Science meeting and receiving recognition at The Birmingham City School Board meeting, the students from Parker also participated in a mock archeology dig on Thursday, April 29th. The nine students from Parker High School participating in The Titusville Historical Archeology Field Study took at trip to The University of Alabama at Birmingham's campus to learn and practice basic archeology techniques and theories. The students spent time learning how to prep a site by making a grid of their area,which was two large planting boxes filled with various artifacts.




Anna McCowan, UAB student and anthropology major, teaching Parker students how to setup a grid for an archeology site


The students also learned the importance of surveying a site and taking detailed notes. Students learned basic techniques for unearthing artifacts using trowels and other various tools. The mock dig was divided into two stations, and each student spent time setting up a grid, recording data, excavating, sifting for artifacts, and soil analysis, all basic and important components to a successful dig. The practice dig was led by Professors in UAB's Department of History and Anthropology, Dr. Lorreta Cormier and Dr. Sharyn Jones, as well as Parker history teacher, Barry McNealey, Titusville Historical Archeology Project Manager, Sabrina Bone, and five UAB anthropology students.



Jade Delisle and Angela Cales, UAB anthropology graduate students, giving Parker kids an introduction to trowel use and excavation techniques.



(From left) Brea Roper, Melvin Griffin, and Kenneth Sutton excavate a deer skull


Both The Birmingham News and News Channel 33/40 came out to the mock excavation to do a story on the kids and their work with The Titusville Historical Archeology Field Study. For more information on the project and the kids from parker please see the following links


http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-stories/2010/05/amateur_archaeologists_sift_th.html


http://cfc.abc3340.com/videoondemand.cfm?id=64169&category=news


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Recent Events with ANTHRO-TEACH:

ANTHRO-TEACH Presentations from the Southern Anthropological Society (SAS) meetings in Savannah, Georgia (February 18-20, 2010)




Caitlin Aamodt is pictured above presenting her paper on "Human understanding of Place Names on Nayau, Lau Group, Fiji."


Mallory Messersmith presented "Analysis and interpretation of a suspected earth oven feature on Nayau, Fiji" at the SAS meetings in Georgia.


UAB Faculty (Cormier and Jones) and Anthropology students (from left to right): Ashley Wilson, Lindsay Whiteaker, Caitlin Aamodt, Mallory Messersmith, Anna McCown, and Megan Noojin-Sunderman.

Anna McCown presented " Dumped: An Exploration of the Material Culture of a Contemporary Community in Nayau, Fiji."

Meagan Noojin-Sunderman presented a presentation on "Under the Sea:Holocene Climate Changes and Effects in Fiji, ca AD 1300"




Sabrina Bone (center) and students from Parker High School received an award for the Best Poster in Science and Education at the Alabama Academy of Science meetings on April 1, 2010.

Mallory Messersmith received the Alabama Archaeological Society Award.


Christel Carlisle was awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate in Anthropology Award.

Angela Cales, pictured with Anthropology Dept. Chair Carolyn Conley, was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student in Anthropology award.


Sabrina Bone received the Departmental Chairs Award in Anthropology and History.


Sharyn Jones and Lori Cormier took Anthro-Teach students and Jones' Food and Culture class to visit the West End Community Gardens in April, 2010



Food and Culture students are helping to remove weeds from the gardens.


The Alabama Academy of Science Meetings
Alabama A&M University in Huntsville



Ashley Wilson presented a poster regarding the ethnohistory of food. Her poster was titled "Ethnohistory of Food: Food and Folk Remedies of Alabama Slaves."






Anna AcCown presented a poster presentation on " Dumped: An Exploration of the Material Culture of a Contemporary Community in Nayau, Fiji"





Sharyn Jones and Loretta Cormier presented a paper titled "Gender Inequity and Cultural Diversity: A Field School in Fiji’s Lau Island Group ."