UMaine student, faculty researchers present at Society for American Archaeology annual meeting

The University of Maine was well represented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, April 11–14, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Emily Blackwood (M.S. student in the Climate Change Institute and IPh.D. student) chaired a session, “Advances in Heritage Preservation,” and presented a paper, “Reconstructing the Ostra Collecting Site Using Virtual Reality.” Kit Hamley (Ph.D. student in biology and ecology), Jacquelyn Gill (assistant professor of terrestrial paleoecology), Kathryn Krasinski and Daniel Sandweiss had a poster, “Fire and Foxes: Investigations into a Prehistoric Human Presence in the Falkland Islands.”

Alice Kelley (associate research professor, Climate Change Institute and Golden Undergraduate Coordinator in SECS), Bonnie Newsom (assistant professor of anthropology), Arthur Spiess, Anne Spezia and Kate Pontbriand (M.S. in Quaternary and climate studies 2018) spoke on “Maine Midden Minder Network: Collaborating to Save a Cultural Resource.” Ryan Wheeler, Bonnie Newsom and Chris Sockalexis (M.S. student in the Climate Change Institute) gave a talk, “Sacred Places and Contested Spaces in Maine: The Long Shadow of Colonialist Science in the Light of Repatriation.”

Sandweiss (professor of anthropology and climate studies) was the discussant for two sessions: “From the Paracas Culture to the Inca Empire: Recent Archaeological Research in the Chincha Valley, Peru” and “Human Behavioral Ecology at the Coastal Margins: Global Perspectives on Coastal and Maritime Adaptations.” He also chaired the Committee on the Americas annual meeting and received a Presidential Recognition award for his role in founding the Society’s Climate Change Strategies and Archaeological Resources Committee.

Ani St. Amand (M.S. student in the Climate Change Institute and IPh.D. student) presented a poster, “Contributions from the Archaeological Record: Climate Proxies and El Niño-Southern Oscillation.” Gregory Zaro (associate professor of anthropology and climate studies) was a discussant in the forum, “The Undiscussed Paperwork of Archaeology: Applications, Waivers, and Contracts,” and gave a paper with co-authors Martina Celhar and Igor Borzic on “Late Antiquity Revealed: Assessing Urban Change at Roman Nedinum in Northern Dalmatia, Croatia.” A number of UMaine graduates also presented at the meeting, including Peter Leach, David Reid and Kurt Rademaker.