Everything you ever wanted to know about Mayan archaeology and then some.


Mayan archaeology

The Tile Wreck Underwater Archaeology Field School will be held from April 30th through August 6th, 2008, in Monte Cristi. This website has all the details and some wonderful photos.



ADMAT Tile Wreck Maritime Archaeological Field School.

A blog that covers the preservation of New Orleans streetcars and street railways. It is also a non-profit association (NOSRA) that has a quarterly newsletter.



New Orleans Street Railway Association

National Park Service’s 2008 Archaeological Prospection Workshop

I would like to inform you of the upcoming National Park Service archeological prospection workshop to be held May 19-23, 2008, at the O'Kelly Event Center, Fargo, North Dakota. The workshop is open to all archeologists and students as well as those interested in forensic studies
and cemetery investigations. Please pass this information on to your students, faculty, and staff. There is still plenty of room at the workshop for interested individuals.

See the following announcement for details:

National Park Service’s 2008 Archaeological Prospection Workshop

The National Park Service’s 2008 workshop on archaeological prospection techniques entitled Current Archaeological Prospection Advances for Non-Destructive Investigations in the 21st Century will be held May 19-23, 2008, at the Kelly Inn, Fargo, North Dakota. Lodging will be at
the Best Western Kelly Inn with the meeting room at O’Kelly Event Center at the Kelly Inn. The field exercises will take place at the Biesterfeldt Site (a protohistoric village site on the Sheyenne River).

Co-sponsors for the workshop include the National Park Service, the Archaeological Conservancy, Minnesota State University-Moorhead, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota. This will be the eighteenth year of the workshop dedicated to the use of geophysical, aerial photography, and other remote sensing methods as they apply to the identification, evaluation, conservation, and protection of archaeological resources across this Nation. The workshop will present lectures on the theory of operation, methodology, processing, and
interpretation with on-hands use of the equipment in the field. The workshop this year will have a special focus on the soil magnetism and on the effects of plowing on geophysical signatures and site integrity.

There is a tuition charge of $475.00. Application forms are available on the Midwest Archeological Center’s web page at < http://www.cr.nps.gov/ mwac/>. For further information, please contact

Steven L. DeVore, Archeologist, National Park Service, Midwest
Archeological Center, Federal Building, Room 474, 100 Centennial Mall
North, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508-3873: tel: (402) 437-5392, ext. 141; fax:
(402) 437-5098; email: <steve_de_vore@nps.gov>.

2008 Florida Keys Field School 27 July to 8 August

The PAST Foundation is pleased to announce registration is now open for
its Florida Keys Underwater Archaeology Field School, located in Key
Largo, Florida, 27 July to 8 August 2008. This year's field project will
focus on the wreck of the MENEMON SANFORD, a coastal paddle steamer
wrecked on Carysfort Reef in 1862.

The 2008 Underwater Archaeology Field School is open to adults age 18 and
over, with current dive certification. The school will be similar in
structure and schedule to the 2007 field school, described here:

http://www.pastfoundation.org/2007FloridaKeysFieldSchool/

Full details and application instructions for the 2008 Underwater
Archaeology Field School are available here:

http://www.pastfoundation.org/2008FloridaKeysFieldSchool/

Archaeology Field School at a Mormon Polynesian colony

The Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Potsdam,
invites undergraduate students to participate in its Archaeological Field
School.

DATES

July 6, 2008 - August 2, 2008

THE SITE

The Field School will take place at the archaeological site of Iosepa
(pronounced “ee-o-say-pah”) in Tooele County, Utah. Iosepa is situated in
Skull Valley, approximately 60 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Its
historical and cultural significance is rooted in its origins as a Mormon
Polynesian colony in the American West. Following their conversion to
Mormonism, the site’s original inhabitants – mostly Hawaiians – left Hawaii
and emigrated to far-off Salt Lake City in the 1880s. By 1889, due to
discomforts stemming from a breakout of leprosy and various cultural
differences, the Polynesians were relocated to the remote land of Skull
Valley. Here, they established a town, which they named Iosepa—the Hawaiian
word for “Joseph” – in honor of one of the young Mormon missionaries who had
labored among them in Hawaii. After twenty-eight years of moderate success
at ranching and agricultural production, the town was abandoned in 1917.
Most of the town’s inhabitants returned to Hawaii at this time to assist
with the construction of the Mormon temple in Laie, Oahu. The town site was
sold to a livestock company, which razed the majority of the buildings so
the land could be used for grazing cattle. Nothing but a cemetery and a few
house foundations remain visible at the site today. Nevertheless, a large
number of Polynesians, some of whom are actual descendants of Iosepa’s
original residents, actively use the site as a place to remember and
commemorate their heritage and ancestors in the present.

THIS SUMMER'S PROJECT

This summer’s excavations will take place in Block 10, Lot 1 of the original
town site. During Iosepa’s zenith, a Hawaiian named John K. Mahoe owned and
lived on this property with his wife and children. A shallow depression on
the property marks what is believed to be the cellar of the Mahoe home, and
will be the focus of this summer’s excavations. The area surrounding the
home site will also be explored in search of outbuildings and related
features. In addition to standard archaeological excavation, students
participating in this summer’s research will be trained in the use of ground
penetrating radar, which will be used to investigate sub-surface features at
additional locations within the historic town site. Students will also
conduct documentary research as part of the field school, visiting local
archives to locate and record information relevant to the archaeological
project. Finally, students will have the unique experience of interacting
with, and learning from, the descendant communities of Polynesians who
revere Iosepa as sacred ground.

Students will receive six hours of undergraduate credit in ANTH 315.

Enrollment is limited so please contact Dr. Benjamin Pykles soon (at the
information below) if interested in applying.

Benjamin C. Pykles, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
State University of New York at Potsdam
315-267-2039
pyklesbc@potsdam.edu