OKPAN QUARTERLY
Volume 1 (Issue 1)
Fall 2018
3 The Who, What and Why Of OKPAN
5 Archaeology Month Calendar
21 OKPAN FACES
14 Community Spotlight - Finding the Way Back to Discover the Way Forward: New Ways of Honoring Old Traditions
6 The Gang of Oklahoman First Americans Researchers: Introducing GOFAR
10 The LeVick's Contributions to the Preservation of Oklahoma Archaeological Sites
18 Community Bulletin
Ongoing series highlighting OKPAN staff, volunteers, interns and advisory board members
(Cover photo: Red Dirt Landscape in Oklahoma, CC0)
The story of Lawrence and Gene LeVick and their tireless work to preserve and protect Oklahoma archaeology
An introduction to one of OKPAN's newest initiatives.
An introduction to OKPAN, our mission and our goals.
4 October is Oklahoma Archaeology Month!
IN THIS ISSUE
Highlights and events from the greater Oklahoma Archaeological Community
Join us this October for a month-long celebration of Oklahoma archaeology
Our October events calendar, including links to all Archaeology Month events
An ongoing series highlighting members of the greater OKPAN community. This issue: Chase Kahwinhut Earles
(Wichita Mountains, Buffalo, Near Lawton, Oklahoma, duggar11, CC BY 2.0)
3
Welcome! We are pleased to share this inaugural OKPAN online magazine with you. It aims to serve as a clearinghouse for Oklahoma archaeology and to forge and report links among our diverse community members. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the organization, the Oklahoma Public Archaeology Network was founded in 2016 to build bridges among the many Oklahomans who care deeply about the state’s past. We particularly seek involvement from members of the public, because we believe that widespread engagement is crucial for protecting and preserving our state’s complex and storied heritage. Through the promotion of education, outreach, and research, OKPAN seeks to promote in all Oklahomans a shared sense of pride, understanding and responsibility for the past. Conversations among different stakeholders have not always been easy, and they have often been rightly faulted for failing to include diverse voices and perspectives. This is one of the many reasons why OKPAN seeks to unify traditional academic archaeologists, members of our state’s indigenous communities, avocational archaeologists, archaeologists working in the government and private sectors, our youth and anyone else with an open ear and an interest in Oklahoma‘s past. OKPAN offers a variety of initiatives and events including archaeological skills workshops, public lectures, educational outreach programs, Oklahoma Archaeology Month each October, and the biennial Oklahoma Archaeology Conference. We add to this list frequently, introducing new programs and ideas that promote our values as an organization and as Oklahomans with a vested interest in and sense of responsibility for our past.
Oklahoma Archaeology Conference 2016
THE WHO, WHAT AND WHY OF OKPAN
It's that time of year again! By official proclamation of the governor, October is Oklahoma Archaeology Month! It’s going to be a busy few weeks! There are events scheduled throughout the month, ranging from public lectures, to films, workshops, an ArcheoBBQ, and even a festival for good measure. Join us for a month-long celebration of Oklahoma's colorful past, both distant and recent! See the calendar on the following page to learn more or click here to visit the OAM page on our website.
4
(Note: To see complete calendar, please scroll down)
October Archaeology Month Calendar
Archaeology Trowel, HeritageDaily, CC BY-SA 3.0
OCTOBER 14TH
October 6th
(Thurman J. White Forum, Norman, OK)
(Norman, OK)
October 5th - 7th
(Museum of the Great Plains, Lawton, OK)
2018 Oklahoma Anthropological Society Fall Dig
October 12th - 14th
Experience A Day of Archaeology at the Museum of the Great Plains
(Near Muldrow, OK)
(Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History)
University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Artifact Illustration Workshop
(Tulsa, OK)
(Guymon Public Library, Guymon, OK)
October 2nd
OCTOBER 20TH
OCTOBER 23RD
Antique Agricultural Festival
(Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, OK)
October 11th - 14th
Tombstones and Technology: Blended Methods for Recording and Investigating Cemeteries
(Hopping Cemetery: Wayne, OK)
ArcheoBBQ
(Hunter's Historic Site, Park Hill, OK)
Oklahoma Archaeology Month at Spiro Mounds
(Spiro Mounds Archaeological Research Center, Spiro, OK)
Learning More About Ethiopian and Eritrean Cultures
Public Presentation Hosted by the Cleveland County Chapter of the Oklahoma Anthropological Society
Finns, Sami and German "War Junk": Exploring Material Legacies of the Second World War in Finnish Lapland
October 13th
The 25th Anniversary of the Cooper Discovery: What We've Learned About Paleoindian Bison Hunting sa(S
OCTOBER 16TH
(Archaeology Trowel, HeritageDaily, CC BY-SA 3.0) 5
6
The
INTRODUCING GOFAR
OKPAN is growing! GOFAR, OKPAN’s first major research effort, seeks to understand the over 8000 year history of the first peoples of our state. The GOFAR team works closely with diverse stakeholders to understand questions such as how First Oklahomans used the state’s diverse ecological regions; which Oklahoma landscapes are likeliest to yield late Pleistocene (Ice Age) and early Holocene deposits; and whether a “landscape” approach to Oklahoma’s early archaeological record could yield more fruitful results than a traditional “site-based” one. The project is no small undertaking, and many Oklahomans will play crucial roles in GOFAR’s success. GOFAR researchers will work closely with landowners and others with intimate knowledge of Oklahoma landscapes and locations of ancient archaeological sites and artifacts. We will also seek the knowledge and counsel of Oklahoma tribal members whose ancestors have known the Oklahoma landscape longer than anyone. For now our focus is primarily on the eastern half of the state, but as we learn more and continue to grow, so will the ground we cover. The principle investigators (PIs) for GOFAR currently include Bonnie Pitblado, Amy Clark, Debra Green, Rebecca Hawkins, and William Ankele. Bonnie, Amy, Rebecca, and Bill are archaeologists; Deb is a geoarchaeologist. We have also recently added to our GOFAR partner list Richard and Marilyn Carlson (members of the Oklahoma Anthropological Society), who will create 3-D images of artifacts for researchers and the public to access online, and Richard Tarver (Oklahoma Geological Survey), who is cataloguing the chert raw material that First Oklahomans used to make stone implements. As we gear up and start rolling in the months and years to come, watch for opportunities to join the gang in all elements of our research, from the conception of research directions the dissemination of results—and everything in-between. Keep an eye out as well for a blog detailing the project, which will offer readers intimate and timely knowledge of our progress. For questions about GOFAR, please contact Amy Clark (aeclark@ou.edu).
GANG OF OKLAHOMAN FIRST AMERICANS RESEARCHERS
Map showing the distribution by county of currently known archaeological sites in Oklahoma dating to more than 8,000 years ago. GOFAR hopes to increase these numbers!
eastern half of the state, but as we learn more and continue to grow, so will the ground we cover. The principle investigators (PIs) for GOFAR currently include Bonnie Pitblado, Amy Clark, Debra Green, Rebecca Hawkins, and William Ankele. Bonnie, Amy, Rebecca, and Bill are archaeologists; Deb is a geoarchaeologist. Very recently, we have added three new partners to the GOFAR gang. Richard and Marilyn Carlson (both members of the Oklahoma Anthropological Society) will create 3-D images of ancient artifacts for research and the public to access online. Richard Tarver (Oklahoma Geological Survey), is cataloguing the chert raw materials that First Oklahomans used to make stone implements. Andrea Hunter, finally, is the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Osage Nation. She will provide guidance to ensure that GOFAR researchers treat Osage ancestral and sacred sites appropriately. . As we gear up and start rolling in the months and years to come, watch for opportunities to join the gang in all elements of our research, from the conception of research directions to the dissemination of results—and everything in-between. Keep an eye out as well for a dedicated blog detailing the project, which will offer readers intimate and timely knowledge of our progress. For questions about GOFAR, please contact Amy Clark (aeclark@ou.edu).
INTRODUCING GOFAR (cont.)
GOFAR team members examine chipped-stone artifacts eroding out of a cut-bank on private land southeast of Stigler, OK.
7
Site along the shore of Lake Eufaula. The site is on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land, and erosion by the lake has exposed thousands of artifacts representing nearly all of pre- and post-Columbian time. Among those artifacts are more than 250 spear points dating to around 9000 years ago!
BONNIE PITBLADO
MEET THE GANG
William Ankele's research interests include how precontact people responded to climate change and how they used higher-elevation areas to mitigate the effects of such change. As a flintknapper and lithic analyst, he is particularly interested in how those behaviors are manifested in the chipped stone components of the archaeological record. William has experience working on archaeological projects in the Midwest, Great Basin, Rocky Mountains, Colorado Plateau, and Southern Plains. William also enjoys applying GIS to archaeological analysis and looks forward to applying these skills in GOFAR's landscape-based approach.
Bonnie Pitblado is the Robert E. and Virginia Bell Endowed Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma and the Executive Director of OKPAN. She has studied the peopling of the New World and Paleoindian archaeology of the Rocky Mountains, Plains, and Great Basin for about 30 years. She has expertise in chipped stone analysis and a passion for public archaeology. Through GOFAR, she hopes to learn how the earliest residents of what is now Oklahoma used the highest reaches of the state (e.g., the Ozark Plateau, Ouachitas, and Wichitas) during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. She also hopes to help make GOFAR a model for inclusive archaeology, involving not only traditional research partners, but also indigenous people, private landowners, avocational archaeologists, and members of the public who share her interest in understanding humanity's dynamic past.
8
WILLIAM ANKELE
Amy Clark is interested in the movement of hunter-gatherer people and groups and the methodological question of how to extract mobility-related information from archaeological assemblages. She has worked in many parts of the world, including France, Morocco, and Alaska. For her dissertation (2015, University of Arizona), she developed methods to use the spatial structure of chipped stone artifact scatters to draw conclusions about duration and length of occupations and group size. She is excited to build on these methods to study early hunter-gatherer mobility in what is now Oklahoma. She is particularly interested in evaluating human mobility across Oklahoma’s many ecological zones.
AMY CLARK
Rebecca Hawkins’s interest in the earliest inhabitants of North America began in the early 1980s. Currently, she is involved in multi-disciplinary research projects about the earliest Americans in Oklahoma and the central Ohio Valley. A cultural resources management and tribal consulting archaeologist for nearly 40 years, Rebecca’s specialized knowledge includes precontact flaked stone artifact analyses, experimental archaeology, and environmental archaeology. Rebecca is especially interested in a landscape approach to understanding Paleoindian occupation of Oklahoma. She serves as the archaeologist for the Miami and Wyandotte Nations.
Debra Green works for the Oklahoma Archeological Survey at the University of Oklahoma. Her research interests include human-landscape interactions, hunter-gatherer settlement patterns, and site location predictive modeling. She employs the approaches of the earth sciences (geoarchaeology) to address archaeological questions. She has over 20 years of geoarchaeological research and cultural resources management experience working in the Pacific Northwest, northern, central, and southern Plains, Philippine Islands, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Okinawa, Yap, and Guam. As the GOFAR geoarchaeologist, she will create a predictive landscape model that will help increase the likelihood of finding buried late Pleistocene and early Holocene deposits in the narrow stream valleys that have incised their channels across sections of the higher elevated areas in Oklahoma. The more quickly GOFAR team members can identify 'old dirt,' the more efficiently they will locate 'old sites' buried in that old dirt.
REBECCA HAWKINS
DEBRA GREEN
9
(Background image courtesy of Spiro Landscape Archaeological Project)
10
L
awrence and Imogene (Gene) LeVick were well known avocational archaeologists in Oklahoma. Their enthusiasm for archaeology in Oklahoma arose in the 1950s, when documenting archaeological sites and preserving artifacts was not a common practice in the state. This was a time when it was customary for people to excavate archaeological sites for the value of the artifacts themselves, without regard to the significant information they could impart. The LeVicks diligently recorded sites in southwestern Oklahoma for close to 50 years. Most of the time, their records were the only documentation of these archaeological sites in the state. Most of the sites that the LeVicks recorded were from Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) property, but they also recorded sites on private property in conjunction with the landowners. For five decades, Lawrence and Gene monitored sites on Reclamation property for the W.C. Austin Project (Altus Lake), and notified the proper personnel when human remains were discovered. They contributed information to Oklahoma’s archaeological record by recording sites, collecting artifacts, and respectfully excavating burial remains that may have otherwise been lost. The LeVicks took site preservation seriously and were a great asset to the archaeological community. Over the years, they accumulated a large collection of prehistoric and historic artifacts, which they carefully labeled and separated by site. They were dedicated to documenting the archeological record and understanding the past.
By Kate Ellison (Bureau of Reclamation) & Debra Baker (Institute of the Great Plains)
The LeVick's Contribution to the Preservation of Oklahoma Archaeological Sites
Lawrence & Gene LeVick at an archaeological site. Photo courtesy of LeVick family
By Kate Ellison & Debra Baker
In addition to collecting artifacts, the LeVicks also documented features such as hearths and burials (“features,” like artifacts, are human-made, but unlike artifacts, they are not portable). Critically, they also discouraged others from looting archaeological and historical sites and from selling artifacts. In fact, the LeVicks enjoyed a reputation for chasing off people who looted sites. Data records were compiled for all burial excavations that the LeVicks monitored, including photographs and sketches. These sketches and descriptions of burials excavated on federal property have been valuable in the repatriation (return to descendants) of the human remains and affiliated funerary objects found on Reclamation property under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Roger LeVick, Lawrence and Gene’s son, recalls a conversation upon returning from Lake Altus. “Bigfoot was at the site today, I saw his tracks everywhere!” Gene exclaimed. “You’ll get there first, next time,” Roger told her. No, Sasquatch is not in southwest Oklahoma. They were referring to other people hunting arrowheads on Reclamation land. Lawrence and Gene may not have known who these people were, but they could identify their footprints. “Let’s go make some tracks” was a frequent phrase in the LeVick home. It referred to the activity of monitoring the areas (making footprints) that looters frequented. If the LeVicks walked a particular area, then when looters came by and saw that the area had already been walked on, they
11
LeVick collection projectile points.
"Lets go make some tracks"
Gene LeVick at the Perry Ranch Site in Jackson County.
Lawrence LeVick and Dr. Leland Bement (Oklahoma Archeological Survey) working at the site GR4 as part of the W.C. Austin Project.
realized they were not the first ones to get there. This discouraged looters eager for an easy haul, and they left the area. Lawrence and Gene LeVick shared their passion for archaeology with their children. Roger LeVick spent his childhood going out with his parents to different sites and collecting artifacts. He enjoyed learning about the artifacts and the history, but once he learned how to make the different types of arrowheads and tools himself, he lost interest in collecting, preferring instead to swim in the lake. Because of the love his parents had for archaeology and preservation, Roger had the privilege of meeting many people in the field of archaeology who came to research his parents’ collection. Dr. Don Wyckoff (University of Oklahoma) and Lee Goode (Davis Gun Museum) recognized his interest in historical artifacts, mainly guns, and helped him learn as much as he could about them. For a half-century, the LeVick family worked with the professional community, the avocational community (Oklahoma Anthropological Society), federal and state agencies, and private landowners in an effort to preserve southwest Oklahoma’s archaeological sites. In the fall of 2016, Jeff Tompkins and Kate Ellison, from the Bureau of Reclamation, met with Roger and Liz LeVick at Quartz Mountain State Park. They discussed how Lawrence and Gene LeVick's family could ensure that all their carefully collected and documented artifacts could remain together, in one place, for people to study and enjoy.
12
Artifacts being processed at the Museum of The Great Plains.
Groundstone artifacts found at a site near Altus Lake.
This was what Lawrence and Gene wanted for the collection. A decision had to be made: how to best curate, protect, and make a researchable tool for the materials collected from Reclamation property. From December 2016 through May 2017, personnel from Reclamation and the Institute of the Great Plains (IGP) met with Liz LeVick to transfer artifacts housed at the LeVick residences. Lawrence had labelled thousands of artifacts, most of the time individually, with the appropriate state site number. In addition, there were hundreds of grinding stones, including an estimated 500 – 700 (!) manos and metates used for grinding seeds and other resources. Eight trips were made to transfer the artifacts to the Museum of the Great Plains (MGP) in Lawton, where they will be cataloged, photographed and prepared for long term storage. Most importantly, the collection will be accessible for research. Student interns will assist in the cataloging process, under the supervision of MGP curator Debra Baker. They will input the information into the Interior Collection Management System (ICMS), per a cooperative agreement with Reclamation. The project will take at least two years. The estimated count of the LeVick Collection is 24,000+ individual artifacts that occupy around 120 cubic feet of space. The Bureau of Reclamation, Institute of the Great Plains, and the Museum of the Great Plains extend special thanks to Roger and Liz LeVick for their assistance in transferring the collection of artifacts and associated notes to MGP where they will be curated forever, and will continue to be a great resource for research and study of Oklahoma prehistory.
13
New Ways of Honoring old traditions
OKPAN Community Spotlight: Chase KAHWINhut Earles By Kate Newton
Finding the Way Back to Discover the Way Forward
(OKPAN)
C
"My journey into the world of Native American Art ... would also become my re-education and rediscovery of my culture, from it's earliest origins to it's modern history."
hase Kahwinhut Earles has always been an artist. Yet the process of defining and accepting himself as such was a drawn-out and painstaking one. As a young child growing up in Oklahoma he found himself inextricably drawn to the world of Southwestern art. Frequent family trips to Arizona and New Mexico fostered in him a calling that would remain steadfast in his mind. This calling needled him through years of work as a non-artist when inspiration seemed to have fled and creating art and an identity as an artist felt like a luxury not afforded to him. Indeed, there seemed always to be something in the way, something else to be put first; bills to pay, work to do. "Playing in the mud" as he puts it, just wasn't in the cards. He got married, bought a house on two acres with a stream, and life moved on. Then, one day, inspiration returned. He found he was fascinated by Pueblo pottery and made extensive notes detailing vessels from Zuni, Acoma, and San Ildefonso Pueblos in New Mexico. He then researched methods for creating similar works of art. He asked questions, looked into how the clay was made and how the pots were formed. He gathered wood and bought supplies. Yet when it finally came time to create a space in which to do his work, he stopped. “Something plagued me. I could not bring myself to make a space for my pottery and actually start sculpting something, anything. It wasn't important to me … I didn't know why.” The answer to this sudden failing of inspiration came in the form of a single sentence. "I am not a Pueblo Indian." It would not be enough to mimic their work. In fact, he felt that doing so would dishonor Pueblo pottery traditions, effectively co-opting a part of their cultural identify for his gain. “That was it. That was the problem. I realized I had no voice. I felt I had no reason to create art. I then felt that to create art you had to have a meaning and a voice.” Mr. Earles has always known he was of Caddo descent, but in a story familiar to many Native Americans today, he grew up without an intimate connection to his culture or heritage. In fact, he begins the auto-biography on his website by stating, "For the larger part of my life I was raised away from my Caddo heritage and culture, mostly because of the effectiveness of the allotment doctrine, assimilation, and racism that worked too well on my parents and their parents before them." Yet, as it turned out, a connection to this heritage, seemingly out of reach and intangible, was the very thing he unknowingly sought. His search for meaning and for a voice effectively ended upon posing a simple question to himself, “Did our Caddo tribe make pottery?” The answer, he soon discovered, was a resounding yes. However, the tradition had all but died out, and existing Caddo pottery was largely relegated to the world of private collectors and museums. A once living and thriving craft now gathered dust on sterile shelves and in closets, cloistered away from the descendants of those who once practiced it. Yet, Earles discovered that there was a woman named Jereldine Redcorn, who was almost single-handedly keeping the Caddo pottery tradition alive. “Once I found her and was able to meet with her and learn of all the things she had done to revive the Caddo pottery tradition, I knew I had found my calling and my voice. I was a Caddo Indian and I was going to help revive the traditions and history of Caddo Pottery so that it could be carried on and not lost. For the first time in my life I felt like I really had a reason to create art, and a voice behind which to inspire it.” Today Mr. Earles states his goals clearly, “(I want) to keep as close to our old ways as possible when making these new contemporary pieces to show everyone how beautiful our artistic ceramic legacy was, and still is. I hope to bring our almost lost and forgotten pottery identity back into the forefront where it once was in pre- and post-Columbian times.” But he also makes an important distinction here, stating, “However, I also feel very deeply that our tribe’s representation and communication through the design and creation of pottery would have evolved over time with the introduction of new situations and environments. For that reason, I also strive to present a new ceramic and sculptural interpretation from my own experiences as an artist myself, as an ambassador to my Caddo tribe and its ancient cultural identity.” Today, Mr Earles, is a celebrated and award-winning Caddo artist. He is also a teacher and mentor, willingly sharing his knowledge and expertise through classes and community gatherings. In fact, if you visit his Facebook page you are likely to find posts like this, "“Anyone interested in seeing or participating in a traditional pottery pitfire today? If so, PM me, I will wait till ya get here.”
15
Pottery by Chase Kahwinhut Earles
16
gain. “That was it. That was the problem. I realized I had no voice. I felt I had no reason to create art. I then felt that to create art you had to have a meaning and a voice.” Mr. Earles has always known he was of Caddo descent, but in a story familiar to many Native Americans today, he grew up without an intimate connection to his culture or heritage. In fact, he begins the auto-biography on his website by stating, "For the larger part of my life I was raised away from my Caddo heritage and culture, mostly because of the effectiveness of the allotment doctrine, assimilation, and racism that worked too well on my parents and their parents before them." Yet as it turned out, a connection to this heritage, seemingly out of reach and intangible, was the very thing he unknowingly sought. His search for meaning and for a voice effectively ended upon posing a simple question to himself, “Did our Caddo tribe make pottery?” The answer, he soon discovered, was a resounding yes. However, the tradition had all but died out and existing Caddo pottery, largely relegated to the world of private collectors and museums. A once living and thriving craft now gathered dust on sterile shelves and in closets, cloistered away from the descendants of those who once practiced it. Yet, Earles discovered that there was a woman named Jereldine Redcorn, who was almost single-handedly keeping the Caddo pottery tradition alive. “Once I found her and was able to meet with her and learn of all the things she had done to revive the Caddo pottery tradition, I knew I had found my calling and my voice. I was a Caddo
Jereldine Redcorn demonstrating how to close the neck of the vase.
17
Traditional firing of pots
All photos courtesy of www.caddopottery.com
Left: Chase Kahwinhut Earles at work. Right: Pots after firing.
Indian and I was going to help revive the traditions and history of Caddo pottery so that it could be carried on and not lost. For the first time in my life I felt like I really had a reason to create art, and a voice behind which to inspire it.” Today Mr. Earles states his goals clearly, “(I want) to keep as close to our old ways as possible when making these new contemporary pieces to show everyone how beautiful our artistic ceramic legacy was, and still is. I hope to bring our almost lost and forgotten pottery identity back into the forefront where it once was in pre- and post-Columbian times.” But he also makes an important distinction here, stating, “However, I also feel very deeply that our tribe’s representation and communication through the design and creation of pottery would have evolved over time with the introduction of new situations and environments. For that reason, I also strive to present a new ceramic and sculptural interpretation from my own experiences as an artist myself, but (also) as an ambassador to my Caddo tribe and its ancient cultural identity.” After years of hard work, Mr. Earles is now a celebrated and award-winning Caddo artist. He is also a teacher and mentor, willingly sharing his knowledge and expertise through classes and community gatherings. In fact, if you visit his Facebook page you are likely to find posts like this, “Anyone interested in seeing or participating in a traditional pottery pitfire today? If so, PM me, I will wait till ya get here.” Chase Kahwinhut Earles currently serves on the OKPAN advisory board. Please visit his website by clicking here Or visit his Facebook page by clicking here.
The Oklahoma Anthropological Society is currently accepting proposals and applications for a grant of $1000 to be awarded to graduate students or professionals to conduct archaeological projects within the state of Oklahoma.
Click flyer to enlarge, click again to minimize
OAS GRANT FOR 2019 Questions concerning the grant and finalized grant applications may be sent to: okla.anthro.society@gmail.com Application deadline is December 15, 2018
18
Southeastern Oklahoma Landscape, Raecoli, CC BY-SA 3.0)
THE OKLAHOMA ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY NEWS AND EVENTS
THE COMMUNITY BULLETIN
OAS FALL MEETING
"The Mountaineer Site: A Cluster of Folsom Structures on Tenderfoot Mountain, Gunnison, CO." Visit Dr. Andrews's Rogers State University faculty page by clicking here.
"Uncovering Pea Ridge Archaeology and Arkansas's Biggest Battlefield" Visit Dr. Drexler's Southern Arkansas University Archeological Survey page by clicking here.
Dr. Carl Drexler
Dr. Lee Bement
"25th Anniversary of the Cooper Site Excavation: What We Know" Visit Dr. Bement's University of Oklahoma Archaeological Survey page by clicking here.
Dr. Brian Andrews
Be sure to mark your calendar for the OAS Fall Meeting on Saturday, November 17, 2018. The event will be held in Tulsa at the Aaronson Auditorium at the Tulsa Central Library, 400 Civic Center. Admission is free and the meeting is open to the public. The day starts at 9:30 am with a board meeting followed by the general session.
Don't miss the lineup of excellent speakers, including:
19
Dolores Davalos Navarro
"Death and Life at Paquime Chihuahua: Identifying Social Organization in the Remains of an Archaeological Site" Dolores Davalos Navarro is a doctoral candidate at the University of Tulsa.
Click images to enlarge, click again to minimize
2018 OAS FALL DIG!
20
Join the Oklahoma Anthropological Society for the 2018 Fall Dig in Muldrow, Oklahoma! OAS is returning to the Andrews site, a possible Pre-Columbian hunting camp, contemporaneous with Spiro Mounds. Dates for the dig are Thursday through Sunday, October 11-14, 2018. All dig participants must be OAS members. Anyone may join OAS for a very modest fee; contact Ray McAllister at the e-mail below for more information. To visit the OAS website click here. For more information, contact OAS dig chairman Ray McAllister at alpacamack@gmail.com
Welcome to OKPAN FACES. We want you to meet the folks that work behind the scenes to keep OKPAN humming along. From our core staff, to interns, volunteers, and our advisory panel, we are quite a large and diverse group, and we get larger nearly every day. In each issue of OKPAN Quarterly, we will highlight members of the OKPAN team and give you a glimpse of what we all do. One day you may see yourself profiled in these pages! In our inaugural issue, we are pleased to introduce our core OKPAN staff members.
OKPAN FACES
21
Bonnie with her teenaged-son Ethan
Executive Director
Bonnie is the Robert E. and Virginia Bell Endowed Professor of Anthropology at OU. She has been passionate about public archaeology for 30 years, having directed Utah State University’s Museum of Anthropology for a decade; conducted extensive First Americans-era field research with community partners in Idaho, Utah, and Colorado; and founded OKPAN here in Oklahoma. Bonnie has published numerous papers about the relationship between archaeologists and members of the public, most of which can be downloaded free from this web site: https://ou.academia.edu/BonniePitblado. There you will also find papers reporting on her archaeological area of expertise: the earliest peopling of North America. As reported earlier in the newsletter, Bonnie is currently collaborating with Amy Clark and several others to launch “GOFAR” a research program focused on the First Oklahomans.
Bonnie Pitblado
Charons Garden Wilderness #2, Larry Smith, CC BY 2.0
MeGHAN DUDLEY
Meghan is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Oklahoma. Although she studies Rocky Mountain landscape archaeology, she is fascinated by archaeology in our state and wants to share that fascination and passion with everyone! She has been involved with the national organization "Project Archaeology" and the state-wide "Oklahoma Anthropological Society," and she enjoys bringing what she has learned from both to OKPAN. In the photo at the left, Meghan is dumping dirt into Smoky the Bear's screen.
Amy earned her doctorate at the University of Arizona in 2015. Much of her archaeological experience has been in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa where she studies Neanderthals and Early Modern Humans. Her interests extend to hunter-gatherers in general, however, and she is excited to be starting up a new project focusing on the earliest occupation of Oklahoma (GOFAR). As OKPAN’s Director of Research, Amy hopes to make research accessible to the public through site visits, public lectures, and hands-on archaeological experience. In addition, she believes that the public (especially descendant communities) should be active participants in determining the direction of GOFAR's archaeological research.
22
Director of Education
Director of Research
Allison is a Ph.D. student at the University of Oklahoma. She graduated from OU with her B.A. in Anthropology in 2013, then completed her M.A. in Anthropology at the University of Kansas in 2015. She was a graduate teaching assistant during her time at KU and enjoyed the opportunity to educate students about archaeology and anthropology. Through her dissertation research, Allison hopes to expand anthropological literacy among Oklahoma K-12 students and teachers. She is excited about what OKPAN can do to expand archaeological education among her fellow Oklahomans!
Director of Operations and Outreach
23
Kate has varied public outreach experience working in the medical, education, and retail fields and a lifelong passion for cultural heritage and archaeology. She is excited to combine her interests as Assistant Director of Operations and Outreach for OKPAN, where she is responsible for social media, blogs, and the newsletter. She also helps facilitate OKPAN’s many events and initiatives.
AlLISON DOUGLAS
KATE NEWTON
Asst. Director of Operations and Outreach
Text
Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter and visit our website, okpan.org!
Stay tuned to our social media pages for an announcement about our new OKPAN and GOFAR blogs and OKPAN website!
OKPAN's Mission Statement: “Bridging communities with a passion for the past through public education and outreach, research and teaching partnerships, and professional development opportunities.”
The OKPAN Quarterly Staff: Kate Newton - Editor-in-Chief Debra Baker - Assistant Editor Brooke Armstrong- Assistant Editor
