Student Josephine Curtis in Palm Beach County

I had a priceless experience interning for Palm Beach County Archaeologist Christian Davenport in summer 2011. I gained valuable experience in the lab working with column samples and artifacts. In the lab, I worked on the fine sort of a column sample that Mr. Davenport, his interns, and volunteers excavated the previous summer at Dubios Park. While there I learned to process a column sample for a finer sort later and establish a chain of custody of artifacts. I also trained a new volunteer to process the column sample.  Mr. Davenport was not doing much fieldwork while I was there, so he sent me to volunteer with another archaeologist so that I would gain field experience and learn more about the cultural resource management side of archaeology. My experience also went beyond the lab, as I had the opportunity to attend outreach talks, sit in on a historical resource review board meeting,and more. On several occasions, I helped the Belle Glade Historical Society inventory and organize its collection of artifacts. Every day, until my last day spent working on the historical documentation of buildings to go on record in the Florida State Office, was a new lesson on a different aspect of archaeology.

Josie on a survey.

Alumnus Profile: Dan M. ('10) in Evansville

Dan wields the auger on a Phase 1 survey.

During my final semester at UE, I was an intern for Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc. My class schedule allowed me to work in the field on Phase I surveys as needed. I also worked in the office cleaning and preserving artifacts and prepping them for museum holding, which included artifact cleaning and inking. After graduating in May, I stayed in Evansville and continued to work for CRA as a field tech. Most of the work has been Phase I surveys, which include shovel test probes and auger probes. The majority of the work has yielded little, though we have recorded several sites on the six projects this summer. One site in particular earned a Phase II excavation, which includes 50 cm x 50 cm trenches. The work is in Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky, so I get to travel a bit between the areas. Overall, the experience of being a field tech has been fun and I have learned a lot through my work in the lab and in the field.

Dan graduated with a double-major in Archaeology and Political Science from UE.

Alumnus Profile: Charlie P. ('04) in Minnesota

After graduating from UE in 2004 with a BA in Archaeology and History, I got married to Katie Y. (Archaeology ‘03) and we both started doing CRM (Cultural Resource Management) archaeology. We were not prepared for the experience of our first project, however, and we made some poor choices that left a sour taste.  I then found a job working as a night audit at a hotel while Katie worked as an assistant manager of a retail chain store.  After the hotel closed, we decided to give CRM another chance.  This time we were bitten by the shovel bug and have been working in CRM pretty much ever since.  During the past few years, I have had the opportunity to travel to small towns that seem lost in time and to large cities.  In both, I have been able to take in and appreciate architecture often inspired by the ancient temples, columns and sculpture that I studied at UE.

One thing that differentiates CRM work from many other jobs is that one does not need to specialize in one area or locale; you can work in Kentucky one week and find yourself in Arizona, New York or Pennsylvania the next.  Sometimes you can spend years and years with a single company and then work for only a few days or weeks with another, exploring countryside few have seen and discovering artifacts that no person has touched in thousands of years.  All of the archaeologists that I have talked to agree: there is a very special feeling that comes from holding a tool or other artifact that no one has touched in thousands of years!  This makes the freezing cold, blazing heat, rain, sweat and bugs worth it.  I also promise that you will not find a more interesting group of coworkers; you meet people from all walks of life in CRM, and they are all fascinating.  I can truthfully say Katie and I now have friends all around the world!

Alumnus Profile: Jon-Paul M. ('07) in Cincinnati

Jon-Paul writes about his post-graduation experiences:

After being rejected from graduate programs in Egyptology and Near Eastern Studies, I started working as a laser printer repair technician after graduating from UE. After a few months of utter boredom, I found a position in Cultural Resource Management (CRM) with Skelly & Loy that led to a job with R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates. During this time, I worked in conditions ranging from 5 degrees and a foot of snow to 100+ degrees and forests of hand-sized spiders. After receiving advice from an Egyptologist, I left CRM to take graduate courses toward a Museum Studies certificate at the University of Cincinnati; while taking courses in Museum Studies and German language I worked ca. 70 hours per week as a convenience store clerk and an assistant to an autistic student in the Cincinnati Public Schools.

I then applied to and was accepted into the MA program in Geography with a specialty in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at the University of Cincinnati because I am interested in settlement archaeology in ancient Egypt, but I deferred until 2010 to compete for funding. During this time, I returned to CRM and worked for the Louis Berger Group and R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates once again. This time around I worked at many interesting sites, including a 17th-20th century site on the coast of Maryland, a prehistoric site in northern Florida, and a plowed mound site in Louisiana. I left CRM (again) in June 2010 to start an internship in the Cincinnati Art Museum's registration department in order to complete the requirements of the Museum Studies certificate program. As an intern, I am researching the donor history and their possible descendants for objects the museum intends to de-accession in September. I will begin classes in September toward the MA in Geography and plan to complete the degree in three quarters since I must rely solely on loans after all. In the future, I plan to apply to graduate programs in Near Eastern Studies with a specialization in Egyptology; I am interested in integrating GIS with Egyptian archaeology and studying the neighborhood and district in the urban environment of ancient Egypt.

JP spent one semester at the American University in Cairo while a student at UE.  He also excavated at the site of Khirbat al-Mudayna, Jordan.  For more information about Wilfred Laurier University's excavations at the site, click here.

Alumnus Profile: Chris P. ('05) at Fort Benning, GA

After graduating from UE with a BA in Archaeology and History, Chris Parr went on to the University of Arizona to study Classics, and received his MA in 2008. As a student, Chris excavated numerous Native American sites throughout southern Illinois, including Cahokia Mounds, as well as a Roman fort in Menorca, Spain. Now, through a contract with Panamerican Consultants, Chris serves as a Cultural Resource Site Monitor for the US Army at Fort Benning, GA. As a CR Monitor, he is responsible for protecting the installation’s 850 archaeological sites and historic cemeteries from military training and construction projects. In addition, Chris manages Fort Benning’s curation facility (an artifacts and records repository) and participates in consultations with both federally recognized Native American tribes and state historic preservation offices. When not at work, Chris Parr pursues his own research of the Creek War of 1836 in Columbus, GA and the Gilded Age in St. Louis, MO.

Alumna Profile: Maureen M. ('05) in South Florida

I am the crew chief of the Tribal Archaeology Section (TAS) in the Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) that works for the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The work occurs on the various Seminole reservations that are located throughout South Florida. While the work we do in TAS is similar to CRM (Cultural Resources Management), it is a unique experience since we complete the archaeological surveys specifically for the Seminoles. We conduct these surveys prior to any new construction on the Seminole reservations. Since the TAS is fully responsible for the archaeology, we also produce all the maps related to the surveys using ArcGIS. Once a project is complete, we also write the reports. My job specifically includes determining the archaeological methodology by researching the environmental and cultural factors of an area, editing the archaeological reports, and helping to make NRHP (National Register of Historic Places) determinations of sites. I particularly enjoy working in South Florida because it is a clear example of the environment playing a significant role in people’s settlement choices. While most people throughout the world settle in areas close to water, all of South Florida was once under water, making the need for dry land critical. Most of the sites in South Florida occur on hammocks, which are tiny tree islands that were once completely surrounded by water. The basic sites on these hammocks are temporary extraction camps that consist of faunal middens, and studying these sites has allowed me to enhance my skills in zooarchaeology. Working for the Seminole Tribe is an enjoyable experience that has allowed me to incorporate spatial analyses of environmental and cultural variables with archaeological fieldwork.

Maureen received her MA in Anthropology from Florida State University.