My specialty is Historical Archaeology which means I excavate and analyze the remains from sites that date within the last 500 years.  I have worked in many locations in the United States but my most concentrated efforts have been in Annapolis, Maryland and New Orleans, Louisiana. My newest project will be art King Manor in Queens, New York.  We will begin there in the summer of 2004 and be running a field school.  All students are welcome to sin up!!  (go to Field School website)

As a corrollary to excavation I have also explored the relationship between archaeology and the public in terms of protecting archaeological sites and artifacts (see the cartoon) and making archaeological research more relevent to living people.
 
 
 
 

King Manor, Queens The archaeology field program in the summer of 2004 will be set at King Manor in Jamaica, Queens, New York. The site contains the standing historic house of Rufus King, a signer of the US Constitution and a Senator from New York in the early 1800s. The house was the King family home throughout the 19th century and was run as a commercial farm. About King Manor

This summer we are looking to learn more about the transformation of the King site over the 19th century as nearby New York City exploded into a modern metropolis. How did everyday life in Jamaica change as a result of rapid urbanization nearby? How did modern farming techniques affect domestic life and local labor relations? How did the commemoration of the King site as a historic site and park at the end of the 19th century fit in with modern life in the newly created Five Borough system of New York?  Field School website

 
 

Annapolis In Annapolis I was a member of the Archaeology In Annapolis research project.  My focus was on the construction of 'landscapes of history.'  This means that I observed in the construction of urban spaces how the builder's referenced the past.  I discovered that in Annpoilis this form of reference changed over time depending on how Annapolis existed within the surrounding region.  I encourage you to explore the Archaeology in Annapolis website or to read the preface to the book manuscript I have prepared on this research.

 
 

New Orleans In New Orleans I was the Director of the Greater New Orleans Archaeology Program at the University of New Orleans in 1998-1999.  My focus here was on developing an archaeological understanding of the Creolization process in New Orleans.  This included working both with the materials recovered from archaeological sites as well as doing archaeologies of the present by talking with people today about what being Creole really means.  This work led me to explore the archaeological construction of modern racial identities as people in the past and the present debated and created their racial identities.  To see some of this work go to the GNOAP webpage or read some of the papers listed below.  For now I still have to complete my research in New Orelans which primarily involves the production of a report on the St. Augustine Site. (poster designed by Lauren L. Fausterman, UNO Marketing and Communications Department)

 

Stanford/CRM Before coming to Hofstra I led a field school at Stanford University which focused on the excavation of the Stanford family mansion on the Stanford campus itself.  This late 1800s house was a glorious 'country' residence for the wealthy Stanfords until it was destoryed by a 1906 earthquake, the same earthquake that heavily damaged nearby San Francisco.  Our research was part of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) project being undertaken by the University.  This sort of work is slightly different from Academic archaeology because it is driven by the needs of development as much as by any explicitly archaeological concerns.  CRM has led to new ideas about archaeology by identifying the archaeological as a precious resource.  So when a field crew discovered that a good portion of the foundations and basement of the Stanford family mansion were intact below the surface of the ground, it was dtermined that the site should be excavated so that its archaeological value could be retrieves appropriately prior to its destruction by a new development.

 
 

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