Area of Interest:

Southeastern U.S. Archaeology, Spatial Analysis and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Multi-elemental Soil Chemistry Analysis, Geological Provenance, Lithic Analysis (including use-wear), Public Outreach, K-12 Professional Development and Curriculum.

Education:

Entered the program in 2001.
College of William and Mary, BA 1999
Penn State University, MA 2001.

Research & Activities:

Most of my research is related to the prehistory and history of the Carolinas.  My dissertation project combines artifact spatial analysis and multi-elemental soil chemistry analysis to identify activity areas at an early nineteenth-century Catawba Indian town in the South Carolina backcountry.  I have also recently been involved in a collaborative ceramic sourcing project that identified regional sources of clays and tempers used to manufacture Woodland-period (ca. 1000 B.C. – A.D. 1600) pots found in the Fort Bragg region of the North Carolina Sandhills. 

In addition to my research, I am dedicated to sharing archaeology with the public.  I am particularly interested in the use of inquiry-based archaeological activities to teach social studies, science, math, language arts, and art in K-12 classrooms.  To this end, I facilitate workshops and other professional development opportunities for K-12 educators and develop educational resources geared toward the NC Standard Course of Study. 

Selected Publications:

2008 Woodland Pottery Sourcing in the Carolina Sandhills.  Research Report 29.  Research

Laboratories of Archaeology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  (Co-edited with Joseph M. Herbert.)

2006 Stone Quarries and Sourcing in the Carolina Slate Belt.  Research Report 25.  Research

Laboratories of Archaeology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  (Co-edited with Vincas P. Steponaitis, Jeffrey D. Irwin, and Christopher Moore.)

2005 “Spatial and Temporal Patterning in the Distribution of North Carolina Projectile Points.”  North Carolina Archaeology 54:1-33.

2004 “Catawba Population Dynamics During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.” North Carolina Archaeology 53:42-59.