In 2014, the Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) conducted a sexual harassment survey of its membership. The survey's goal was to investigate whether sexual harassment had occurred among its members, and if so, to document the rate and demographics of harassment. Our findings include a high (66%) level of harassment, primarily among women, with an additional 13% of respondents reporting sexual assault. This article provides an overview of the survey and responses. Additionally, we analyze survey data aimed at capturing change over time in harassment and assault, correlation between field and non-field tasks and harassment and assault, and correlation between gender of supervisor and harassment and assault. We also discuss the effects of harassment and assault on careers. We conclude with suggestions for decreasing the rate of harassment and assault and urge professional archaeological organizations to document sexual harassment and assault to mitigate the effects on their members and on the discipline as a whole.

The impact of natural disasters and climate change on archaeological resources has garnered much recent attention, with impacts of sea level rise and coastal flooding being the two most often cited issues. However, damage caused by flooding of interior areas and waterways has received less consideration. In this article, we present a case study of a collaborative emergency response to a significant weather event and the ensuing impacts on archaeological resources. Our project, located in Middle Tennessee, documented severe erosion and subsequent anthropogenic disturbances to ancient Native American sites following massive flooding of the Cumberland River in 2010. While striving to mitigate this damage via systematic collection of imperiled archaeological samples, we were also able to strengthen partnerships among professional archaeologists working in different arenas (academia, state and federal agencies) and the avocational archaeological community. As these types of weather-related events become more common, published case studies of response efforts will be crucial in archaeological site management, planning, and disaster response.

Most archaeological practice involves horizontal excavations of ancient occupations and cemeteries, but the Chachapoya of Peru's eastern montane built tombs along narrow cliff ledges, which require innovative methods of investigation. Many of these sites are becoming exposed and threatened due to increased deforestation. The La Petaca mortuary complex includes 125 constructed platforms, modified ledges, mausoleums, and caves containing human remains across one section of an exposed rock face approximately 200 m across by approximately 80 m high. While the site has been looted and damaged due to various taphonomic processes (including ecological, geological, and cultural), we argue that there are recoverable details, especially in relation to how the ancient Chachapoya people created and accessed these vertical spaces. Through collaboration with technical professionals, we identified and documented many tombs using vertical progression techniques. This valuable partnership between spelunkers and archaeologists allowed us to develop techniques for “vertical archaeology,” including safe access in order to be able to document, sample, and make detailed observations of building methods and burial contents.

Absorbed residue studies have been used in subsistence research for decades. Only more recently have the chemical methods employed been used to explore the consumption of ritual concoctions such as those including cacao, yaupon holly, and alcohol. In this article we use mass spectrometry to identify Datura residues in prehistoric contexts from western Mexico and the American Southeast. Datura is a genus of flowering plants that contain hallucinogenic alkaloids. Their use in both regions is known historically and still continues today. This study sampled 55 pottery vessels and 18 shell vessels using both a traditional burr method and a water-based sonicator sampling method. Datura residues were found in 13 pottery vessels and 14 shell vessels using both sampling approaches. These results demonstrate that it is possible to identify Datura residue in pottery and shell vessels and that the use of Datura extends back into prehistory in both regions. The form and decoration of pottery vessels with Datura residues show correlations with specific motifs and themes. Historically, shell vessels were used in the Southeast for the consumption of another ritual beverage, called the Black Drink. The presence of Datura shows that those vessels were used for other kinds of beverages as well.

Theories developed and validated using ethnographic and historical resources are often difficult to examine using sparse or fragmentary archaeological material. However, a number of statistical techniques make it possible to integrate data from ethnographic, historical, and archaeological resources into a single analytical framework. This article introduces Material Correlates Analysis (MCA)—a new method of filling gaps in the archaeological data using a strategic combination of data collection, multidimensional scaling, principal component analysis, and generalized liner modeling. Generalized liner modeling is a particularly useful tool in formal inferential statistics for comparing a priori classified groups of historical and/or ethnographic (known) cases with archaeological (unknown) ones on the basis of relevant variables. MCA allows us to overcome the inherent material culture limitations regarding data on key variables by using available historical or ethnographic evidence to make statistically testable inferences regarding archaeological data. Using the Modes of Religiosity theory as an example, we demonstrate how major gaps in the evidentiary record can be overcome using the techniques we outline. Specifically, we use the MCA approach to ascertain whether the agricultural transition in southwest Asia was associated with a shift from an imagistic to an increasingly doctrinal mode of religiosity.

In this essay, we examine the potentials and challenges of mobile computing for a core activity of archaeological laboratory research—the typological analysis of ceramics. We discuss the collaborative development, implementation, and evaluation of the PAZC Ceramics module in the FAIMS Mobile platform. Our deployment of the module yielded significant improvements in the efficiency of data collection, as well as reduced numbers of missing fields and higher user satisfaction scores. However, it did not improve data consistency between users and yielded a classificatory system that was somewhat more challenging to update than our previous mode of operation. These results underscore some of the trade-offs that may be entailed in employing mobile technologies for archaeological applications and highlight the ways in which specific media configurations impact the production of archaeological knowledge.

Quadrotor-UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) systems are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in archaeological field research for the production of digital elevation models and orthophoto mosaics of sites, monuments, and landscapes. In order to make up for the lack of suitable imagery to use in a larger project on the landscapes surrounding Bronze Age tell sites in the Murghab delta of eastern Turkmenistan, we developed a protocol for the deployment of out-of-the-box UAV systems to document sites and their immediate environs. This article discusses the fundamentals of aerial survey based on our experience deploying a quadrotor UAV, using examples from our case study of the site of Togolok 1. We argue that the approach we developed is particularly useful for mesoscale survey, between 1 and 5 km2, and is particularly useful for producing technical quality outputs, even by relative newcomers to UAV-based aerial survey.

From a perusal of archaeological and museum journals it is apparent that there is a rich literature dealing with topics such as the place of museums and repositories in anthropological research, engagement with indigenous/descendant populations by archaeologists working in a variety of settings (including collections-based research), and research centered on the study of existing archaeological collections. Despite this rich literature, however, the archaeological researcher who wishes to use collections in archives, museums, or repositories for the first time is often perplexed by how to gain access to collections, how to communicate with archive/museum/repository professionals, the constraints that archive/museum/repository professionals work under, and—at an even more basic level—what the difference between an archive, a museum, and a repository actually is. This article addresses some of these questions and provides a practical guide to opening up the vast research opportunities presented by existing collections.

In the digital age, cultural organizations strive to retain audience engagement especially via experimentation with novel technologies and social media. The latter are increasingly influencing the way cultural heritage is perceived, providing options for grappling with crucial issues in the sector, including sustainability, openness, and public participation. One tool that has been deployed to explore these issues is the chatbot, a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the internet. Chatbots run through different conversational interfaces, but they have a particularly heavy application in Facebook Messenger. Within the museums and cultural sector specifically, these robotic media are regularly proclaimed to offer novel engagement mechanisms that can empower participants to actively participate in the heritage process. However, most heritage Messenger bots are purely informative and object- or exhibit-centered, providing little opportunity for meaningful interactivity, creative expression, or critical engagement. This article explores and critically reviews three Messenger chatbots related to heritage organizations, concluding with suggestions for their future development.