The goal for many PhD students in archaeology is tenure-track employment. Students primarily receive their training by tenure-track or tenured professors, and they are often tacitly expected—or explicitly encouraged—to follow in the footsteps of their advisor. However, the career trajectories that current and recent PhD students follow may hold little resemblance to the ones experienced by their advisors. To understand these different paths and to provide information for current PhD students considering pursuing a career in academia, we surveyed 438 archaeologists holding tenured or tenure-track positions in the United States. The survey, recorded in 2019, posed a variety of questions regarding the personal experiences of individual professors. The results are binned by the decade in which the respondent graduated. Evident patterns are discussed in terms of change over time. The resulting portraits of academic pathways through the past five decades indicate that although broad commonalities exist in the qualifications of early career academics, there is no singular pathway to obtaining tenure-track employment. We highlight the commonalities revealed in our survey to provide a set of general qualifications that might provide a baseline set of skills and experiences for an archaeologist seeking a tenure-track job in the United States.

Human skeletal remains constitute remarkably informative finds, both biologically and socioculturally. Their recovery, preservation, conservation, storage, and analysis are complex issues that need to be addressed within any given biocultural context. Given the country's geography and the long history of human occupation, Greek field archaeology is intense and ongoing, with both rescue and systematic excavations. Human burials are thus frequently encountered in excavations throughout Greece, resulting in the accumulation of osteological material. Some of the common challenges of bioarchaeological research in Greece consist of insufficient time, funding, and documentation in the field; unmet conservation needs and lack of storage space; as well as the long time-gap between excavation and analysis. Here, we give a brief overview of excavation, curation, and bioarchaeological practice within a Greek archaeological framework. We focus on the newly launched Phaleron Bioarchaeological Project on a vast necropolis from the wider Athens region in order to present our methodological approach. Finally, we consider the role of interdisciplinary collaboration in managing large-scale bioarchaeological projects and serving long-term heritage preservation goals.

Stone alignments, including tipi rings and drive lines, are abundant on the northern Plains and adjacent Rocky Mountains, but they have been notoriously difficult to date. This paper applies luminescence dating to sediments directly underneath the rocks to estimate the age of placement of the rock. This is based on the assumption that before the rock was emplaced, turbation processes brought sufficient grains to the surface, where sunlight reset the signal. Single-grain dating of potassium feldspars allowed isolation of these original well-bleached grains, which by now have built up a signal because the rock prevents transfer to the surface. Plotting the number of original well-bleached grains with depth showed that these grains were concentrated just under the rock and decreased with depth. This is what would be predicted if the assumption is true. Dates were derived from several samples from Kutoyis in north central Montana, from Whitewater in eastern Montana, and from several sites in northwestern Wyoming. Many samples from Kutoyis and Wyoming dated to the last 600 years, but some samples from both places were more than 2,000 years old. The Whitewater features also dated to around 2,000 years ago. The ages are consistent with the cultural history of the areas.

The information potential of human skeletal remains—as for any excavated material—is impacted by the conditions of archaeological burial, and the environments and actions experienced during subsequent excavation, laboratory processing, study, and storage. A conservation approach emphasizes the mitigation of threats to material stability and integrity, which for excavated collections are often most critical at the point of archaeological exposure and recovery. Conservation techniques involving application of modern synthetic materials for stabilizing skeletal remains in the field are discussed, using case examples primarily from terrestrial archaeological projects in Mesoamerica. The potential effects of the use of various conservation materials on results of biomolecular instrumental analysis are included.

Archaeologists’ newfound ability to access vast digital collections creates opportunities but also presents challenges when those collections are from varied sources, including public institutions and private collectors. We illustrate these challenges by comparing two analyses of gender in Mimbres pottery images. Both analyses used the same procedures, but one included material in private collections, while the second drew on a smaller but more controlled sample. Gender distinctions and division of labor were revealed by the first analysis, but the results were not duplicated in the reanalysis using the controlled sample. We consider reasons for the difference, addressing how collectors’ interests may skew collections and suggesting that some particularly desirable Mimbres pottery designs were created using modern paint. The article concludes with recommendations for how archaeologists can best use mixed collections. These include considering how collections might be skewed and designing analyses to counterbalance likely issues, more chemical analyses with representative samples to gauge the extent of modern manipulation of Mimbres vessels, collecting data on the provenance (i.e., collection history) of material in order to try to trace the likelihood of post-excavation modifications, and studying the process of collecting as a means of understanding the authenticity of artifacts.

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.

Simon (2010:187) notes that the purpose of co-creative community projects is “to give voice and be responsive to the needs and interests of local community members; to provide a place for community engagement and dialogue; and to help participants develop skills that will support their own individual and community goals.” This paper explores the role that co-creation currently plays in digital public archaeology and discusses how co-creative methods can inform broader archaeological digital engagement efforts. It begins by placing co-creation in its proper context in order to demonstrate its unique characteristics, its value, and how it complicates approaches used in other types of archaeological engagement projects, such as Open Access initiatives. The discussion then turns to evaluating its impact and the broader need to measure success in digital public engagement projects. A discussion of research from the archaeology and the cultural heritage sectors provides examples of evaluation metrics and methods for assessing digital public archaeology projects. The paper concludes by suggesting that all digital engagement projects can benefit from incorporating some of the principles that are inherently part of co-creative methods but that not all archaeological digital engagement projects should strive to be completely co-creative.

In recent years, digital technologies applied to archaeology have led to considerable changes in fieldwork. However, the use of mobile GIS for fieldwork has not been widespread, especially in countries where GIS is not yet entrenched within the field of archaeology. Over the last decade, the technological context associated with mobile GIS has changed. In this text, these changes are discussed based on a case study developed in Catamarca (Argentina), in which the possibilities of a more generalized use of mobile GIS—based on free, open, and available resources (software, data, devices)–are discussed. This article assesses the main problems faced and describes the basic steps taken to implement a field recording system based on mobile GIS.

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.

Archaeology has embraced the shift to digital technology for collecting, analyzing, and sharing data. Digital repositories are now recognized as essential for data stewardship and are setting standards for data deposition. These new technologies and systems support the scientific need for reproducible results through intra-cultural as well as cross-cultural hypothesis testing. Methods of digital data collection in the field, however, are often site specific, restricted by the limited availability of digital technologies, or not well suited for creating systems that support the requirements of the new digital information paradigm. As a small science project, the Chau Hiix Project in Belize will provide examples of the pitfalls in and insights about shifting to digital technology to make its primary data shareable and reusable. These experiences suggest the need for an international collaborative agenda that develops digital data description standards based on controlled vocabulary, facet analysis, and crosswalks implemented at the analog point of collection.

Climate change is impacting archaeological sites around the globe, and Arctic sites are among the most vulnerable because the region is experiencing particularly rapid change. In the face of this threat, archaeologists, heritage managers, and northern communities need to develop strategies for documenting and monitoring Arctic sites and prioritizing them for further investigation. Using three case studies from Banks Island in the western Canadian Arctic, we demonstrate how magnetometer survey could assist in this process, despite the region's poorly developed soils, widespread glacial tills, and periglacial geomorphology, which pose challenges for the technique. The case studies illustrate the utility of magnetometry in mapping both archaeological and permafrost features in the Arctic, allowing it to rapidly investigate site structure and assess the level of threat due to climate change.

As the use of large-scale radiocarbon datasets becomes more common and applications of Bayesian chronological modeling become a standard aspect of archaeological practice, it is imperative that we grow a community of both effective users and consumers. Indeed, research proposals and publications now routinely employ Bayesian chronological modeling to estimate age ranges such as statistically informed starts, ends, and spans of archaeological phenomena. Although advances in interpretive techniques have been widely adopted, sampling strategies and determinations of appropriate sample sizes for radiocarbon data remain generally underdeveloped. As chronological models are only as robust as the information we feed into them, formal approaches to assessing the validity of model criteria and the appropriate number of radiocarbon dates deserve attention. In this article, through a series of commonly encountered scenarios, we present easy-to-follow instructions for running simulations that should be used to inform the design and construction of chronological models.

Bioarchaeologists often are faced with the challenge of managing field excavations and lab analyses of skeletal remains at the same time—along with student and staff training and curation of osteological remains—and cannot be in two places at once. This article presents strategies for the recovery of human remains useful for large projects where multiple burials must be recovered simultaneously, remains are poorly preserved, and complex burial practices such as seated body positions and commingled remains are present. The excavation and curation strategies are presented in the context of the seated burial practice in the Maya region, a funerary tradition that requires detailed documentation of the burial as well as the body in order to understand its meaning. Classic period (AD 250-900) seated burials do not fit a single biological profile; in fact, the taphonomic profile of one seated individual at Actuncan, Belize, suggests a closer relationship to body processing and/or context than to status. Tropical and semitropical environmental conditions also require modified curation procedures, which present ethical challenges as well as physical ones.

The paper outlines a pilot project that archaeologists may use to explore the utility of analyzing surface and subsurface archaeological deposits from cultivated field sites. Surface and subsurface assemblage data are compared from the Aguas Buenas period (cal. A.D. 300–900) site of Pitti-González in western Panama. The analyses presented here illustrate a means by which researchers can assess the validity of surface deposits and choose appropriate sampling designs. In the example considered here, the analysis of surface deposits points toward the same general interpretations as excavation data. It is argued that surface deposits retain significant utility and offer important advantages to researchers.

Archaeological site management goals, when informed by the input of traditional communities, can result in very different outcomes than standard cultural resource investigation strategies. A case example is presented for a large site in Albuquerque, New Mexico, containing material from the Francisco Vázquez de Coronado expedition. From 1540 to 1542, Coronado led one of the largest and most well-known explorations of the American southwest. The expedition spent much time in the Rio Grande Valley near present-day Albuquerque, including the site of Piedras Marcadas Pueblo. Formal consultations between local tribes and the City of Albuquerque in the 1990s generated a research program using geophysics and non-invasive techniques. Geophysical investigation produced results that would not have been obtained without tribal consultation to guide the research from an early point. By combining architectural data found by resistivity surveys with artifact distributions found by metal detection, details of a battle between Coronado’s expedition and puebloan people have emerged. Ongoing tribal consultation has shed light on the events that occurred at Piedras Marcadas and continues to inform interpretation and site management decisions. Resulting cooperation between traditional communities and the City of Albuquerque is a case study in the ever-important practices of co-creation and collaborative archaeology.

Archaeological tunneling is a standard excavation strategy in Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya built new structures atop older ones that were no longer deemed usable, whether for logistical or ideological reasons. This means that as archaeologists excavate horizontal tunnels into ancient Maya structures, they are essentially moving back in time. As earlier constructions are encountered, these tunnels may deviate in many directions in order to document architectural remains. The resultant excavations often become intricate labyrinths, extending dozens of meters. Traditional forms of archaeological documentation, such as photographs, plan views, and profile drawings, are limited in their ability to convey the complexity of tunnel excavations. Terrestrial Lidar (light detection and ranging) instruments are able to generate precise 3D models of tunnel excavations. This article presents the results of a model created with a Faro™ Focus 3D 120 Scanner of tunneling excavations at the site of El Zotz, Guatemala. The lidar data document the excavations inside a large mortuary pyramid, including intricately decorated architecture from an Early Classic (A.D. 300–600) platform buried within the present form of the structure. Increased collaboration between archaeologists and scholars with technical expertise maximizes the effectiveness of 3D models, as does presenting digital results in tandem with traditional forms of documentation.

Due to various factors, physical archives of archaeological significance are inconsistent in terms of level of organization and ability to access. In addition, while well-versed in archaeological theory and method, archaeologists are seldom trained in archival theory and method. These factors make it challenging for archaeologists to utilize archival records. Given some unique parallels between archival records and the archaeological record, the authors suggest that archaeological field training can, in fact, serve archaeologists quite well when conducting archival research. While this article focuses mainly on primary sources in physical archives, some discussion of digital archives is included here as well.

This article discusses recent trends in archaeological and historic preservation practices in Albania that are leading to new and innovative approaches to what is often termed “mitigation.” To understand this in an Albanian context, it is necessary to review the historical, political, and social context that has shaped the stand of this postcommunist society toward its past as well as the role that this context plays in heritage practices today. I argue that the nationalistic approach toward heritage as a key component of “nation building” in the twentieth century still resonates strongly in the current discourse. This review leads to the conclusion that standard mitigation based on avoidance, recovery/excavation, and documentation phases is the most dominant practice. Experience has shown that this is not always effective in the harmonization of conflicting interests. Public-private benefits, definition of values and significance associated with historic properties, and costs of requested mitigations have all made it clear in the last decade that alternative solutions must be found, even within the rigid boundaries of the existing legal framework. The concept of “creative mitigation” is emerging as a logical need in the practice of historic preservation.

We describe the development of an open-access database for Swift Creek Complicated Stamped ceramics, a type of pottery common to Georgia, eastern Alabama, and northern Florida in the Middle and Late Woodland periods between ca. cal A.D. 100 and 800. The characteristic stamped designs on Swift Creek pottery, created by impressing a carved paddle into a clay vessel before firing, provide unique signatures that enable archaeologists to identify paddle matches—multiple vessels, sometimes hundreds of kilometers apart, stamped with a single paddle. These paddle matches potentially allow archaeologists to trace social interactions across hundreds of kilometers with high spatial and temporal resolution. To date, however, this potential has been hindered by the limited accessibility and fragmented nature of the dataset of reconstructed designs. The database we describe integrates paddle designs with other pertinent data for identifying paddle matches and their context, including the results of sourcing and technofunctional analyses and absolute dating. We view this database not only as a critical component of our own research, but also as a platform for collaboration among researchers that will facilitate broad syntheses of the region.

This article outlines a model for teaching undergraduate and graduate archaeology students the skills for working with open-access archaeological data and using digital tools for analysis. Due to the often limited opportunities for students to learn methods directly for data reuse, large archaeological datasets remain stagnant and unused in digital archives. The bloat of unused data stands as a major ethical hurdle in heritage fields. This article explores an approach for addressing this issue, which is to incorporate data and digital literacy training into standard archaeological curricula. This approach consists of covering a wide range of topics that contribute to digital and data fluency that include both practical digital skills and discussions aimed at contextualizing the tools into larger, ethical, and sociopolitical frameworks. This article offers summaries of the activities and tutorials developed for this project and provides open access to all of the resources for future use.