UCF Anthropology Takes Over Annual Conference

In April, the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) held its 81st annual conference in Orlando and the UCF Anthropology Department had the opportunity to be involved.

Many UCF Anthropology faculty, students and alumni attended, volunteered and participated in the conference. The annual conference provides a forum for dissemination of knowledge and discussion to which the UCF Anthropology Department greatly contributed.

The Society for American Archaeology is an international organization dedicated to the research, interpretation, and protection of the archaeological heritage of the Americas. With more than 7,000 members, the society represents professional, student, and avocational archaeologists working in a variety of settings including government agencies, colleges and universities, museums, and the private sector.

The society leads the archaeological community by promoting research, stewardship of archaeological resources, as well as public and professional education.

Below are the faculty and students who participated and presented at the event:

• Sarah Barber, Ph.D. – Gathered for the Feast: Community and Polity Ceremony in the Lower Río Verde Valley & Gathered for the Feast: Community and Polity Ceremony in the Lower Río Verde Valley
• Diane Chase, Ph.D., and Arlen Chase, Ph.D. – The Economic Landscape of Caracol, Belize & Comparing Ancient Human-Nature Relationships at Tikal, Guatemala and Caracol, Belize
• Neil Duncan, Ph.D. – Caribbean Landscapes during the Late-Precolonial and Early-Colonial Periods
• Tosha Dupras, Ph.D. – Understanding the Neolithic Transition: Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Analysis of Subneolithic and Neolithic Animals and Inhabitants of the S.E. Baltic Coast (3200–2500 cal. B.C.)
• Amanda Groff, Ph.D.– Leprosy, Segregation, & Burial Context: Remote Desert Living in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt
• Brigitte Kovacevich, Ph.D., and Michael Callaghan, Ph.D. – New Investigations at Holtun: A Preclassic Maya Ritual Center
• George Micheletti, M.A. Candidate – The Fluidity of Ideology: A Late Classic Architectural Transformation in Plaza A at the Ancient Maya Site of Pacbitun, Belize and Chair
• Shane Montgomery, M.A. Candidate – On the Back of the Crocodile: Extent, Energetics, and Productivity in Wetland Agricultural Systems, Northern Belize
• Max Seidita, M.A. Candidate – Using pXRF to Test for the Market Exchange of Obsidian at Postclassic Santa Rita Corozal, Belize
• J. Marla Toyne, Ph.D. and Nathan Esplin (UCF College of Medicine) – Analyzing Skeletal Manifestations of Pre-Columbian Tuberculosis in the Northeastern highlands of Peru
• John Walker, Ph.D. – Mapping a Large Scale Amazonian Landscape using GIS
•  Amanda Sumner – Volunteer
• Jacklyn Rumberger, M.A. Candidate – Volunteer

UCF Anthropology Alumni also presented at the conference:

• Ariana Gugora ’15 – Childhood and Adulthood Mobility Medieval (1240’s A.D.) Solt-Tételhegy, Hungary Reconstructed from Stable Isotope Analysis
• Gregg Harding ’10 (UWF) – Beyond the Theme Parks: Community Archaeology in Greater Orlando
• Lucas Martindale-Johnson ’01,’08 (UF) and Lisa Johnson (University of California, Berkeley) – A Materialist Perspective on Ancient Maya Flaked Stone Technology: Chert Blade-Core Artifacts from Caracol, Belize
• Matthew Newton ’10 (UWF) – “A Good Place to Be: 2015 Phase I Investigations at Wakulla Springs State Park, North Florida”
  
• Serenela Pelier ’15 (UF) – Stable Isotope Evidence for the Geographic Origins and Military Movement of Napoleonic Soldiers during the March from Moscow in 1812
• Michelle Pigott ’10 (UWF) – The Apalachee in a Cultural Borderlands: A Discussion of Hybridized Ceramic Practice in the 18th century
• Alexander Rivas ’14 (Washington University in St. Louis) – Predictive Modeling and the Ancient Maya Landscape
• Marc Marino (University of Arkansas) – Source Variability and Technological Variation of Domestic Lithic Production at Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, during the Late Postclassic Period
• Max Seidita’15 – Using pXRF to Test for the Market Exchange of Obsidian at Postclassic Santa Rita Corozal, Belize
• Anthony Tricarico ’15 – “Geomorphological Assessment of Plantation Farmscapes in Antigua, West Indes.” 
• Emily-Anne Davis ’14 – Study of Archeobotanical Remains from El Campanario Site: A Preliminary Analysis of a Middle Horizon site in the North Coast of Peru, Huarmey Valley