Our monthly meetings feature a guest speaker and we are fortunate to have heard a variety of topics including prehistoric and historical archaeology, cultural resource management, public archaeology, cemetery conservation, historic preservation, forensic anthropology, cultural anthropology, and travelogue presentations.
2015
January 2015 The Nashville Zoo Cemetery: Revealing the Unknown Through Bioarchaeology and DNA, Dr. Shannon Chappell Hodge, Associate Professor of Anthropology, MTSU
February 2015 Prehistory Beneath Our Feet: Doing Archaeology in Rutherford County, Dr. Tanya M. Peres, Professor of Anthropology, MTSU
March 2015 From Murder to Mummies: Days in the Life of a Forensic Anthropologist, Dr. Hugh Berryman, Director, Forensic Institute for Research and Education; Professor of Anthropology, MTSU
April 2015 TDOT Archaeological Investigations in Rutherford County, Phillip Hodge, M.A., Tennessee Department of Transportation, Archaeology Division
May 2015 Tracing the Footsteps of a Moroccan Ruling Dynasty Through Archaeology, Dr. Ron Messier, Professor Emeritus of History, MTSU
June 2015 The First Tennesseans: Humans and the Environment at the End of the Ice Age, Dr. Jesse Tune, Visiting Professor, Fort Lewis College
July 2015 Landscape of Liberation: Archaeology and the African-American Geography of Civil War Tennessee, Zada Law, M.A., Director, Fullerton Laboratory for Spatial Technology, Geospatial Research Center, Geosciences Department, Middle Tennessee State University
August 2015 (two meetings)
August 6, 2015 Archaeology in Transylvania: Excavations of an Early Iron Age Site at Magura Uroiului, Romania, Ginny Lucas, M.A, Ms. Lucas is a bioanthropologist and archaeologist with a Master’s Degree from the University of Alabama, Birmingham.. A former graduate of MTSU and member of its forensic anthropology team (MTSU FIRE/FASR), she is entering the University of Nevada, Las Vegas this fall to pursue her PhD in Anthropology.
August 20, 2015 Two Centuries of Hallowed Ground: The Archaeology and History of Murfreesboro’s Old City Cemetery, Dr. Kevin E. Smith, Professor of Anthropology, MTSU.
September 2015 The Pickett Chapel Community Research Project: A Community Based research project on the history, archaeology, and memory of Pickett Chapel, an 1827 Methodist Church in Lebanon, Tennessee, Philip Hodge, M.A., Tennessee Department of Transportation, Archaeology Division
October 2015 The Celts: A View From Ireland, Dr. Brad Bartel, MTSU University Provost (Executive VP for Academic Affairs) and Professor of Anthropology.
November/December 2015 The MTSU Study Abroad Trip: Our Archaeological Adventures, Pat Thomas, Academic Affairs Special Events Coordinator, MTSU
2016
January 2016 Confessions of a Fieldwork Junkie, Dr. Carroll Van West, Tennessee State Historian; Professor of History and Director, MTSU Center for Historic Preservation
February 2016 Mythbusting The Maya: Fifty Centuries of Settlement and Subsistence in the Peten Rainforest, Dr. Andrew Wyatt, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, MTSU
March 2016 Stones River National Battlefield: Public Parks and Private Homes, Dr. Will Leggett, Associate Professor of Anthropology, MTSU and Elusive Narratives: Native Americans and Middle Tennessee History, Kelsey Lamkin, Anthropology undergraduate student, MTSU
April 2016 Historical Archaeology and Civic Engagement at Clover Bottom Plantation: Seeking Stories of Family and Community, Dr. Kathyrn Sikes, Assistant Professor of Historical Archaeology, MTSU
July 2016 Cemetery Archaeology and Conservation in Tennessee, Dan Allen, M. A. Dan Allen and Associates
August 2016 Archaeology For The Public: My Journey in Educational Archaeology from Jamestown to Yorkshire, Jared Bryson, M.A. Discovery Center of Murfree Spring
September 24, 2016 Archaeology Day Special Event,Presented by the Rutherford County Archaeological Society
October 2016 Archaeological Survey of Tennessee’s Rosenwald Schools, Benjamin Nance, M.A. Tennessee Division of Archaeology
November/December 2016 Doing Public Archaeology, Marsha Welch, M. A., Tennessee Department of Transportation, Archaeology Division
2017
February 2017 The Protection of Archaeological and Historic Resources: Cultural Resource Management and Tennessee Law, Jared Barrett, M.A., TRC Environmental, Nashville
March 2017 Bringing Back A Special Place: Murfreesboro’s Old City Cemetery Site, Laura Bartel, M.A., President, Rutherford County Archaeological Society, Adjunct Professor of Anthropology, Motlow College
April, May 2017 fieldwork projects
June 2017 Tattooing in Antiquity, Aaron Deter-Wolf, M.A. Tennessee Division of Archaeology
July 2017 Interpreting Old Stone Fort (museum), Dr. Brenden Martin, MTSU Professor of History and Director, Public History Program
August 2017 Stone Tool Production of the Common Folk: Studying the Maya of Tamarindito, Guatemala, Phyllis Johnson, M.A., Vanderbilt University, PhD candidate
September 2017 The 2017 Excavations at Castalian Springs, Dr. Paul Eubanks, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, MTSU
October 2017 Just What Does the Tennessee Division of Archaeology Do? Sarah Levithol Eckhardt, M.A., Archaeologist, Tennessee Division of Archaeology
November/December 2017 The Bosely Cemetery Removal Project, Jared Barrett, M.A., Archaeologist TRC Corporation
2018
January 2018 Annual Meeting of Current Research in Tennessee Archaeology, sponsored by the Tennessee Council for Professional Archaeology and Middle Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN.
February 2018 Stories From The Field: Our Fieldwork and Experiences in Brazil, Dr. Andrew Wyatt, Associate Professor, MTSU and Clelie Cottle Peacock, Kelly Daniel, and Christopher Lane, MTSU Anthropology students
March 2018 Skeletons, Isotopes, and the Body Farm: You Are What (and Where!) You Eat. Dr. Tiffany Saul, Research Assistant Professor with the MTSU Forensic Institute for Research and Education (FIRE).
April 2018 At The Edge Of Archaeology: William Gregory Wood-Martin and the Development of Archaeology at the Turn Of The 20th Century, Lydia Harris, M.A.
June 2018 Field Trip/ Excavation at Castalian Springs, TN, Dr. Paul Eubanks, MTSU
July 2018 New Interpretations of Paleolithic Cave Art in Europe, Dr. Brad Bartel, Professor of Anthropology, MTSU
August 2018 Interpreting Mesa Verde National Park: A House or a Home?, Mark McDonald Crawford III, NPS Interpretive Ranger
September 2018 Tennessee Archaeology Awareness Month–Archaeology Day events (participant with TCPA at Bells Bend, Nashville and RCAS’s own in Murfreesboro (rescheduled and held in November due to inclement weather)
October 2018 Walking Tour Of Sellars Farm Site, Phillip Hodge, M.A., Director, Archaeology Department, TDOT, and Dr.Shannon Chappell Hodge, Professor, MTSU
November 2018 Traversing Transylvania: My Research and Experiences from ArchaeoTek’s 2018 Medieval Cemetery Funerary Field School. Clelie Cottle Peacock, B.S. Anthropology, MTSU
2019
January 2019 Current Research in Tennessee Archaeology (CRITA) annual meeting, Middle Tennessee State University
February 2019 1. Tales from the Rock Pit: Reinterpreting a Limestone Midden Feature from Castalian Springs, TN. Madeline Laderoute, B.S., Anthropology, MTSU 2. Preliminary Findings from MTSU’s Fort Negley & Bass Street Community Historical Archaeology Project. Clelie Cottle Peacock, B.S. Anthropology, MTSU
April 2019 Archaeology Exhibits at the new Tennessee State Museum–A Behind the Scenes Discussion of How They Came About. Nick Fielder, Retired Tennessee State Archaeologist and Tennessee State Museum consultant Nick Fielder
June 2019 Archaeological Field Trip and Volunteer Excavation, Castalian Springs, Tennessee. Hosted by Dr. Paul Eubanks, Assistant Professor of Anthropology , MTSU.
August 2019 Take This Into Account: Tennessee’s Post-Emancipation Landscape. Zada Law, M.A., Director of the Geospatial Research Center at MTSU
October 2019 Archaeological Expeditions of the Peabody Museum in Middle Tennessee, 1877–1884. Michael C. Moore, Tennessee State Archaeologist; Director, Tennessee Division of Archaeology
December 2019 Meeting and Social gathering at the DogHaus Restaurant
2020
2020 marks the fifth anniversary of our first meeting!
February 2020 Murfreesboro’s Black Cat Cave: From Sacred Space to Speakeasy, Dr. Shannon Chappell Hodge, Professor of Anthropology, MTSU
April through ? Meetings on hold due to Covid-19 pandemic
2021 We’re Back!
August 2021 The Tennessee Division of Archaeology at 50 and Beyond, Phil Hodge, Tennessee State Archaeologist, Director, TN Division of Archaeology
September 2021 Mastodons to Mississippians: Adventures in Nashville’s Deep Past, Dr. Tanya Peres, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Florida State University
October 2021 Open House at Murfreesboro’s Old City Cemetery, Dedication of NRHP plaque and APTA historical sign, tours and displays. , Rutherford County Archaeological Society, Host.
November 2021 Recovering Nashville’s African American History in Fort Negley’s Bass Street Community, Dr. Andrew Wyatt, MTSU
2022
February 2022 Using the Past to Predict the Future, Nick Fielder, M.A., Former Tennessee State Archaeologist
March 2022 Forthcoming this month: Guardians of Antiquity: The Care and Management of Archaeological Collections, Macie Orrand, M.A., Collections Manager, TN Division of Archaeology
( Updates forthcoming)
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
2023 Updates forthcoming
Rutherford County Archaeological Society 