2023 Lecture Series

On the second and fourth Friday of each month, the NAHAR working group hosts a virtual lecture. This event serves as an opportunity for scholars to come together to find common research threads and develop action items that address heritage at risk.

Below is a list of past lectures with links to recorded content.

An Interdisciplinary Assessment of Wooden Shipwreck Stability in a Shallow-Water Tidal-Fresh Ecosystem

Allyson Ropp, Eastern Carolina University

9am EST, Friday, January 14, 2023

Publishing and Proposals with the University Press of Florida

Mary Puckett, University Press of Florida

9am EST, January 27, 2023

This presentation will explore university press book publishing and how to publish your own book project. We will discuss the stages of the publication process (acquisitions; editorial, design, and production; and marketing) and how to prepare a book proposal.

Click here for the presentation.

Updates on Fort Mose: Mixed Methodologies at a Threatened Site

Lori Lee, Summer Brown, and Jillyan Corrales, Flagler College

9am EST, February 10, 2023

Collective Minds: Bringing Our Best Thinking to Archaeological Site Interpretation and Stewardship in Wabanaki Homeland

Bonnie Newsom, University of Maine

9am EST, February 24, 2023

Indigenous communities are challenged by threats to heritage resources due to residual effects of colonization. Climate change adds another dimension to these challenges through the destruction of Indigenous heritage spaces. The UMaine archaeology program supports Indigenous resilience to climate change through community-engaged approaches to archaeological research. A recent collaboration between the UMaine, the Wabanaki Nations, and Acadia National Park exemplifies these efforts by blending archaeological science with site stewardship and community engagement. This presentation discusses efforts to bring diverse voices and interpretations to research on, and stewardship of, the Frazer Point Site in Acadia National Park, Maine.

Working from the Ground up:  Identifying the vulnerabilities of cultural resources to climate change in the Midwest

Michael Aiuvalasit and John Lambert, Illinois State Archaeological Survey

9am EST, March 24, 2023

Coastal and Arctic settings are on the front-lines of climate impacts to cultural resources; however, interior settings face their own vulnerabilities to climate change. In this presentation, we identify threats that climate change brings to cultural resources in the Midwestern United States. Increases to the frequency and magnitude of flooding, accelerated soil erosion, and changes to patterns of development present additional challenges to the management and preservation of cultural resources. Our presentation highlights a recent effort by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey to develop a state-wide model of the potential for soil erosion, which is seen as particularly damaging to cultural sites. Analysis at a state-wide level shows how vulnerabilities typically seen as being site-specific are actually problems at regional scales.

Engagement with Tribes on Cultural Resources and Climate Change Projects

Rayle Heinzig, April Taylor, Courtney Hotchkiss, South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, and Erin Seekamp, North Carolina State University

9am EST, April 14, 2023

A Flood of Data: Results of ESHPF River Surveys in Virginia

Brendan Burke, Virginia Department of Historic Resources

9am EST, April 28, 2023

In 2018 hurricanes Michael and Florence caused damage across wide swaths of Virginia. In response, an Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund (ESHPF) was created by the U.S. Congress and awarded to eligible states by the National Park Service. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources received $4.7 million in funds from the ESHPF and has since awarded numerous grants to provide disaster relief to architectural resources as well as conducting surveys of riparian areas prone to damage from storm events. These surveys are resulting in an updated inventory of 6.7% of the state’s rivers and have more than doubled documented resources in project areas. Work will continue through 2024. This paper provides a synopsis of lessons learned and project results from ESHPF attempts to gather baseline archaeological data in areas prone to continued damage from hurricanes and increased flood events.

Diving with a Purpose – Restoring our Oceans, Preserving our Heritage

Erik Denson

9am EST, May 12, 2023

Drowning in the Drink: Climate Change and the Threat to Lowcountry Moonshining Sites

Katherine G. Parker, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

9am EST, June 9, 2023

Moonshine still sites are frequently underrepresented in cultural resource inventories—especially sites located in coastal or lowland settings instead of the Mountain South, where popular culture has conditioned us to expect them. While research interest in these resources is growing, researchers may find that their ability to document archaeological evidence of moonshining is facing additional challenges posed by changing climate conditions and climatic disasters. This talk will synthesize current research into the archaeology of moonshine, with particular emphasis on work from the Francis Marion National Forest (FMNF) Still Sites Project in the South Carolina Lowcountry, and discuss how the combined impacts of standard archaeological practice and climate change pose an imminent threat to future work.

Environmental and Historic Preservation at FEMA in Island Settings: Challenges and Opportunities

Ryan Harke

9am EST, July 14, 2023

Ask me about the Lasers: Documenting Heritage at Risk with 3D Digital Heritage Techniques

Emily Jane Murray, Florida Public Archaeology Network

9am EST, July 28, 2023

The Maritime History of LaSoye Bay, Dominica

Maria Meranda, University of South Florida

9am EST, August 25, 2023

After the discovery of a 17th century site one the shores of small harbor on Dominica’s windward coast was made in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017, a dissertation project was designed to include the underwater and maritime components of the area. Situated along a historic trade route between Marie Galante, Martinique and Guadeloupe, this passage was used from Columbus’s second voyage to the Caribbean until the onset of steam powered vessels in the 20th century.  LaSoye bay is one of the few harbors along Dominica’s West coast offering relatively calm conditions and protections from the winds for safe anchorage. Prior to European presence, the site was occupied by indigenous groups with remnants of sites found along the shores. This project incorporates a range of methods in order to characterize both the environmental and anthropogenic features of the bay and to understand how it has changed throughout time. Field work has focused on the material remains in the bay, utilizing diver led survey and identifying target areas determined by a Garmin UHD FishFinder and examining the environmental history of the bay through coring. The study will offer insights into the maritime trade and travel on the isolated windward coast of Dominica and will illustrate how human use of the bay has changed throughout history.

Threats to Our Ocean Heritage: Incorporating the UN Decade for Ocean Science with Underwater Cultural Heritage

Charlotte Jarvis, The Ocean Foundation, Het Scheepvaart National Martime Museum

9am EST, September 8, 2023

While the UN Decade for Ocean Science (2021-2030) has hundreds of endorsed ocean science activities, projects, and programmes relating to natural heritage and ocean biosciences, there are very few endorsements that focus on cultural heritage. The Cultural Heritage Framework Programme, led by the Ocean Decade Heritage Network was the first. This talk will discuss an upcoming book project, Threats to Our Ocean Heritage, which includes three volumes on UCH destruction from bottom trawling, potentially polluting wrecks, and deep seabed mining. The books are an endorsed activity and present a case study in how the UN Decade can be used to bring cultural heritage to the table with natural heritage and bring underwater archaeology to the ocean sciences.

Decolonial Storytelling and Reception Studies of Egmont Key for the Coastal Heritage at Risk Taskforce (CHART)

Meryl Shriver-Rice, University of Miami

Friday, December 8, 9am EST

Scholars have recently begun estimating and planning for the impacts climate change will have on heritage resources in regions around the world. Florida stands to lose more recorded sites than any other state in the region, with nearly 4,000 estimated to be lost to a one-meter rise. For many of these heritage sites, untold stories of Florida history that are currently missing from the public record will also fade into obscurity as destruction occurs due to sea-level rise. Many of these stories are of marginalized groups who encountered colonial violence before the start of Florida state history, and who often had to flee their communities or were forcibly removed by city planners or state military. These sites include the stories of the Underground “Saltwater” Railroad for Black Americans in Miami, and the forced removal of Indigenous people to internment camps on the west coast of Florida. The Coastal Heritage at Risk Task Force (CHART) team is a partnership of public, private, academic, and government entities. CHART takes a decolonial approach to narrative storytelling of at-risk coastal heritage sites and their untold stories in Florida for secondary education classrooms and the public, while also assessing site risk for future adaptation strategies