Building Capacity: Educating and Training Submerged Terrestrial Archaeologists

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Submerged Paleolandscape Investigations in the Gulf of Mexico" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In spite of an increased interest in submerged terrestrial landscapes and an increased need for trained professional archaeologists to support offshore energy development projects, educational programs in the advanced survey technologies, analytical software and methodologies, and educational coursework necessary to discover and interpret submerged landscapes remains in a nascent stage of development. Faculty with the University of West Florida contributed educational outreach opportunities to support a NOAA grant awarded to explore paleolandscapes and the ca. 8000 BP shoreline of the outer continental shelf of the western Gulf of Mexico. These educational and training activities included graduate student support, high-impact educational practices, and mentorship and training in basic analytical techniques on samples derived from the grant-supported fieldwork. Additionally, a course in submerged terrestrial archaeology was offered to professionals and students in August 2022. Over several days, working professional archaeologists and scholars presented overviews of cultural historical contexts as well as lectures on submerged site modeling and discovery. Course participants were asked to consider what a successful submerged terrestrial higher educational program might include. This paper summarizes the results of these activities and more specifically considers the challenges of standing up a program in submerged terrestrial archaeology at a regional comprehensive university.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Submerged Paleolandscape Investigations in the Gulf of Mexico   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38385.0