Student Bios

Ben Wells

I graduated from Mercyhurst College in 2010 with a B.A. in Anthropology and Archaeology and minor in History. Wishing to pursue my interest in maritime archaeology, I enrolled in the UWF Historical Archaeology Master's program with maritime focus. I have excavated sites in Pennsylvania, Texas, and New Mexico, and surveyed portions of the Gulf of Mexico searching for prehistoric coastlines. My current interests include submerged Paleo-Indian sites, sail-to-steam transition, and Confederate maritime practices. Actually, I am interested in any topic remotely related to maritime archaeology and look forward to being able to work many different site types.

Stephanie Dominici

I'm currently a junior a UWF, majoring in archaeology with a maritime minor. I have been diving for 6 years and love looking for things. The combined field study school so far has shown me how to properly record and excavate a site within its context.

Richard Williams

I was raised in Milton, Florida by my mother, grandparents, and many other members of my family. Because I was always surrounded by those that served in the military through some of our nation's and planet's darkest and most memorable parts of history, I learned a great deal about history. It wasn't until I grew up that I eventually took place in some of the later 20th century's historical moments. I now have the chance to preserve our history for younger generations so that they may start where I left off as a child and garner their own interests. Field school for me was like no other, and for anyone wondering if they should attend, there is no doubt that they should. It has never been the depths of history that make us who we are, it is the journey that leads us there.

Stratigraphy

Well-defined stratigraphic layers.

Stratigraphy is the one of the most important concepts for archaeologists to use in the interpretation of a site.  For archaeologists, stratigraphy is the order in which strata, or layers of soil, relate to each other and archaeological remains.  Stratigraphy is based upon the law of superposition, which states generally that younger layers lay above older layers.  Knowing which stratum artifacts are found in gives archaeologists and idea about how old they are, relative to the other artifacts. 

Notice the brick and concrete in the top stratum; this is a historic layer. 

In lower strata, older prehistoric pottery was found.

One strategy for excavation and artifact recovery is to excavate following stratigraphy.  Our students, like all archaeologists, are trained to notice changes in soil color or texture – both of which can suggest important archaeological features.  We excavate in 10cm levels, but follow the natural stratigraphy within the level; if mid-level the soil changes we will stop and note the depths of the change and continue excavating, but keeping the new soil type separate from that above it; by doing this, we have a more exact context for any artifacts recovered.  Even the smallest of differences are important to note.  If we ignored the changes, we may be ignoring the only evidence of archaeological features, such as wall trenches, posts, and trash pits. 

Features are not always very clear. This profile has a pit running from the 

shell in the center towards the bottom-left of the photo.

However, as we excavate down by level, changes and stains are not always apparent.  That is when we rely upon studying the stratigraphy of the wall profiles of each unit.  Profiles are the best place to see and analyze stratigraphy.  It is important for archaeologists to keep walls straight and smooth while excavating to best see soil changes.  Archaeologists look at profiles during excavation to see if there are features (such as pits or wall trench remains) from levels above continuing into lower levels.  When they are noticed, archaeologists can take extra care excavating features properly and separately from the surrounding matrix (soil type).

We also look at stratigraphy after excavation.  This helps with interpreting the unit as a whole, and to notice strata or features that may have been missed during excavation.   By looking at profiles we can understand which features are oldest and youngest. We can also understand if newer features are disturbing older ones. For example, there may have been a pit in which there were several fill episodes, and possibly later a wall trench dug into it.  Understanding the law of superposition tells archaeologists which is oldest and which is youngest.

On the left is the east wall profile of a unit, and on the right is the south.

Looking at profiles side by side lets archaeologists see the continuity of strata.

You can also see a layer of the shell midden.

However, archaeologists never gain all the answers from one profile, so looking at all profiles as well as the floor of each level together is best. For this reason, photos are taken and maps are drawn at the end of each level, and the same for all four walls of a unit.  Having this documentation also provides future archaeologists and researchers the with the ability to analyze the stratigraphy, as it will never be the same as when a unit was originally excavated.  Stratigraphy provides an invaluable resource for archaeologists to use during and after excavation to interpret a site.

Student Bios

Mel Humphrey

I plan to graduate in December with a B.A. in Maritime Studies.  I am also completing minors in anthropology and biology.  Ultimately, I would love to find some work in maritime archaeology.  After graduation, I hope to do a field school in aviation archaeology…after a reef dive or two in the Caribbean!  As a kid, I pretended to fly (my swing on the playground) in search of Amelia Earhart’s plane.  I would love to join TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) on the next phase of their Earhart Project.  The skills I am learning this summer could make a childhood dream come true.  Regardless, I feel fortunate to have worked with the faculty, graduate students, and senior supervisors of the combined field school.

Stewart Hood

I am from Richmond, VA and have recently moved to Pensacola for graduate school.  I am currently taking the 2011 UWF combined field school as a prerequisite for graduate school.  I attended Virginia Commonwealth University and received my BA in history and my MA in teaching.  After teaching for a short while I realized I would rather be working with the artifacts and history rather than teaching it.  I looked for programs that had an emphasis on maritime study as well as terrestrial fieldwork and found that UWF suited both these needs.  I have really enjoyed the field school this summer as well as my other prerequisite classes and am looking forward to continuing these studies at the graduate level.

Michelle Balut

When I was in grade school, my family's house sat atop the old city landfill, so if you were to dig about a foot into the ground you would find spoons, boots, marbles, and other cool old stuff. I suppose that's where my interest in archaeology started. In December I'll graduate with a B.A. in Archaeology with a minor in Maritime Studies. I had an amazing time during the maritime portion of field school as well as learning about the world of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) from the terrestrial portion.

Kevin Bender

I chose to major in anthropology and maritime studies because I like to learn about other cultures, particularly past cultures. I also enjoy going out to different locations and looking for artifacts that can help explain how ancient people lived and developed. I hope to work in a museum or archaeology lab, or an underwater archaeologist.

Shell Middens

One major component of our site is a shell midden composed primarily of clam, and to a lesser extent, oyster shells. The species of clam is called Rangia cuneata, one of the most abundant and utilized species of shellfish among prehistoric peoples living on the Gulf Coast. The presence of these thick and extensive piles of shells is likely the result of prehistoric activity. A challenge in our fieldwork is to determine the way these middens were formed, and to learn from them about prehistoric lifeways. These middens may be discarded leftovers from one or many meals of clams and oysters, or they may be an attempt to build an elevated living floor on which shelters were constructed uphill from the water.

We have an added challenge in interpreting our shell midden. Beginning in the late 19^th century, shell middens were often taken from their original context and reused as fill on roadways and in construction. At our site, the presence of a fish camp in the first half of the 20^th century as well as subsequent road building means that we must look for signs that the shell middens are intact, as opposed to part of modern building efforts. In at least one part of the site, our large shell midden appears to be intact given the presence of unbroken, and in some cases, complete bivalve shells. If these shells had been disturbed and moved to fill in a roadway, we would expect a larger component of crushed and compacted shell. In addition to this, our finds of a prehistoric grinding stone, spear points, and a carved stone fishing weight amid the shell lend more evidence to support an intact midden.

Evidence so far from our excavations into the shell midden has indicated the presence of other animals that were likely part of the prehistoric diet: deer, turtle, catfish, and small, unidentified mammal bones. A number of small sherds of broken pottery have also been recovered, suggesting that we are currently in the midst of a prehistoric refuse pile. Our excavations over the next two weeks will help us understand the depth and extent of these shell middens and how they might relate to any structural features or evidence of cooking fires. An intact shell midden has the potential to teach us a great deal about prehistoric life, as well as provide us with information about the prehistoric environment. More information on shell middens present at prehistoric sites throughout the Gulf Coast area may be found at:

Shell Mounds and Shellfish: Staff of Prehistoric Life? http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/coast/prehistory/images/shellfish.html

Student Bios

We are currently working with our second group of students, which is a slightly smaller group than before. We would like to introduce you to them as well, so here are the first couple bios.

Elayne Nixon

I am a Senior at UWF studying Maritime Studies and Anthropology, and this summer I am a part of the Combined Field School. So far, this summer has taught me to appreciate the differences between Maritime and Terrestrial Archaeology. Combined Field School has been a great opportunity, and I have thoroughly enjoyed both sections. My plans for the future is to get a Master's Degree in Maritime Archaeology and work as a Maritime Archaeologist – either in the field or in museums.

Russell Maffet

Hello! I am a senior studying Anthropology/Archaeology at the University of West Florida, but I am not a Florida native. I am a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon and Voyages and I have gained many friends while studying here the last three years.  I enjoy reading, video games, going to the beach, playing sports, diving, hanging out with friends, and sleeping in. I also enjoy working hard. I like knowing that my efforts are for a purpose – that's why I love the combined field school for archaeology at UWF. We are out in the field doing real research rather than in the classroom and I look forward to the next few weeks of field school as we learn how to do a cultural resource assessment survey.

Reading Landforms

One component of our field school is an introduction to reading landforms. This is an art as much as it is a skill and takes considerably more time in the field than a mere 10-week field school can provide. In a nutshell, reading the landscape involves envisioning what an area looked like prior to whatever modern conditions last shaped it. You have to strip away invasive species, secondary growth, and put soils back on ridgetops and water coursing through seasonal drainages. Our survey area is proving to be a great laboratory for not only trying to imagine what once was, but for testing to see if we're right!

The current conditions of the eastern end of our survey area resemble Mars more than anything else. The powerline corridor has been very heavily eroded, with some terraforming to direct run-off into what is now a 10-ft deep erosion gully dissecting the hill face. Thompson's Creek, which once ran north and then east towards Thompson's Bayou, is now so silted in that run-off from the surface streets and surrounding ridges now just pools up where it can, flowing both north and south and east and west towards low-spots in the choked channels. However, "once upon a time" it formed two sides of a small ridge. From this higher ground, prehistoric peoples had access to freshwater and likely aquatic resources like turtles, possibly some clam beds, and small fish. Mammals commonly used as food would also have been attracted to this location.

At some point in the recent past this ridge was capped with fill materials and then a layer of clay. The edges of the landform were covered in sheets of garbage, including landscaping wastes, tires of all kinds, concrete and brick rubble, among other items. In spite of this, we found a single Tallahatta sandstone flake and three sand-tempered plain sherds on the western and northern ends of the landform, precisely where artifacts should be if our reading of this once pleasant part of Escambia County is accurate (which evidently it is!).

This week we are sharing some of the prehistoric artifacts students recovered during the first half of their field school.


One of the first artifacts recovered from a shovel test this summer was this small lithic point.

The item is a small stemmed biface with a reworked tip (point is oriented with tip facing down). The non-local material is Tallahatta Sandstone, which occurs in south central Alabama, just north of the Florida state line.


Lauren Walls found another small biface point made of a chert that is likely from northeastern Alabama, northwestern Georgia, or southeastern Tennessee. 

Judging by how thin the carefully flaked point is, the raw material was likely a very rare commodity and used very conservatively.

Discovered in close proximity to an intact shell midden, this interesting artifact is a stone plummet or possibly a pendant. The hole exhibits drill marks on both sides, and other abrasive tool marks are visible on the opposing faces of the object.  

An exciting find from one unit is three mendable sherds that form a large part of an aboriginal pottery vessel. The vessel fragments are decorated with a check-pattern produced by stamping the exterior of the vessel with a carved paddle while the clay is still damp.  

Additionally, a mend-hole is present on the lower left side of the picture. The prehistoric user of this vessel tried to extend its use by stringing some kind a fiber through a holes drilled on either side of a crack. As the fiber dried it might have pulled the crack closed enough for the vessel to be used again.


Will Wilson recoverd a Middle Woodland Period (100-500 AD) sherd in his test unit.

A close-up of the artifact shows a complicated-stamp typical of the Santa Rosa/Swift Creek culture.

This week we are half way finished with the combined field school. The first group of students completed their Phase I and II training. They did a great job and we would like to wish them “good luck” out on the water. Next week, we look forward to working with our second crew for the remainder of the summer!