Trey Huneycutt Spring '25 Archaeology Blog

 Our final lesson and blog is on Applied Archaeology and Caring for the Global Cultural Heritage. We began the discussion with Diving with a Purpose , a group that focuses on the protection, documentation, and interpretation of African slave shipwrecks and the maritime history and culture of African Americans. We discussed Cultural Resources which include physical features, natural and artificial, associated with human activity, being unique and nonrenewable.  We also discussed Applied Archaeology which seeks to acquire the knowledge necessary to aid in solving a specific, recognized societal problem and to help improve quality of life.  We discussed the Oakland Hotel and the demise of Lake Apopka and also discussed William Rathje and "Garbology" and it's social desirability bias, and study of modern humans through their refuse.    I found the section on homelessness interesting.  I volunteered with a group of citizens in Northern California a few y...

 The subject of this weeks lesson was Historical Archaeology , the study of sites and cultures that post date the arrival of the Europeans in the New World after 1492.  This focuses on the impact that colonialism had on Indigenous populations as well as other peoples that migrated to the Americas.  There are three main themes to Historical Archaeology : Hidden History: Seeks to rectify an injustice by documenting the experiences of minority or subjugated populations whose lack of access to literacy often left their voices out of traditional historical texts. Correcting Inaccuracies: Seeks to set historical records of events straight in cases where the records may be biased. Reexamining History: Seeks to determine whether our explanations of the past, or whether national “stories” of how a nation came to be, are accurate or whether the story masks the processes that led to and propagate inequalities. We discussed the Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island, the only r...

 Our discussion and lesson for week nine was Florida Archaeology.  Humans have lived in Florida for over 14,500 years but the only record of the indigenous people were the tribes that were present when Europeans arrived around 1513.  Nothing is know about the preceding tribes, and most of the tribes the Europeans contacted died of either disease or social change.  One of the current indigenous people  of Florida are the Seminole , but they descendants of the Lower Creek people of Georgia and Alabama that fled to Florida during the 1810's.  They are also the only federally recognized tribe to never have signed a peace treaty with the government.  We also discussed Dr. John Goggin who founded both the Department of Anthropology at UF and the Florida Anthropological society. He conducted research in Florida, New Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean and his focus was the interaction between colonists and natives.  We have found many artifacts from...