This series will include presentations regarding the basics of several specialized archaeological science techniques and how those can intersect with tribal perspectives regarding sampling, destructive analysis, consultation, and NAGPRA. Each lecture will conclude with input from various tribal discussants from the Muscogee Nation, Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

This series will include presentations regarding the basics of several specialized archaeological science techniques and how those can intersect with tribal perspectives regarding sampling, destructive analysis, consultation, and NAGPRA. Each lecture will conclude with input from various tribal discussants from the Muscogee Nation, Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

This series will include presentations regarding the basics of several specialized archaeological science techniques and how those can intersect with tribal perspectives regarding sampling, destructive analysis, consultation, and NAGPRA. Each lecture will conclude with input from various tribal discussants from the Muscogee Nation, Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

LA-ICP-MS is an analytical technique that uses a microscopically focused laser to analyze materials and obtain their elemental composition. This technique is particularly well suited for small, rare, or fragile objects, but is commonly used for a wide range of materials, including pottery, lithics, bone, and glass. Samples can remain whole or have small fragments removed for analysis. This talk will outline the method of LA-ICP-MS, discuss best practices, and provide several case studies of successful projects.

Stable isotopes of oxygen are measured in ancient mollusk shells and fish otoliths to learn about past subsistence activities and environmental changes. Since shells and otoliths grow by adding new material on top of older skeletons, one can measure how oxygen isotopes varied over the organism’s life. The talk will describe the process of making these measurements, demonstrate the degree of destruction to the samples, and how such analyses may contribute to collaboration between descendant communities, and archaeologists, and how the method relates to NAGPRA.

This series will include presentations regarding the basics of several specialized archaeological science techniques and how those can intersect with tribal perspectives regarding sampling, destructive analysis, consultation, and NAGPRA. Each lecture will conclude with input from various tribal discussants from the Muscogee Nation, Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

My research engages with protected areas declared by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, often called ICCAs or Territories of Life. With experience working in Indigenous conservation both with Indigenous Karen people in Southeast Asia and First Nations in Canada, I have returned to the academy to pursue further research with the Salween Peace Park, a large ICCA being developed by the Karen people in the autonomous territory of Kawthoolei on the border between Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) in Southeast Asia.

Congratulations to Dr. Don Nelson on receiving a grant from the National Science Foundation for project titled, "Landscape Exchange Network for Socio-environmental systems (LENS)!" Dr. Nelson is a Co- Principal Investigator and UGA Anthropology PhD student, Bruno Ubiali, is senior personnel on the project, along with Co- Principal Investigators Meredith Steele, Matthew Williamson, Elsa Ordway, and Principal Investigator, Andrew Elmore.