I’m half-way through my term as President of the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas and one of the biggest transitions for the organization has just happened…pretty quietly. The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas is now known as simply Preserve Arkansas. This is a branding change that has been underway for two years–since we did our […]
Vernon R. Perry, 82, of Magnolia, Arkansas, died Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at the John R Williamson Hospice House in El Dorado. Vernon was born June 9, 1933 in Walkerville in Columbia County. He was an amateur radio operator for 60 years (Call Sign: K5MEB) and a Columbia County reserve deputy for 25 years. Vernon […]
Dr. Leslie C. “Skip” Stewart-Abernathy Retires, June 30, 2015 After 38 years of service with the Arkansas Archeological Survey, Leslie C. Stewart-Abernathy―known to us as “Skip”―retired June 30, 2015. Skip was born Leslie C. Abernathy III on May 11, 1948, in Memphis, Tennessee. He grew up, however, in Jonesboro, Arkansas. In 1970, he received his […]
Time for an update…as many folks know, I have just made a huge change this summer…moving from Magnolia in southwestern Arkansas back to Fayetteville in the Ozark Mountains. This has been a pretty stressful move, but it looks like many of the kinks are getting worked out. I have been the Arkansas Archeological Survey’s UAF […]
“…it all happened in the Ozark Mountains, many miles from what we of the city call civilization.” –Harold Bell Wright (1907:1) News came out today that a longtime Ozark tradition is taking a final bow. The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Theater in Branson, MO announced it will close on October 19, 2013. For 54 […]
This month’s Arkansas Life magazine features an article entitled “Raising the Bar” by Wyndam Weyth about Maxine’s Tap Room in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Maxine’s was my bar of choice in Fayetteville when I was getting my MA there (1995-1999) and again when I returned as an adjunct professor after my Ph.D. at the University of Texas […]
My name is Jamie Brandon and I work for the Arkansas Archeological Survey (AAS). Last year, the 2012 Day of Archaeology caught me finishing up a large excavation I was directing at Historic Washington State Park. This kind of thing (directing excavations) is what the public might expect an archaeologist to do. This year, however, […]
Last week a colleague of mine sent me a series of texts that she had been to see her old school in Little Rock and they were doing construction. This construction uncovered a large “tunnel” and she was interested in documenting it. As there was no section 106 issue (this is a private school), we […]
Its that time of year again…I’m getting together stuff for the next Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) meetings…this year they will be Jan 8-12 in Quebec City. I am revisiting a topic at this year’s conference that I’ve taken a stab at before—a session on the interpretive power of a single artifact in a specific […]
I just returned today from my annual Board of Advisors meeting in Washington, Arkansas. I think one of the interesting aspects of my job with the Arkansas Archeological Survey is that we actually have a mechanism that makes us responsible to our constituency—the Arkansas public…especially those interested in Arkansas archeology and state heritage. Each of […]
farther along... 