Category Archives: Seminars

Announcements, Seminars

Lovelock Cave Excavation Webinar

SAS Webinar

September 19, 2020

2:00 p.m.

“Lovelock Cave Excavation – Its Contribution to the Science of Archaeology”

by John Foster

Lovelock Cave (NV-Ch-18) is a North American archaeological site previously known as Sunset Guano Cave, Horseshoe Cave, and Loud Site 18. The cave is about 150 feet long and 35 feet wide. Lovelock Cave is one of the most important classic sites of the Great Basin region because the conditions of the cave are conducive to the preservation of organic and inorganic material. John will discuss the exploration of Locklock Cave and highlight its significance in the evolving discipline of archaeological excavation.

John Foster attended U. C. Santa Barbara as an undergraduate and transferred to UCLA where he graduated in with a degree in Anthropology.  He continued his studies at Long Beach State, where he was awarded an MA degree and then pursued additional graduate studies at the University of Arizona before returning to California to begin his career with State Parks. In 1975 John accepted a position work in the Cultural Heritage Section of State Parks in Sacramento.  He became the assistant archaeologist to Francis A “Fritz” Riddell, the first California State Archaeologist hired outside an academic setting. He was assigned to “ride herd on the cultural resources of the State Park System,” and that has allowed him to record, investigate and preserve historic sites and archaeological features throughout California.  Prehistoric rock art became a special interest to him because it allows a glimpse into the world view of its creator.  John was president of SAS for seven years and continues to be a board member.

The webinar is free and open to all who are interested. Log in information follows:

Meeting does not exist: 88516703225.

Announcements, Seminars

Optically Stimulated Luminescience (OSL) SAS Webinar

August 15, 2020
2:00 p.m.
“How to Make Sense of OSL without a degree in Physics”
by Tom Johansen, MD

OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) is a method used to date archaeological sites and their associated artifacts. This technique uses the radiation dosimeter property of minerals such as quartz and feldspar. The method estimates when the mineral was last exposed to sunlight or sufficient heating. How does this technique really work and what are its limitations?

Tom will shine light on this topic with a description of physical attributes of light emitting sand particles and the use and limitations of OSL for archaeological dating at famous world-wide sites. Don’t miss this scholarly dissertation.

Tom Johansen, MD studied electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota and his first career was applied physics research, engineering and engineering management. When he was fifty, he entered medical school and became an ophthalmologist. He has always had a fascination with physics and mathematics and digs into how things work and why they work the way they do. Tom has been president of SAS since 2018.

Seminars

Mound Builders of North America

.July 18, 2020
2:00 p.m.
“Mound Builders of North America” by Lynette Blumhardt
From the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, indigenous people of North America lived, farmed and built earthworks. Their complex cultures thrived for thousands of years, from between 4000 BCE to the 17th century. Some of their earthworks are effigy mounds, others are domes, while the largest are earthen pyramids that rival those found in Mesoamerica.
In addition to learning about the mound builders’ sophisticated societies and cultures, we’ll take a closer look at several mound sites, including Watson Brake and Cahokia.

Seminars

SAS Scholar Webinar

Scholar Webinar

June 20, 2020

2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

We are pleased to host a webinar featuring two 2019 scholarship recipients. They will talk about their research and the experiences made possible by our scholarship. The webinar is Free and open to all. We encourage non-members to register through registration@sacarchaeology.org .

2:00 p.m. – “Analysis of residence during the early period (ca. 5000-2500 BP) in lower Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Delta” by Candice Ralson

 3:00 p.m. – “Sierra Nevada and Great Basin Excavations – My Experiences” by Jonathan Garcia

Candice Ralson

Candice is a PhD candidate at University of California, Davis. She used the scholarship to fund stable carbon, nitrogen and oxygen analysis of 30 human bone samples.  This analysis, along with others such as strontium and sulfur of human bone and teeth will be used to complete her dissertation research which aims to investigate post-marital residence and sexual division of labor for Early Period (ca. 5000-2500 BP) populations from the lower Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Delta.  Her samples come from archaeological sites CA-SAC-107 (the Windmiller Mound) and CA-SJO-68 (the Blossom Mound).  With stable oxygen analysis of human bone apatite results she can estimate where a person lived approximately 5-15 years prior to death.

Jonathan Garcia

Jonathan graduated from Sonoma State University in 2019.  He used the scholarship to attend a Chico Archaeological Field School.  This field school involved the excavation of a historic Native American village in the Northern Sierras and Great Basin.

Announcements, Seminars

Scholar Webinars

SAS is dedicated to ensuring we can still educate our supporters in any way possible despite the challenges we’re all facing due to COVID-19. We are pleased to report that the March and April SAS Scholar Symposiums that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 are being rescheduled as on-line live-streamed webinars.
These webinars are FREE and open to all, but attendees must register in advance by contacting registration@sacarcheology.org.

Scholar Webinar
May 9, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
“Ethnographic/ethno historical analysis of social identities of women in Sonoma County between 1900 and 1945”
by Bee Thao
2:00 p.m.

“Aidonia excavation in Nemea, Greece and artifact scanning”
by David Cook
~3:00 p.m.

Bee Thao
Bee is a master’s student at Sonoma State University. She has had several years of professional experience in cultural resource management with exposure to Asian American archaeological cultural materials and sites. In 2019 she conducted an ethnographic/ethno historical research project on how Chinese, Japanese and Filipina women in Sonoma County created and maintained multiple social and cultural identities between 1900 and 1945. She used the scholarship to offset expenses associated with oral history interviews of Asian American woman.
David Cook
David is a sophomore at University of California, Berkeley. He used the scholarship to attend a field school at Aidonia in Nemea, Greece and make 3D scans of artifacts.

Scholar Webinar
May 30, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
“Field excavation at Scladina, Belgium”
by Sarah Foley
2:00 p.m.

“Glass bead analysis to ascertain interaction between settlers, mission inhabitants and native groups during 18th century”
by Danielle Dadiego
~3:00 p.m.

Sarah Foley
Sarah graduated from University of California, Davis in 2019. She has been preparing for graduate school by attending a field school at Scladina, Belgium and volunteering with excavations at Régismont-le-Haute, France. The scholarship offset expenses for the field school.

Danielle Dadiego
Danielle is a PhD candidate at University of California, Santa Cruz. She used this scholarship to conduct archaeometric analyses of glass beads and lead shot for her dissertation research. Her dissertation research explores the question: What was the nature of economic interactions between Spanish settlers, mission inhabitants, and interior native groups with British and French alliances during the eighteenth-century? Her methods combine archival research, traditional artifact analysis and chemical composition and isotopic analyses of glass beads and lead shot using Laser Ablation-Inductivity Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry, Isotopic and chemical composition studies.

Announcements, scholarships, Seminars

Annual Scholar Symposium (2) – Cancelled due to COVID 19

Annual Scholar Symposium (2) – To be rescheduled at a later date
By
2019 Scholarship Recipients
Saturday March 28, 2020
1:00 – 4:30 p.m.
at
Sylvan Oaks Library
6700 Auburn Boulevard
Citrus Heights, CA 95621

Three scholarship recipients from 2019 will present on their research.
Program

1:00 – Set up
1:15 – “Field excavation at Scladina, Belgium” by Sarah Foley
2:15 – “Ethnographic/ethno historical analysis of social identities of women in Sonoma County between 1900 and 1945” by Bee Thao
3:15 – “Historic Native American village excavation in Northern Sierras” by Jonathan Garcia
4:00 – 4:30 – Clean up
Sarah Foley
Sarah graduated from University of California, Davis in 2020. She is preparing for graduate school by attending a field school at Scladina, Belgium and volunteering with excavations at Régismont-le-Haute, France. The scholarship offset expenses for the field school.

Jonathan Garcia
Jonathan graduated from Sonoma State University in 2019. He used the scholarship to attend a Chico Archaeological Field School. This field school involved the excavation of a historic Native American village in the Northern Sierras in California.

Bee Thao
Bee is a master’s student at Sonoma State University. She has had several years of professional experience in cultural resource management with exposure to Asian American archaeological cultural materials and sites. In 2019 she conducted an ethnographic/ethno historical research project on how Chinese, Japanese and Filipina women in Sonoma County created and maintained multiple social and cultural identities between 1900 and 1945. She used the scholarship to offset expenses associated with oral history interviews of Asian American woman.

Seminars

Scholar Symposium 3

Sacramento Archeological Society’s
Annual Scholar Symposium (3)
By
2019 Scholarship Recipients
Saturday April 11, 2020
1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
at
Walnut Grove Library
14177 Market St.
Walnut Grove, CA
Three scholarship recipients from 2019 will present on their research.
Program
1:00 – Setup
1:15 – “Analysis of residence during the early period (ca. 5000-2500 BP) in lower Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Delta” by Candice Ralson
2:15 – “Aidonia excavation in Nemea, Greece and artifact scanning” by David Cook
3:15 – “Glass bead analysis to ascertain interaction between settlers, mission inhabitants and native groups during 18th century” by Danielle Dadiego
4:30 – 5:00 – Clean up

Seminars

Scholar Symposium 1

Annual Scholar Symposium (1)
By
2019 Scholarship Recipients
Saturday, January 25, 2020
1:00 – 4:30 p.m.
at
North Highlands – Antelope Library
4235 Antelope Road
Antelope, CA 95843

We are pleased to feature three recipients of our 2019 scholarship.
Program
1:00 Introduction
1:15 – “Neanderthal subsistence and settlement strategies” by Susan E. Lagle
2:15 – “The spread of blade technology to the Tibetan Plateau” by Peiqi Zhang
3:15 – “Analysis of deer hunting in Central California during pre-contact period” by Jill Eubanks,

Seminars

SAS Annual Meeting

Sacramento Archeological Society, Inc.’s
Annual Meeting
Featuring
“Is there evidence for human occupation in the Tule Lake/Kettleman City, California area as much as 30,000 years ago. Could it be 130,000 years ago?”
By Dennis Fenwick

“Are you Aryan? What we now know about the Proto-Indo-Europeans and why they still matter.”
By Martie Lewis
Saturday, December 7, 2019
12:00 – 6:00 p.m. at
Carolyn and Gordon McGregor’s home
For Carolyn to manage her catering PLEASE provide your RSVP by Monday, December 2 to Carolyn McGregor at sabrina53@earthlink.net.

Announcements, Seminars

Now We’re Cooking: The Role of Fire and cooked Food in Neanderthal Extinction

Now We’re Cooking:The Role of Fire and Cooked Food in Neanderthal Extinction

By Anna Goldfield, PhD Archaeologist

Saturday, October 19, 2019

1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

at Maidu Museum & Historical Site

1970 Johnson Ranch Drive, Roseville, California 95661
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Join us to celebrate International Archaeology Day. We have teamed with Maidu Museum & Historical Site to increase the public’s awareness of archaeology. Sacramento Archeological Society will feature a presentation on Neanderthal by Anna Goldfield, PhD, Archaeologist and host of The Dirt Podcast.  She will explore some of the physiological differences between Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans, and will discuss what role the use of fire and a cooked versus a raw diet might have had on the rate of extinction of Neanderthal populations.  Maidu Museum & Historical Site will offer hands on archaeological experience for children and family tours of their historical site.

Entrance Fee Charged $5

Questions? Please contact Jan Johansen at janjohansen@sbcglobal.net or Maidu Museum and Historical Site at 916.774.5934.

Dr. Goldfield is a zooarchaeologist and science writer whose research focuses on Neanderthal physiology and nutrition. Currently, she is also an anthropology instructor at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento and a writer for the online anthropology journal Sapiens.org (https://www.sapiens.org/column/field-trips/neanderthal-body/). In addition Anna is the co-host of The Dirt, a podcast about archaeology, anthropology, and our shared human past (www.thedirtpod.com).