Histarchers,

Thanks to Anita, I have learned much about many folks on this 
list-serve. I thought I ought to repay the favor instead of just lurking.

I am Ben Carter. I am a prehistoric(al) archaeologist and a newbie 
historical archaeologist. I am generally a coastal archaeologist (I 
gotta have ocean nearby!) My dissertation (Washington University in St. 
Louis, 2008) was on shell bead working on the Ecuadorian coast from c. 
AD 800- 1532. Much of that work deals with early historical reports of 
shell bead making and trading, especially of the famous "Spondylus" 
(hence my email address) also known as "mullu" or Inca Red Gold. So, my 
research was always at the edge of PreColumbian/historical archaeology, 
but in 2008, due to a serious of odd occurrences,  I ended up working on 
a small structure on the coast of Maine that was occupied between the 
1760s and 1811. While my previous projects continue, I am completely 
enthralled by this particular project- and only partially because we eat 
lunch sitting on the beach with the mountains of Acadia National Park 
just across the bay. In general, the project revolves around 
understanding the "other" pioneers- the ones that went east (Downeast, 
that is deah... hopefully someone will get my Maine accent). 
Documentation is sketchy during this time period, so it is a perfect 
situation for historical archaeology.

Beyond this, one of my central concerns is the appropriate use of 
digital resources. As such, I have begun to create what I like to call a 
digital ecosystem for archaeology. The purpose is to make data 
collection easier and less prone to error, for students to be able to 
see the use of data in the field, to integrate field and lab data, and 
to make this available to the public (with appropriate site location 
data removed). And, at the same time, increase efficiency and reduce 
errror.  I am a one-man show- the only archaeologist at a small liberal 
arts college- Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. My goal is to provide 
my students some of the same resources that you generally find only at 
larger research institutions. I am still in the early stages at this 
point, but this project is coalescing- due partially to some information 
that I have gleaned from this listserve (and others). I could provide 
lots more details but will stop there. If you would like to know more, 
email me off-list.

Cheers,
Ben Carter, PhD, RPA
aka spondylus.princeps

On 5/7/2012 6:09 PM, Anita Cohen-Williams wrote:
> With so many new and old friends signing on to HISTARCH in the last few
> weeks, I think introductions are needed. I'll start:
>
> I am Anita Cohen-Williams, your friendly list owner and bouncer of
> Histarch. I have a BA in Anthropology and a Masters in Library Science. I
> have been running Histarch since 1994 as a discussion list on historical
> archaeology. I also run ArchaeoSeek (http://www.archaeoseek.com), an
> archaeological network, SUB-ARCH (a discussion list for underwater
> archaeology), and an archaeology blog, Archaeology Online (
> http://archaeology.blogspot.com).
>
> My main business is search engine optimization (SEO) for websites and
> social media management.
>
> Feel free to ask me any questions, as I am now a cybrarian.
>