Active Research Projects
Geoarchaeological Survey of Dry Caves in West-Central Florida:
I have recently initiated a project involving the geoarchaeological investigation of dry caves in west-central Florida, to determine whether they contain dateable deposits encompassing the late Pleistocene / early Holocene transition. Through this project I aim to gain a greater understanding of human reaction and adaptation to the rapidly changing climate of the last ice age.
Aucilla River Geochronology:
I am actively directing a project analyzing sediment cores and radiocarbon samples from multiple submerged archaeological sites within the Aucilla River in northwest Florida. This project seeks to understand the human-climate-landscape interrelationships of this region throughout the late Quaternary.
Lady Bug, Fl:
The Lady Bug archaeological site (8JE795) is located in a small mid‐channel sinkhole inundated by the Aucilla River in northwest Florida. Since 2022, I have been directing archaeological excavations along with micromorphological, geochemical, particle size, and faunal analyses at this site since 2022. We have so far determined that the site was subaerially exposed and available for human occupation from ~20,000 cal BP until 13,800 cal BP, and then again from 12,150 to 4500 cal BP. People occupied the Lady Bug site during the later period of subaerial exposure and landscape stability. They were likely exploiting a nearby outcrop of chert until inundation of the sinkhole 4500 years ago by the instigation of the modern Aucilla River fluvial regime. A single flake was recovered from an older than Clovis stratum, possibly representing an archaeological component coeval with the pre‐Clovis component at the nearby Page‐Ladson site.
Micromorphological Analysis of Submerged Sediments and Soils in Florida:
Deposition within Florida's submerged environments is highly varied and poorly understood. Through this project, I seek to better understand the site formation processes of submerged archaeological sites in the lakes, rivers, springs, and off-shore environments of Florida.