After The Dig
ARCHAEOLOGY LABORATORY OPEN HOUSE
June 20 –June 23, 2005

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Proyecto Arqueológico
de Tennessee Hollow Watershed

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Who We Are...

Project Staff | Project Partners | Research Team

Project Staff - 2003

Dr. Barbara Voss
Project Director and Principal Investigator
Professor Voss is on the faculty of Stanford University’s Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology and of the Stanford Archaeology Center. Her primary research interest is to better understand how the material aspects of daily life shape social identities and culture, a question that has drawn her into archaeological research on architecture and landscapes, ceramics, foodways, and craft production in prehistoric and historic California. She first began research at the Presidio of San Francisco in 1992 and along with Sannie Osborn, Leo Barker, and Vance Benté discovered the archaeological remains of the Spanish-colonial Presidio de San Francisco site in 1993. She has conducted archaeological investigations here ever since. Her work in the Tennessee Hollow Watershed began in 1997, when she directed a survey of the valley floor that led to the discovery of the sites that will be excavated during this project. Dr. Voss is particularly excited to be back in the field this summer after spending 2001-2002 in her laboratory, analyzing artifacts and writing up the results of previous investigations at the Presidio of San Francisco. In addition to Stanford’s research program at the Presidio of San Francisco, Dr. Voss also directs the Market Street Chinatown Archaeological Project, a study of an “orphaned” collection of artifacts from the first Chinatown in 19th century San José. She is also trying (rather unsuccessfully) to learn to play the guitar and hopes that some of the many musically talented students on this summer’s project might be able to teach her a few new chords!

Cheryl A. Smith
Assistant Field Director
Cheryl is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Anthropology at University of California, Berkeley. She is currently analyzing the faunal remains from previous Presidio of San Francisco excavations in the main quadrangle for her dissertation. Her research focus is on foodways and the construction of identities in a pluralistic setting.

Bryn Williams
Senior Crew Chief
Bryn just completed his first year at the Ph.D. program in the department of Cultural and Social Anthropology at Stanford University, where he studies archaeology. He is primarily interested in the archaeology of the urban Bay area and is enjoying the opportunity to work in the heart of San Francisco.

Michelle St. Clair
Field Lab Manager
Michelle is putting the finishing touches on her thesis for her Master’s degree in Anthropology with a specialization in Historical Archaeology from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She is expecting to graduate in December 2003. Her research is focused on excavations taking place at Mission San Juan Bautista (CSU Monterey Bay Excavations, DPR 1991/1061 excavations Neophyte Housing Area), particularly the analysis of faunal material. Michelle has also been working in the CRM sector for the past 2 ½ years. She has experience in archaeological survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, National Register Nominations, report writing, and historical documentary research. Her interests focus on Spanish-colonial history, Contact Period Archaeology, Military and Fortification History, and Zooarchaeology.

Heather Blind
Assistant Field Lab Manager
Heather was born in Glasgow, Scotland. She first came to California in the summer of 2000 to work at the Presidio on the Funston Avenue Archaeological Project where Barb Voss was doing research for her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. Heather returned to Scotland where she finished her Masters degree in Archaeology and Celtic civilization. Since then she has returned to California and has worked for the USDA Forest Service at Modoc National Forest. Her most recent work has been at the Sacramento City Hall Project where prehistoric remains were recovered. Although Heather is from Glasgow, she does not in fact like deep fried Mars bars.

Ingrid M. Newquist
Crew Chief
Ingrid obtained her B.A. at the University of California, Berkeley in Anthropology with emphasis in archaeology. She has a strong interest in culture contact and colonialism, fostered from working on excavations on a plantation in Louisiana and colonial deposits in Honduras. She plans on attending graduate school in Fall 2004 in archaeology.

Karis Eklund
Public Outreach Intern
Karis is a fourth year undergraduate at Stanford University, where she studies archaeology, with emphases on culture contact and colonialism. Last summer she had a blast working in the Peruvian highlands, but she is happy to working this summer at an altitude that allows her play pick-up soccer. Karis also loves to travel, and just split her junior year between studying in Santiago de Chile and Oxford, England.

Nicole Boucher
Field House Manager and Cook

Sherri Taylor
Photographer

Project Partners

Sannie Kenton Osborn, PhD, RPA
Presidio Trust Supervisory Historical Archaeologist
Sannie joined the Presidio Trust's Stewardship and Compliance office in March 2000 after spending eighteen years as an archaeologist with the Sacramento District Corps of Engineers. It was through her work at the Corps that she was originally connected to the Presidio's significant
archaeological resources, including the original discovery of the foundations of El Presidio de San Francisco with Vance Benté and Barb Voss in 1993. When the Trust presented the opportunity to return to the"northernmost frontier of New Spain", Sannie could not pass up the chance to be involved with continuation of the important archaeological research at the Presidio. The colonial occupation of the Presidio coincides with her doctoral investigations (1997 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) at the Russian outpost of Fort Ross, just north of San Francisco in Sonoma County. One of Sannie's responsibilities, along with colleagues Eric Blind, Megan Wilkinson and Leo Barker, is the development of an archaeological management strategy for El Presidio. She is also participating in the Doyle Drive replacement project archaeological studies. Sannie was recently on the Executive Board of the Society for California Archaeology including one year as society president, continues to serve as the Pacific West current research editor for the Society for Historical Archaeology and is a member of the Repatriation Committee of the Society for American Archaeology. In addition to her archaeological interests, Sannie is an avid cyclist who bikes to work (watch out Lance Armstrong!) and is a member of the
Embarcadero YMCA Women's Triathlon Club.

Eric Brandan Blind
Presidio Trust Archaeologist
Eric Blind was born on Friday the 13th. His first knowledge of the Presidio was shared with him - while still a boy - by his father who passed out in a Scotch Bar while awaiting an Army Transport from the Presidio to Japan. Eric attended a small liberal arts college with a vigorous archaeology program, which he disdained. He graduated without honors. After a brief biological career intimidating alligators and dissecting various road-kill in the Everglades of Florida, he accepted an opportunity to perform some archaeological research at the Presidio in 1997. He journeyed by train across the country to San Francisco, thus enabling him to fulfill a boyhood fantasy of being a hobo. After successfully researching the amount of horse manure and trash deposited in an old marsh at the Presidio, he accepted a job offer with the Presidio Trust as an Archaeological Technician. During the ensuing years Eric lost his technical proficiencies and was reclassified as an Archaeologist. He has been a project advisor during Professor Voss's fieldwork at the Presidio and is lead author with Barb Voss, Sannie Osborn, and Leo Barker on an article for the journal 'Historical Archaeology' about the Spanish Presidio. His research interests include geo-morphologic change, ethno-botany, genetic and memetic colonization, and identity creation in colonial cultures. His hobbies include surfing, black and white photography, subverting corrupt power structures, and teasing missionaries.

Leo Barker
National Park Service Historic Archaeologist
Leo is an historical archaeologist, and has worked with the National Park Service since 1979. He was educated at De Anza College, San Jose State University, and then again at San Francisco State University where he received his Master's Degree in Anthropology in 1978. He also completed graduate studies in Historical Archaeology at the University of California at Berkeley between 1980 and 1984. He has worked in the Presidio and Golden Gate NRA since 1995. Mr. Barker has conducted archaeological and historic preservation work in California, the western United States, and in Polynesia and Micronesia. His research interests include Hispanic material culture, military and industrial historic archaeology, information technology, integrated preservation planning, and beat culture history. He lives in Woodacre, Marin County, with his wife Grace, son Wes, and pets Exeter of Metaluna (collie), Ringo Kid (cat), and Jessie James (cat). He is currently listening to live Led Zeppelin good and loud, and comes to the nicknames Luthor Crissy and Raoul Duke. Oh yes, he works hard for your money.

Megan Wilkinson
Presidio Trust Archaeologist
Megan Wilkinson has perhaps the most varied position in the Presidio’s Archaeology Lab. Her formal title is Museum Specialist for the Presidio Trust. In this capacity, she manages the archaeological collections recovered on Presidio lands. Megan is also trained as an Archaeologist, having received her Master’s degree from San Francisco State University in 2002. She implements those skills when she joins her lab co-workers monitoring on site and in the field. Finally, Megan coordinates the education and volunteer outreach programs of the Archaeology Lab. Through this role, she created an education program in conjunction with the Crissy Field Center that was awarded the Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation in 2002. Megan has worked for the Presidio Trust for two years.

Research Team

Charles Altura
Charles is studying Anthropological Sciences at Stanford University. He has always loved the Presidio, and digging it up has made him love it even more. In his spare time he plays lead guitar and eats raw meat. He would like to thank Allan Holdsworth, Aajonus Vonderplanitz, and Jacob Fiss-Hobart for supplying inspiration.

Tanya Avila
Tanya recently graduated from Stanford University with a degree in English. She has always been interested in archaeology and is grateful that Stanford granted her the opportunity to explore a different field. After excavating at the Presidio, Tanya will be working at the Orange County Legal Aid Society and applying to law school.

Beatrice Cox
Bea is currently working on her M.A. degree in Cultural Resource Management at Sonoma State University. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology and a B.S. in Business. She is particularly interested in Plantation archaeology, African American mining communities of the 1850’s, and African American frontier towns in California settled in the mid- to late-19th century. She is also really interested in the Spanish-colonial period in California, and hopes to one day take her trowel with her around the globe and work on digs worldwide.

Jun Frank
Jun is from Japan and is currently an undergraduate at UC Berkeley majoring in anthropology, with special interests in Japanese archaeology and culture contact. He’s particularly interested in identity formation when two different cultures meet, as he himself is the product of an encounter between two different cultures.

Aditi Halbe
Aditi is going into her final year as a B.A. Combined Studies student at the University of Manchester. As part of the program she is focusing on Archaeology, Environmental Planning and Management, and Geography. She is interested in the history and cultural contributions archaeology makes that go into identity creation. She is enjoying getting some archaeological field experience and also learning about the archaeology and history of a place she doesn’t know too much about. Aditi plans to continue her education in archaeology, and hopes that her experience this summer will help point her to a more specific interest within the discipline.

Jenn McCann
Jen was born and raised in Southern California but now attends Boston University, where she will be a junior in the fall, majoring in Archaeology and American Studies. She joined this project to gain a view of the colonial period that wasn’t biased towards New England, something that’s tough to find in Boston (they haven’t quite accepted that the Revolutionary War is over). Jen is proud to have bent two pick axes in her first week of fieldwork.

Jolene Muneno
Jolene is completing her undergraduate studies in Anthropological Sciences and Biology at Stanford University. She will be working towards her M.S. in Anthropological Sciences next year. This is her first archaeology dig ever, and so far she really likes it. Especially the digging part. Besides anthropology, Jolene also likes playing the clarinet, drinking milk, and Derek Zoolander.

Krista Niles
Krista is a junior at Stanford University. She is a feminist studies and psychology major, but she is rapidly falling in love with archaeology and may have to change her career goals. As a resident of San Francisco herself, she is especially interested to learn about the land’s historical occupants.

Lee Panich
Lee is a graduate student in Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests include the archaeology of culture contact, specifically the interactions between Native Americans and colonial institutions and peoples in Western North America. He also dreams of one day becoming a sea captain.

Maria Phelan
Maria was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and moved to London, England to pursue her archaeological career at University College London. Her main interests lie in Public Archaeology, as well as the archaeology of South-East Asia and the Americas. She is currently thoroughly enjoying life in San Fransisco, particularly seeing the sun for the first time all year!

Tsim Duncan Schneider
Tsim received his B.A. in anthropology with honors and an M.A. in archaeology from the University of Texas at Austin. He will begin the Ph.D. program in archaeology at UC Berkeley in the fall. Tsim has worked at the Gault site, a pre-Clovis site in central Texas, the George C. Davis site, a Caddoan mound site in east Texas, and has done survey work in Tomales Bay State Park. Tsim enjoys wiffle ball and likes to rock.

Erica Simmons
Erica is entering her third year at Stanford University where she will probably either major in geology or urban studies. When not at Stanford she lives in Calais, Maine. She is particularly interested in historical archaeology. She enjoys photography (she currently shoots for the Stanford Daily, Stanford’s campus newspaper), and singing early music and is excited to explore San Francisco this summer.

Jonah Wajchman
Jonah, 21, was born in Paris and raised in San Francisco. A recent Berkeley graduate, he is excited to be working on his first dig this summer, thus breaking the shackles of dilettantism, a.k.a. armchair anthropology. He is especially pleased to be working in the Presidio, which was one of his favorite places to play as a child. Apart from archaeology, he is absolutely obsessed with music, and loves to write as well as perform.

Community Volunteers

Alex Boodrookas
Alex is 15 years old. He learned about the project online and decided to volunteer. He doesn’t remember when he became interested in archaeology, but when he was a little kid, he used to enjoy digging holes. He really enjoys sorting.