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 - 2004

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. In addition to Stanford’s research program at the Presidio do San Francisco, Dr. Voss also directs the Market Street Chinatown Archaeological Project, a study of an “orphaned” collection of artifacts form the first Chinatown in 19th century San Jose.

Ingrid Newquist
Senior Crew Chief and Photo Documentation
Ingrid will be entering the Ph.D. Program this fall in the Department of Anthropology, at University of Florida. She has a strong interest in culture contact and colonialism, and looks forward to applying the skills and knowledge gained from working at the Presidio to her future archaeological endeavors.

Stacey Lynn Camp
Crew Chief – Mapping Specialist
Stacey just finished her first year as a Ph.D. student in Stanford University’s Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology. While an undergraduate double majoring in Anthropology and English and Comparative Literary Studies at Occidental College, Stacey participated in Illinois State University’s 2000 Historical Archaeology in an Ireland Field School as well as studied tourism and archaeological politics in Ireland as a 2001 Richter International Fellow. At present, Stacey is researching California’s Mount Lowe, one of the most popular tourist sites in the late 19th early 20th century America. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, writing, and hiking with her husband, Ben.

Michelle Touton
Crew Chief
Michelle has just received her B.A. in Archaeology from Stanford University, with a focus on New World archaeology. She is currently working on an M.A. in Anthropological Sciences in hopes of not having to putting “Shovelbum” as an official job title on her resume. Although her past fieldwork has been in Early Horizon Peru, she is delighted to be able to indulge her secret love – historical archaeology.

Erica Simmons
Geoarchaeology Intern
Erica is a senior at Stanford University with a major in Archaeology and a minor in Geology. This is her second year participating in the Presidio project, and she is looking forward to another great summer. She lives in Calais, Maine and also enjoys gardening, singing, and photography.

Heather Blind
Field Laboratory 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 U.C. Berkeley. In 2001 Heather finished her Masters degree at Glasgow University, Scotland. Since then she has returned to California and has worked for CRM firms, the National Park Service and Sanford University. Her interests focus on conservation methods, laboratory method and contact period archaeology. Heather enjoys traveling with her husband, running, yoga, and taking the dog to the beach (although not all at once).

Jenn McCann
Assistant Field Laboratory Manager
Jenn was just a lowly undergrad team member at El Polin last summer, and is immensely proud to be on staff this year. She will be a senior at Boston University in the fall, majoring in Archaeology and American Studies. When she isn’t playing with ceramic pieces or breaking maddocks, she likes to do theater stuff with her group at BU and complain about the cold.

Joanne Sidlovsky Grant
Assistant Field Laboratory Manager/Volunteer Coordinator
Joann is a recent transplant to the Bay Area. Having grown up on the East coast, she is thrilled to live in California , where she finally has good hair days. She earned her M.A. in Classical Archaeology from Florida State University in Tallahassee . As a graduate student, she was employed at the Southeast Archeological Center as a Museum Technician, where she identified and processed thousand of artifacts into Re:Descovery and was forced to change her Lotus password on a daily basis. Joanne is eager to become involved in California archaeology and to continue her training in collections management. Prior to joining this summer's dig, she will be honeymooning in Fiji . She can't decide which event she is looking forward to more!

Beatrice Reynolds Cox
Public Interpretation Intern
Bea has a B.A. in Anthropology from Sonoma State University and a B.S. in Retail Marketing from Western Michigan University. She is currently working on a Masters in Cultural Resource Management at Sonoma State and is contemplating a Ph.D. in Archaeology, after she has “shovelbummed” around a bit. Bea has a strong interest in African American Archaeology and is researching, for her thesis, the archaeology of the Allensworth Hotel at the Colonel Allen Allensworth California State Park in the San Joaquin Valley. This is Bea’s second year on the Tennessee Hollow Watershed Project and she feels very privileged to be a part of a great team once again! She loves archaeology with a passion and also enjoys swimming, hiking, reading, and is a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan. Go Bonds!

Kate Jessup
House Manager and Cook
Kate Jessup is a food writer, journalist, and radio producer. She recently completed a Masters in Journalism at U.C. Berkeley. Kate studied cooking with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse and wrote a student food guide of Paris in college. Her work has appeared in the Contra Cost Times, The East Bay Express, The Oakland Tribune, BIA Magazine and KALX Radio.

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

Judy Humer
Since her retirement in October 2000, Judy has been volunteering in the areas of nature, conservation, animal welfare, archaeology and paleontology, worldwide.

Emily Johnson
Emily is a junior who adores studying anthropology and women’s studies at Santa Clara University. To her, it just doesn’t get any better. Emily is from San Diego, California and thinks California is the best place in the world. She is interested in archaeology at culture contact sites and is excited to be working at the San Francisco Presidio. Emily one day hopes to branch her archaeological repertoire to include excavations in Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Gee, she’s going to have to work on the language thing! Emily likes the beach, Mexican food and traveling.

Andrea Lazazzera
Andrea is a junior at Stanford University majoring in Cultural and Social Anthropology and toying with the idea of minoring in archaeology. Andrea absolutely loves Stanford and will hopefully be co-terming so that she can stay at the University a little longer. She is looking forward to being up to her knees in mud digging with a “spoon”.

Becca Levine
Becca is entering her sophomore year at Barnard College of Columbia University, where she is studying anthropology and environmental science. She is excited to gain archaeological field experience and learning about the land’s history. Besides digging in the dirt, Becca enjoys running on the Columbia track team, taking photos for the Columbia Spectator newspaper, and exploring San Francisco.

Rita Lomio
Rita recently graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Classics and a minor in Computer Science. She has participated in digs, through Stanford University, in Sicily (Monte Polizazo) and Rome (Roman Forum). Raised in the Bay Area, Rita is excited to take part in the dig at the Presidio. Next year she will have to dust herself off and stop playing in the dirt to attend Harvard Law.

Milica (Melissa) Marich
Milica will be a third year undergraduate student at University of Toronto in the fall. She is taking a specialist program in Archaeology and a minor in Geographic Information Systems. Milica is excited about coming to San Francisco since she has never been to California before.

Karen Murphy
Karen is from the sunny shores of Australia and has recently completed her Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Historical Archaeology at the University of Queensland, Brisbane. She is considering starting her Ph.D. in Historical Archaeology next year, but first wants to spend some more time getting her hands dirty. Karen is interested in the colonial archaeology of Australia, and is keen to make some comparisons with the early colonial days on the other side of the Pacific in California.

Nicki Sauvageau
Nicki is currently working towards her B.A. in Anthropology. She has been studying at California State University, Sacramento, but will complete her last year of coursework at San Francisco State University starting in fall 2004. Her completed coursework includes cultural resource management, GIS, environmental archaeology, and field and lab work.

Jane Seiter
Jane is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Bristol, England, currently researching a dissertation on the archaeology of 18th century St. Lucia and its links to the wider Atlantic world. Jane lived in San Francisco for five years before moving to England in 2001 to pursue a Master’s degree in Landscape Archaeology. After working on excavations in England, France, Bermuda, Central America, and the Caribbean, she is looking forward to digging up her home turf for the first time.

Emily Thomason
Emily received B.A.’s in Anthropology and Psychology from U.C. Berkeley in 2001. While there she interned in the Presidio San Francisco archaeology lab and participated in an archaeological dig at Marian Vallejo’s Petaluma Adobe. Currently Emily is finishing up a certification in holistic health at San Francisco State and getting back to a career in archaeology with digs this summer at the Presidio and Eagle Valley, Nevada.