Customarily held in large, metropolitan areas such as Houston, Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth, the 87th annual meeting of the Texas Archeological Society will be held in Nacogdoches this year and hosted by Stephen F. Austin State University Oct. 28 through 30 in the Baker Pattillo Student Center.
This year’s meeting will be the second time the Oldest Town in Texas has hosted the event. The first time was in 1995. Nacogdoches’ selection as the conference host correlates with the city’s celebration of its 300th anniversary.
“The meeting consists of a day and a half of presentations of papers and posters from professionals, students and avocationals,” said Dr. George Avery, director of the SFA anthropology and archeology lab. “All areas of Texas are represented, but there will be special emphasis on the Spanish presence in this area. There also will be meetings of the Council of Texas Archeologists, the Texas Historical Commission’s Stewardship program, and the TAS executive and board meetings.”
On Friday evening, the public is invited to bring artifacts to be identified. Jason Barrett with the Houston division of the Texas Department of Transportation will then speak on the resurgence of public archeology in the Houston area. Both this speaker event and the artifact identification are free to attend.
Dr. Juliana Barr, associate professor in the Duke University Department of History, will speak at a Saturday evening banquet regarding the role of archeology in telling the story of the American Indians prior to European arrival. On Sunday, three field trip opportunities for participants will be offered at Caddo Mounds State Historic Site, Nacogdoches County sites and Mission Dolores State Historic Site.
A silent auction also will be held during the weekend conference. Auction donors include Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Kroger and Brookshires in Nacogdoches. In addition, Kiwanas of Nacogdoches, Lions Club of San Augustine and the Deep East Texas Archeological Society of Newton have each sponsored one high school student to attend the conference.
The TAS is a non-profit organization, and the goal of the annual meeting is to fundraise for TAS activities, which include raising awareness that many construction projects impact archeological sites. The TAS hosts workshops year-round on various archeological topics, including ceramics, lithics (stone tools), macrobotanicals, historic archeology and rock-art recording. TAS also has a one-week field school in June each year. See http://www.txarch.org/index.php for more information on the TAS.
The cost of the TAS conference is $60 for adult members and $30 for student members. The cost for adult non-members is $70 and student non-members is $35. For information or to register, contact Avery at (936) 468-2457 or averyg@sfasu.edu.
