Southeastern Archaeological Conference 2022 held in Little Rock

The 78^th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference was held in Little Rock between November 9^th and November 12^th, 2022. Staff of the Arkansas Archeological Survey (ARAS) served on the planning committee and what a huge job that was!  SEAC has only come to Arkansas twice before in 1992 and (slightly) more recently 2006. In 2017, the late Dr. Jamie Brandon bid for SEAC to return to Arkansas in 2021, but COVID postponed the conference for a year.

Dr. Emily Beahm, the Research Station Archeologist at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute (WRI) on Petit Jean Mountain, was the Chair of the planning committee and led meetings for more than two years, communicated with SEAC officers, venue representatives, and just about everyone connected with the meeting. Dr. Paige Ford, Plum Bayou Research Station (PBRS) Archeologist, gathered vendors and Native artists to put together a fantastic book room and Native Art Market. Dr. Michelle Rathgaber, ARAS Educational Outreach Coordinator, organized a public day for attendees and local families to showcase what kinds of outreach both Arkansas and other states can offer. Dr. Mel Zabecki, State Archeologist, recruited and kept volunteers busy. Dr. Andrew Beaupré, University Arkansas Pine Bluff (UAPB) Station Archeologist, organized the main reception. Dr. Jessica Kowalski, Station Archeologist at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville Research Station put together the program for the conference, with help from Emily Beahm, Dr. Matthew Rooney, Station Archeologist at the University of Arkansas Monticello Research Station (UAM), and Dr. Angela Gore, former Station Assistant at WRI.

Additionally, Dr. Robert Scott, UAPB Station Assistant, Dr. Carl Drexler and Taylor Greene, Southern Arkansas University Research Station Archeologist and Assistant respectively, Virginia O’Connor, UAM Station Assistant, Katy Gregory, PBRS Assistant, and Dr. Josh Lynch from Arkansas Tech University, all served on the planning committee and worked hard before and during the meeting to help it all run smoothly. Not only did the planning committee put forth major effort at this meeting, 19 student volunteers from Arkansas and beyond and other professional archeologists filled important roles by staffing the registration desk, chairing paper sessions, setting up events, and troubleshooting various situations that inevitably crop up in a meeting of this size.

So what actually happened at SEAC? Around 572 archeologists and historians with interest in all time periods of the southeastern United States gathered together to listen to their colleagues report on current research. Presentations included 78 posters and 160 papers. Two panels, one discussing challenges and successes of the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in the southeast and one focused on preparing the next generation for entering the job market were also hosted at SEAC. There was a full day Arkansas Research session put together by Drs. Kowalski and Samuelsen. The program, for anyone interested in seeing the vast array of poster and paper titles, can be found here. A list of those and other Arkansas-related papers and posters are listed at the end of this report.

Aside from all the presentations, SEAC is a time for networking and socializing. Between sessions, hallways were atwitter with folks who hadn’t seen each other for a year or more catching up with their friends and peers. New connections were made, and surely new research projects and other collaborations were born. It’s always exciting to put faces to names and even more fun to introduce students to the archeologists whose work they have been reading in their classes or for their research projects.

And speaking of students, SEAC has always been dedicated to fostering student engagement and it was evident at this meeting. There were three events specifically organized for students including a luncheon workshop titled “Growing as Graduate Students: Evidence-based Practices to Reduce, Prevent, and Handle Sexual Harassment in Archaeology” and a Student Affairs Committee luncheon with a panel on collaborative archaeologies. A third event was a student reception, which was well attended. Five student papers were also submitted to the annual Judith G. Knight Student Paper Book Prize. The prize consisted of a dizzying array of donated books, reports, and other resources.

Other activities at this meeting included a main reception hosted by the Old State House Museum, a business meeting where SEAC officers reported on the state of affairs, read memorials, and presented awards, and a dance featuring the band Get Off My Lawn, that kept even the seasoned archeologists boogeying till midnight! The final day was capped by three excursions to Central High School Historic Site, Plum Bayou Mounds State Park, and to Petit Jean Mountain for a rock art tour.

SEAC 2022 was a major undertaking, but we had incredible support and encouragement and consider the meeting a huge success. Attendees that arrived at the airport were greeted by welcome signs on the airport marquees and we saw signs on street poles welcoming the meeting as well. Little Rock was a great host! While SEAC probably will not come around again for some time, as it rotates around 10 other states, we learned a great deal about planning large meetings and became a closer-knit team in the process!