The Arkansas Archeological Survey and archeology community remember our dear friend and colleague, Leslie "Skip" C. Stewart-Abernathy, 77, who died Tuesday, March 3, 2026, at Dardanelle Regional Medical Center. Skip was a Research Station archeologist and the first professionally trained historical archeologist to be hired by the Arkansas Archeological Survey.
Leslie C. Stewart-Abernathy 1948-2026
Dr. Martha Rolingson passed away on December 14, 2025 at the age of 90. Martha was highly respected in Arkansas as the founding and longest-serving Research Station Archeologist at the Survey’s Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park Research Station (26 years!!), but also as an esteemed colleague and friend.
Dr. Martha Rolingson
Rachael Martin Wiest (BA, Anthropology, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville) is the new Society/Survey Liaison. As an anthropology student Rachael participated in a ground survey at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois and a bioarcheology excavation at Yasileh in Jordan under Dr. Jerome Rose in a collaboration between Yarmouk University and University of Arkansas. Rachael has worked in International Education administration at the University of Arkansas overseeing programming for international and study abroad students. Most recently Rachael has worked with arts-based community non-profits, The Art Experience, Inc, Theater Squared, and University of Arkansas Theater. Her passions involve projects that engage the community to tap into all the scientific, cultural, and artistic opportunities Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas offer. When not working Rachael can be found fending off invasive species of plants on her little 3 acres, tending chickens, herding cats and dogs, camping, and cold water swimming.
Congratulations to Kathy Cande on her retirement from the Arkansas Archeological Survey after 37 years of service! Kathy started with the Survey in 1987 as a Project Archeologist for the Sponsored Research Program (SRP) which dealt with archeological contract projects usually associated with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Throughout her career, she consulted and worked with multiple outside agencies on research and historic preservation, including Arkansas State Parks. She authored educational flyers for the Survey and authored or co-authored web articles for the Survey’s 50 Moments series and the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. She has given many public presentations on Arkansas archeology/history and provided tours of the archeological lab to visiting scholars, schoolchildren, and other groups.
Kathy Cande Retirement
Dr. Jami Lockhart retired on December 31, 2024 after 39 years of service. Jami was our Computer Services Program Coordinator as well our Director of Archaeogeophysical Research. He has conducted research in all parts of Arkansas in collaboration with our Research Station Archeologists as well as Arkansas State Parks, the National Park Service, cemetery researchers, historical associations, and the Archeological Conservancy. He also conducted research at major archeological sites in Arkansas such as Parkin, Plum Bayou Mounds, Carden Bottoms, and Menard-Hodges among many others as well as at sites in surrounding states, such as Spiro Mounds in eastern Oklahoma. He was instrumental in the growth of the Automated Management of Archeological Site Data in Arkansas (AMASDA) database, and built an advanced archaeogeophysical program at the Arkansas Archeological Survey.
Dr. Jami Lockhart Retires
On September 26, 2024, Arkansas archeology, and indeed Central Mississippi Valley, southeastern and midwestern, and all of American archeology, lost a great colleague and scholar earlier this week, Dan F. Morse. Dan had conducted archeology in many states, and made important discoveries at a lot of well-known sites, some made more so because of his work and prolific writings on those sites, including Etowah, Cahokia, Steuben, Pinson, Nodena, Parkin, Brand, Sloan, Zebree, and many, many more.
Dan F. Morse
The passing of Mary Lynn Kennedy on August 19, 2023, touched many of us who were her colleagues here at the Arkansas Archeological Survey with sadness but also fond memories. Mary Lynn retired from the Survey back in 2006, after 31 years as editor for the publications program. During those 31 years she brought to print 52 volumes of the ARAS Research Series, two Popular Series books, 11 Technical Papers, and 32 Research Reports. Learn more about Mary Lynn's life and contributions to the Survey.
Honoring Mary Lynn Kennedy
The Survey lost friend and colleague Teka McGlothlin on February 7, 2023. Teka was the Survey’s Registrar, and a Historical Archeologist by training. She was instrumental in creating the Arkansas Archeological Collections Initiative (a digital collections documentation interface), and her technical skills were critical to establishing the Survey’s 3D scanning and printing program.
Remembering Teka McGlothlin
The Arkansas archeological community lost a treasured member on October 12th, 2021 when Larry Porter passed away peacefully at home after a brief illness. Larry had just retired as station assistant at the WRI Research Station and was a long-time member of the Arkansas Archeological Society.
Remembering Larry Porter
We were deeply saddened in April, 2021 to learn of the passing of our friend and colleague Frank F. Schambach, who since his 2006 retirement from the Arkansas Archeological Survey has resided with his wife Marilyn in Afton, New York.
Frank F. Schambach Passing
