Our Mission
The North Carolina Archaeological Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and study of North Carolina’s diverse archaeological heritage which reflects its population, past and present. Guided by these initiatives the NCAS welcomes new members of all nationalities, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds.
The NCAS further supports the activities of a variety of archaeological agencies and institutions. By doing so, it works to maintain the highest standards of archaeological inquiry and inclusivity, while providing opportunities to learn about the past and about each other through archaeological endeavors.
History
The Society has a long history, stretching back some sixty years. One of its precursors, the Archaeological Society of North Carolina, was founded in 1933, and contributed to the protection and study of numerous sites throughout the state. Another precursor, the Friends of North Carolina Archaeology, came on the scene in 1984, and took an active role in supporting programs of preservation and public education. In 1991, these two organizations merged to form the present Society, making it the oldest and largest organization of its kind in the state.
Goals
to promote the study of archaeology, both prehistoric and historic, around the state;
to work for the proper conservation and exploration of archaeological sites;
to encourage a responsible attitude toward archaeological resources and to discourage careless, destructive, and unlawful activities; and
to promote the spread of archaeological knowledge through publications, meetings, organized projects, and other educational programs.
Members
play an active part in preserving archaeological sites in their area and around the state;
share with professional archaeologists the excitement of studying the past;
receive the Society's newsletter with timely information about meetings, activities, and current research;
receive the journal North Carolina Archaeology , with informative articles about North Carolina archaeology;
have the opportunity to attend meetings at least twice each year to hear speakers, attend workshops, and meet other Society members; and
have opportunities to participate in field trips and excavations.
Officers
Shane Petersen
President
Theresa McReynolds Shebalin
President-Elect
Theresa McReynolds Shebalin completed a PhD in archaeology at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill in 2011. While at UNC, Theresa worked as a research and public outreach assistant for the Research Laboratories of Archaeology. She joined the faculty at Durham Academy in 2010, where she works as a science teacher and team leader. Prior to Covid-19, Theresa ran overnight archaeology camps for rising 3rd-12th graders at the Berry Site (Morganton, NC) for nine summers. She plans to resume offering camps as soon as it is safe. Theresa enjoyed participating in the NCAS and archaeology outreach prior to the birth of her son in 2013, and she is eager to get involved again now that he’s older. Given her new expertise in engaging learners in virtual experiences, Theresa is especially excited by the prospect of designing virtual NCAS activities that could reach audiences throughout the state and beyond!
Linda Carnes-McNaughton
Secretary
Dr. Linda Carnes-McNaughton has served as the NCAS BOD Secretary since 1997. She is currently the Program Archaeologist and Curator for the Cultural Resources Management Program at Fort Bragg (since 2003) and formerly the Archaeology Supervisor for NCDNCR Historic Sites Section from 1990 to 2002. As a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, her doctoral research focused on 19th century pottery manufacturing in North Carolina (graduate 1997). She has also been a volunteer professional (past 20 years) on the QAR Shipwreck Project, conducting research and publishing books and articles. Her interest in historic pottery allowed her to serve as the NC Pottery Center BOD President from 2002-2008, and she remains a member. She has been a member of the NCAS since 1986, when she arrived in North Carolina, and she is member of the SHA, SEAC, and the Scottish Heritage Society as well. Her interests are diverse yet centered on archaeology and early settlement in North Carolina, and how to best engage the public in stewardship of it archaeological resources.
Mary Beth Fitts
Treasurer
Mary Beth (she/her/hers) is an Assistant State Archaeologist with the Office of State Archaeology in Raleigh. Her responsibilities include public outreach and environmental review for the northeastern piedmont and northern coastal plain counties of North Carolina. She also assists State Historic Preservation Office staff in the review of nominations prepared for the National Register of Historic Places, and is a member of the OSA scientific diving program. Mary Beth received her M.A. in applied anthropology from the University of South Florida in 2001, and completed a PhD in anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015. Her dissertation used archaeology and ethnohistory to examine foodways and coalescence in mid-eighteenth-century Catawba Indian communities. While in Chapel Hill , Mary Beth served as a laboratory supervisor and research assistant for UNC’s Research Laboratories of Archaeology. She has also worked for the USDA Forest Service’s Apalachicola National Forest and the Florida Division of Historical Resources in Tallahassee. While in Florida, she worked for CRM firms, the state of Florida, and the USDA Forest Service, and also served as Treasurer for the Florida Anthropological Society. She has served as NCAS Treasurer since 2017.
David Cranford
Journal Editor
David Cranford (he/him/his) is a North Carolina native and developed an early interest in the archaeology and history of Native peoples in the Southeast. David completed his undergraduate degree at Appalachian State University, received his M.A. from the University of Oklahoma and his Ph.D. from UNC Chapel Hill and currently works as an Assistant State Archaeologist for the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology. He has served on the NCAS Board since 2013 as an at-large board member and now serves as Editor. He is committed to continuing to update and modernize the Society as well as providing new opportunities for member engagement and participation.
Paul Mohler
Newsletter Editor
Paul has worked as an Archaeologist in the Environmental Analysis Unit for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) since 2001, conducting or managing various projects across the State. For the past 6 years, Paul has also developed and continues to maintain a statewide GIS-based inventory of cemetery locations. Prior to joining NCDOT’s Archaeology Team, Paul worked as a Staff Archaeologist for the Center for Cultural and Environmental History at the University of Massachusetts-Boston (UMB). While at UMB, Paul also served as the Project Archaeologist for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (i.e. “the Big Dig”). A native of Pennsylvania, Paul earned his Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA) with a major in Latin and a minor in Classical Archaeology. As part of his studies, he spent two summers excavating a Romano-British Iron Age settlement in Melson by Parish, North Yorkshire, England. After graduation, Paul moved to Boston where he earned his Master of Arts (MA) in Historical Archaeology from UMB where he focused on soil phosphate analyses as an indicator of past human settlement. Paul held various jobs during grad school, working as a “shovel bum” for J.M. Clements Consulting, a Research Associate for the Jackson Homestead in Newton, MA, and an archaeological illustrator for a professor’s publication on Meso-American prehistory. Paul previously served on the NCAS Board (2005-2007) as an At-Large Member.
Board Members
Jane Eastman
I’ve been on faculty at Western Carolina University since 2001 and prior to that taught part-time at East Carolina University and, while writing my dissertation, worked for Loretta Lautzenheiser at her cultural resources management firm Coastal Carolina Research, Inc. I received all my degrees at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Vin Steponaitis was the chair of my doctoral committee. I worked for many years as an undergraduate and graduate student in the Research Labs of Archaeology, under the supervision of Steve Davis. My doctoral work focused on the Sara, a Siouan-speaking group from the northern Piedmont, who became affiliated with the Catawba by the 18th-century. Since moving to the western part of the state, I have become involved in Cherokee archaeology and cultural revitalization; and served as the Director of WCU’s Cherokee Studies Program for 14 years. Most recently, I have been involved in testing and data recovery of Cherokee ancestral sites on Western Carolina University’s campus and the site of Watauga Town in Macon County.
Emily Sussman
My love of the past is firmly rooted in a childhood spent collecting and learning alongside my very knowledgeable and passionate father. My undergraduate degree is in history and my graduate degree is in anthropology with a focus in bioarchaeology. I have worked with academic field school projects and in contract archaeology for a decade. I am currently, and newly, a Historical Properties Specialist with the City of Fayetteville at the Fayetteville History Museum. I am passionate and curious about the past, but most importantly, I am enthusiastic about sharing the past with everyone. I believe that the historic and archaeological record belong to everybody and working to make the past accessible is of primary importance to me. The North Carolina Archaeological Society’s inclusive and welcoming environment and their support of the lay archaeologist are assets with which I deeply align. I would be honored to help support and further the Society’s cause and mission to preserve and study North Carolina’s archaeological heritage.
Douglas Hill
Douglas has been involved in archaeology and history most of his life. In high school, he met Ivor Noel Hume, Dr. Stanley South, and Dr. Joffre Coe. He volunteered with the Office of State Archaeology from 1987-1990 on projects like the Pee Dee Archaeological Project summer field schools, field surveys, and weekend recovery projects. Although archaeology seemed like a natural path, life circumstances intervened. In the meantime, he had a successful career in construction management in the Triangle for over 22 years and more recently as a practicing realtor. In 2017, Douglas went back to college to get his degree in archaeology and geology. He also appreciates experimental archaeology as a window into concepts sometimes overlooked by traditionally academic methods. In NCAS, Douglas hopes to give a voice to people and cultures that came before us and advocate for North Carolina’s archaeological heritage.
Kelsey Schmitz
Schmitz holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Anthropology and History from North Carolina State University. During her time at NCSU, Schmitz worked at the NC Office of State Archaeology as a volunteer, intern, and Archaeological Technician. Schmitz completed NCSU’s Bioarchaeological Field School in Lopburi, Thailand where she participated in the excavation and analysis of an Iron Age burial ground, Promtin Tai. Schmitz then graduated in 2019 with a Master’s degree in Anthropology from East Carolina University. While at ECU she completed her thesis research on a late 18th-early 19th century farmstead in the Uwharrie National Forest, where she examined ideas surrounding rural self-sufficiency as well as early American commercialism and consumerism. During her graduate work Schmitz also worked as a teaching assistant at ECU’s Field School in Historical Archaeology at Brunswick Town State Historic Site, and a graduate assistant at the Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Laboratory. After graduation from ECU, Schmitz worked as an Archaeological Field Director in Chapel Hill and Asheville, NC. She is currently serving as the Greening Youth Foundation Archaeology Resource Assistant for the National Forests in North Carolina. Schmitz greatly looks forward to the opportunity to be a part of the NCAS. If chosen to serve on the Board of Directors, Schmitz hopes to contribute to the knowledge and preservation of North Carolina archaeology through a focus on public education and outreach. She hopes her experience and enthusiasm for the field will be able to benefit the Society and its members.
Kelly Darden
With a lifetime passion for our historical past, combined with a history of service and knowledge of various applications both scientifically and socially, I hope to bring to the Board a perspective from a layman’s approach to preserving our treasures left by those who trod before us. A passion for the outdoors and its bounties have afforded me a host of service roles to the citizens of North Carolina. I have served as the first African-American to co-host a national hunting and fishing television show in the United States, Outdoor Moments, which aired on The Outdoor Channel from 2000-2007, reaching some 30 million households. I have served as Vice-President for the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, one of the nation’s oldest and largest conservation agencies, comprising some 200,000 members. I have served the citizens of our state as a North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commissioner, appointed by Gov. Beverly Perdue, responsible for managing, protecting, and enhancing our marine and estuarine resources. I now serve as Board Chair for the utilities commission with Greenville Utilities in Greenville, North Carolina. I must, however, sincerely admit/confess that nothing has ever held and retained my heartfelt interest and love as much as archaeology on a personal level. The artifacts and their information/messages, from so very long ago, leave stories and messages to interpret and relay from those no longer here to speak/convey for themselves. My hope is to contribute and unify/bridge all of us/those that share this passion both professionally and socially.
Sarah Watkins-Kenney
Sarah is based in Greenville, NC. She has a Ph.D. in Coastal Resources Management from East Carolina University (ECU) with research focus on conservation management of underwater cultural heritage in NC; MA degree in Museum and Gallery Management, City University, London, UK; and B.Sc. Honors degree in Archaeological Conservation, University of Wales, Cardiff. She is a Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA); an accredited Member of the Chartered Institute for Field Archaeologists (MCIfA); an Accredited Conservator-Restorer (ACR); and Fellow of the International Institute of Conservation (FIIC). She is a member of Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA), and was previously a board member of Advisory Council for Underwater Archaeology (ACUA), and on the Advisory Council for USS Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. She has worked for public sector museums (including British Museum) and universities (Oxford University, UK). 2003-2019, she headed the QAR Lab (NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources) and is currently an Adjunct Research Instructor in Department Anthropology, ECU. Field experience ranges from Bronze Age through Medieval sites in the UK and in Italy to the 18th century shipwreck site La Concorde/Queen Anne’s Revenge in NC. She has participated in many public education and outreach events, and especially enjoys working with professional and public community groups to discover and share NC’s hidden histories. A life member of NCAS she is committed to the study, conservation and promotion of archaeology across NC.