Jessica Kowalski
# Découvrez les projets de recherche de la Station de Recherche UAF
## Présentation des membres de l’équipe
Hi my name is Jessica Kowalski and I’m the Research Station Archeologist at the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville Station, a part of the Arkansas Archeological Survey. The UAF station covers the 12 counties in northwest Arkansas mapping onto the Ozarks. In this video I’d like to introduce you to the staff of the UAF Research Station and also talk about some of the major research projects to come out of UAF territory.
### Jessica Kowalski, Archeologue
As I mentioned my name is Jessica Kowalski and I’m a southeastern archeologist. Much of my career I’ve spent working on projects in the lower Mississippi River valley and along the gulf coast and now I’m turning my attention here to the Ozarks. My first archeological experience was at a site called Parchman Place mounds in northwestern Mississippi. I was a field school student there in 2004 while I was attending the University of Mississippi or Ole Miss. Part of my responsibilities as a Station Archeologist is to teach in the department of anthropology here at the University of Arkansas and also to work with graduate students.
### Michael Evans and Jared Pebworth, Archeologues
Michael Evans and Jared Pebworth are archeologists at the UAF station. They’ve been working for the Survey for almost 30 years and they’ve worked on projects across the state of Arkansas. They’ve seen just about every type of archeology there is to see in the state. Because of the length of their service and the breadth of their experience are very valuable to the organization as a whole. Michael and Jared also have a research interest or specialize in ancient technology. They’re both accomplished flint knappers and they make stone tools and artifact replicas that are used extensively in public outreach activities and for education. Jared has recently been working with the Registrar’s Office on 3D printed models of artifacts working to make these artifacts look realistic.
## Projets de recherche
The Ozarks are really well known for their bluff shelters. Archeologists at the UAF station have been working in bluff shelters for a number of years and in fact archeologists with the University of Arkansas museum worked in bluff shelters long before there was an Arkansas Archeological Survey. These sites are really critical archeological resources because they often produce materials in excellent states of preservation: clothing, basketry, seeds, those types of materials that don’t often survive at other types of sites can be found at these bluff shelter sites. My predecessor in this position the late Dr Jamie Brandon and also Lydia Rees of the Arkansas Archeological Survey worked on a bluff shelter project. They looked at older collections trying to make sense of the timeline of occupation in some of these sites and also tried to understand what sort of activities went on in these bluff shelters.
## Projet de documentation de l’art rupestre
One aspect of bluff shelter archeology is the rock art that can often be found associated with these types of archeological sites. In the early 2000s a major rock art documentation project took place based out of the UAF station. This project was directed by Dr George Sabo and Jerry Hilliard and many archeologists across the Survey participated in this project including Michael Evans and Jared Pebworth. The archeologists involved in this project were interested in understanding the diversity of styles of rock art in Arkansas and also wanted to place the rock art in its archeological context. This project resulted in a number of publications and this research continues today at the WRI Station on Petit Jean Mountain.
## Projets futurs
Here in the UAF Station territory we also have two major Civil War battlefield sites, Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove. Archeologists with the Survey have worked at these sites for a number of years on different projects and we continue to maintain good working relationships with the National Park Service and also State Parks in Arkansas. Looking forward, we hope to work on something called the Northwest Arkansas Mound Project. There are mound sites here in the Ozarks they’re located in different river valleys and we’re interested in understanding how these mound sites relate to each other and how they relate to mound sites outside the Ozarks across the southeast. We know that these sites were probably occupied some some time after AD1000 and this is an interesting time in history because Native groups were experimenting with new types of social and political organization.
## Conclusion
Here at the UAF Station we have a diverse range of research interests and experience. We maintain good working relationships with our Arkansas Archeological Society volunteers and the members of the Kokoci and Three Rivers chapters, we look forward to working on collaborative projects with our sister stations across the state, and we’re also very interested in working with students who themselves might be interested in archeology in Arkansas. Thank you so much for listening to our short video.
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