KC Jones, TCG’s Cultural Resources Specialist, was recognized as part of a multidisciplinary team at this month’s Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Conference for her contributions to a project that received the 2024 Outstanding Public Archaeology Initiative Award. This award is shared by outreach team members originating from the Center for Applied Isotope Studies (University of Georgia), The Charleston Museum, and the University of Maryland.
The SAA Outstanding Public Archaeology Initiative Award recognizes exemplary public engagement efforts focused on short-term outreach projects. Dr. Jones was a member of the multi-institutional “Emergence and Evolution of Carolina’s Colonial Cattle Economy” outreach team that was chosen as the 2024 recipient of the award.
This National Science Foundation-funded research focused on the role of cattle in the early commercial economy of Charleston, South Carolina, from the 17th through the 19th centuries, drawing on interdisciplinary research in history, soil chemistry, stable isotopes, environmental studies, and zooarchaeology. The outreach goal was to develop products that would amplify the multivocality of the archaeological record through integrated outreach components and consultation with descendant communities.
Dr. Jones developed scripting and lesson plans for an educational bilingual comic about the project and worked with descendant community consultants on the scope, artistic rendering, and historical narrative. Additional outreach products recognized through this award and developed by the broader outreach team include tactile educational traveling trunks called “Bragg Boxes” and their associated lesson plans, sponsored by the Charleston Museum, and on-site interpretive exhibits at the historic Heyward-Washington House in Charleston, South Carolina.
TCG is proud to celebrate Dr. Jones’s accomplishment and her contribution to inclusive archaeological outreach and education.
Congratulations, KC!
To learn more about the study visit: https://research.uga.edu/news/cais-study-wins-prestigious-award-for-public-archaeology/
View the comic here!