In this class, Dr. Trubitt will give an overview of archeology and the questions that archeologists ask and answer about past lifeways in Arkansas’s Ouachita Mountains region. How do archeologists work? How
have archeologists’ goals and methods changed over the past century? What can we learn by recording
and excavating archeological sites, and why is it important to preserve these locations? She draws
examples from the 12,000-year human history in this region to discuss changes in resource acquisition,
food preparation, community locations, and social interaction through time.

Dr. Mary Beth Trubitt is the station archeologist at the Arkansas Archeological Survey’s Henderson State
University Research Station in Arkadelphia. She teaches anthropology courses, conducts research on
Arkansas archeology and history, and works with agencies, tribes, and local residents interested in
historic preservation. Trubitt earned a PhD in anthropology from Northwestern University in 1996 and
began working for the Arkansas Archeological Survey in 2000. Her latest book, Extracting Stone: The
Archaeology of Quarry Landscapes, co-authored with Anne S. Dowd, was published by Oxbow Books.