Frankfort Heritage Lecture Series

Audiences are in for a treat as they sit back and listen to a candid discussion about the discipline of archaeology and what it tells us about our own history. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience conducting archaeological research, Hall explains the goals of archaeology and then interactively walks through the process by which archaeological sites are created, taking time to point out the discipline's weaknesses and difficulties archaeologists have interpreting what they find. He then turns the spotlight on archaeology's strengths and discusses what those strengths have allowed us to learn about humans' seven-million-year history that no other discipline can begin to explain.

Christopher T. Hall is a Kentucky native whose fascination with pre-history took him out West at an early age. He began by volunteering on any archaeological project that would take him, but his increasing interest in pre-historic peoples whose survival depended on their ability to hunt animals and gather plants eventually led him to focus on the High Plains and Rocky Mountains of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, where Native peoples continued their hunting-gathering lifestyle well after European contact.

Hall is primarily interested in understanding the factors that drive technological change among these societies, and his case study for this endeavor is the first appearance of bow-and-arrow technology on the High Plains around 100 A.D.

Hall holds a B.A. and M.A. in anthropology from the University of Louisville and the University of Wyoming, respectively. He has also completed coursework for a Ph.D., A.B.D., and taught lower and upper-levels of anthropology courses at Washington State University. Having previously worked as a staff archaeologist for Cultural Resources Analysts, Inc., Hall now works as a non-partisan analyst for Kentucky government, but is still actively involved in archaeology and will be participating in the excavation of a 13,000-year-old Mammoth kill site in Wyoming this summer.

The rocks under our landscape play a critical role in defining the shape and the characteristics of the land we live on. Landforms, streams, resources, and natural hazards are all related to the geology of an area. This presentation will explore the ancient geologic environments and processes responsible for the rocks and landforms around Frankfort, and discuss how rocks are important to our history, transportation, recreation, and economy.

Dr. Drew Andrews is the Acting Director of the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS), where he has worked since 1996. Most recently, he was the Head of the Geologic Mapping Section of KGS. With expertise in geographic information systems (GIS), geomorphology, and geologic mapping, Drew is also an adjunct assistant professor of geology at the University of Kentucky's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

A life-long Kentuckian born in Frankfort, Drew received his Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University of Kentucky, is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the Kentucky Society of Professional Geologists, and is licensed as a professional geologist in Kentucky.

American Indian communities have been in Kentucky for more than 11,000 years. When Euro-Americans settled here, Shawnee, Cherokee, and Chickasaw, among others, already lived here. Myths and misconceptions about American Indian people permeate many sources of information. We all dispel some of the myths about native people that persist, discuss Kentucky's native heritage, and briefly review its long history.

Tressa Brown received her B.A. in Biology and Anthropology at Transylvania University and her M.A. in Anthropology and Museum Studies from Arizona State University. She is currently the coordinator for the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission, the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission. She has worked for the past 25 years providing Native American educational programming for schools and the public.

Her primary focus has been to identify the stereotypes and myths about Native Americans in general and Kentucky's Native people in particular. Her position at KHC is to provide accurate information to educators and the public about Kentucky's American Indian history, the diversity of Native cultures, as well as the issues affecting Native people in contemporary society.

Registration begins May 1.