Ashley Lemke
ACUA Board of Directors; Ex-Officio Chair
The Midwest Archaeological Conference (or MAC) is a regional, annual conference focused on promoting and sharing archaeological research in the midwestern United States and neighboring regions. The first MAC conference was in 1956 and each year the hosting of the annual conference is done by local arrangements committees. This year MAC was hosted by The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Anthropology and Archaeological Research Laboratory Center. There was a distinct focus on underwater archaeology at the conference, as you can tell by the SCUBA diver in logo.
Events included an organized symposium “Great Lakes, Great Archaeology: Underwater Archaeology of the Midwest” with papers on a range of topics from historical shipwrecks in Lake Michigan, to remnants of ports and lost coastal communities, and submerged ancient landscapes. This broad range of papers highlighted the maritime archaeology approach in the region, going coast to coast and back through time. There was also a paper highlighting the discovery of numerous dugout canoes in Lake Mendota, Wisconsin.
MAC also joined forces for the first time with the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association (WUAA) who hosted their annual Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology and Maritime History Symposium as an organized session at the conference. This all day event featured talks from Chris Houghton from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Russ Green superintendent of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Tamara Thomsen of the Wisconsin Historical Society, members of WUAA who recently discovered the wreck of the Schooner Margaret A. Muir, and myself.
ACUA members Kendra Kennedy (left) and Caitlin Zant (right) were in attendance, and we got a photo of our ACUA mini-reunion at the conference. Overall, it is an exciting time for conducting underwater archaeology in the Midwest – there is great synergy between the newly established NOAA Sanctuary, the decades worth of high caliber research conducted by the Wisconsin Historical Society and its partners including WUAA, as well as the new graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee offering a Master of Science and PhD within the Anthropology Department with a focus on submerged cultural heritage.
The MAC conference was a great reminder that archaeology underwater is just that – archaeology! And as such it should be included in larger meetings, regional and national conferences along side our partners working solely terrestrially. Our landscapes have fundamentally changed over time and sometimes material culture winds up underwater – MAC was a great opportunity to highlight the important research and collaborations happening underwater and share it with a new audience!
Organized session participants, back row left to right: Kendra Kennedy (ACUA, Wisconsin Historical Society), Sophie Stuart (Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary), Wayne Lusardi (State Underwater Archaeologist, Michigan), Mya Welch (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Graduate Student), Bredan Nash (University of Michigan, Graduate Student), Michael Obie (University of Toronto, Graduate Student), John O’Shea (University of Michigan), bottom row: Ashley Lemke (ACUA, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Anya Lewinski (University of Missouri, Undergraduate Student), Michelle Damian (ACUA Individual Associate Member, Museum of Underwater Archaeology, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
Categorised in: Deep Thoughts