CURRICULUM VITAE

Jera Rollins Davis, Ph.D.

Address: Email: University of [email protected] Office of Archaeological Research Office Phone: 205-371-8704 13075 Moundville Archaeological Park Home Phone: 205-339-3106 Moundville, AL 35474

Education:

2008-2014 Ph.D. program in Anthropology (Archaeology), University of Alabama Dissertation Title: On Common Ground: Social Memory and the Plaza at Early Moundville (Ph.D. committee chair: John Blitz; members: V. James Knight Jr., Lisa LeCount, Kathryn Oths, F. Kent Reilly III)

2008 M.A. in Anthropology (Archaeology), University of Alabama Thesis Title: Crafting in the Countryside: A Comparison of Three Late Prehistoric Nonmound Sites in the Black Warrior River Valley. (M.A. committee chair: John Blitz; members: Robert Clouse, Keith Jacobi, Kathryn Oths)

2004 B.A. in Anthropology, University of Georgia B.A. in History, University of Georgia cum laude (summa cum laude in majors)

Research Interests: archaeology, origins and development of complex society, crafting, memory, plazas, experimental archaeology, iconography, Eastern Woodlands

Professional Positions:

2015-present Cultural Resource Specialist, University of Alabama, Office of Archaeological Research, Moundville, Alabama.

Publications:

2015 Davis, Jera R., John H. Blitz, and Chester P. Walker. Remote Sensing as Community Settlement Analysis at Moundville. American Antiquity 80(1):161- 169.

In Press Davis, Jera R. Crafting Moundville Palettes. Rethinking Moundville and its Hinterland, edited by C. Margaret Scarry and Vincas P. Steponaitis. University of Florida Press, Tallahassee.

In Prep. Davis, Jera R. Crafting in the Countryside: Late Moundville’s Hinterland Households and their Economic Motivations. Editing in advance of publication in Southeastern Archaeology.

In Prep. Davis, Jera R., Daniel Turner, and Michael Farmer. Early Moundville Domestic Life on the Northwest Plaza Periphery. To be submitted to Journal of Alabama Archaeology.

2010 Review of Caborn-Welborn: Constructing a New Society after the Angel Chiefdom Collapse, by David Pollack. Southeastern Archaeology 29(2):374-376.

Other Contributions:

2015 On the Importance of Illustration. Museum Chronicle 51:8.

2015 Moundville Archaeologists Recover Artifacts Before It’s Too Late. Museum Chronicle 51:15.

2009 Schematic maps of ’s route through Alabama in The Search for Mabila: The Decisive Battle between Hernando de Soto and Chief Tascalusa. Edited by Vernon James Knight, Jr. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

Academic Scholarships, Assistantships, and Awards:

2012-2013 Graduate Council Research Fellowship, University of Alabama ($37,000) 2011 Winner of Bob Work Archaeology Student Paper Competition for Making Moundville Palettes: Past and Present ($500) 2011 Alabama Archaeological Society Steven and Christine Wimberly Scholarship ($250) 2010 Richard A. Krause Award for Outstanding Graduate Scholarship in Anthropology ($500) 2010 Graduate Student Research and Travel Support Award ($600) 2009 Graduate Student Research and Travel Support Award ($100) 2008 1st Place in the Southeastern Archaeological Conference Student Paper Competition for Crafting in the Countryside: A Comparison of Three Late Prehistoric Nonmound Sites in the Black Warrior River Valley (books and art valued at over $5000) 2007 The David and Elizabeth DeJarnette Endowed Scholarship in Anthropology, University of Alabama ($6000) 2006-2012 Full Graduate Teaching Assistantship, University of Alabama 2006-present Lambda Alpha, national anthropology honor society 2003-2004 Phi Eta Sigma, national history honor society 2003-2004 National Society of Collegiate Scholars 2003-2004 Presidential Scholar 2000-2004 H.O.P.E. (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) Scholarship (full in-state tuition)

Invited Lectures:

2015 “Depression-Era Excavations Revisited.” Lecture to the Florence county chapter of the Alabama Archaeological Society (October).

2015 “Depression-Era Excavations Revisited.” Lecture to the Cullman county chapter of the Alabama Archaeological Society (October).

2015 “Reconsidering Valley Funerary Objects.” Lecture to the Alabama Archaeological Society (June).

2013 “The Moundville Palette: Icon of Ritual, Identity, and Power.” Lecture to the Anthropology Department, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas (March).

2013 “Titans of the Ancient South: The People and History of the Moundville Chiefdom.” Lecture to the Anthropology Department, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas (March).

2012 “The Mississippian Southeast.” Guest lecture for the University of Alabama Continuing Education class “Alabama Before Statehood” (January).

2011 “The Mississippian Southeast.” Lecture delivered as part of the Summer Lecture Series, Oakville Indian Mounds Education Center, Lawrence County, Alabama (June).

2010 “Moundville Palettes and Ritual Culture.” Alabama Archaeological Society, Cullman, Alabama (April).

2010 “Making Moundville Palettes: Past and Present.” Friday Afternoon Brown Bag Lunch Lecture. University of Alabama, Department of Anthropology (March).

2009 “Moundville’s Economies.” Lecture delivered at the offices of PanAmerican Consultants, Inc., Tuscaloosa, Alabama (April).

2008 Tour of Moundville Archaeological Park for the Archaeological Conservancy’s “Native Peoples of Alabama” archaeological program (October).

2007 “Moundville and its Hinterland.” Lecture delivered to the Alabama Archaeological Society, Birmingham, Alabama (October).

Professional Presentations:

2014 An Archaeogeophysical Approach to Population and Settlement Through Time at Moundville. Presented at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Greenville, , in the symposium “New Perspectives on the Archaeology of Moundville and Black Warrior Valley.”

2014 Davis, Jera R. Into the Great Wide Open: Plazas and Polity in the Mississippian South. Presented at the Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Austin, TX, in the symposium “Recent Trends in Plaza Investigations in the Maya Lowlands.”

2013 Davis, J. R. Moundville’s Defining Moment: Plazas, Architecture, and Collective Vision in Polity Formation. Paper presented at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Tampa, FL.

2012 Blitz, John H. and J. R. Davis. Landscape Archaeogeophysics at Moundville. Poster presented at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Baton Rouge, LA.

2012 Davis, J. R. On Common Ground: Memory, Tradition, and the Remaking of Communal Tradition at Early Moundville. Paper presented at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Baton Rouge, LA, in the symposium “Mississippian Beginnings: Fresh Ideas and Data from throughout the Southeast and Midwest.”

2012 Blitz, John H. and J. R. Davis. The Hidden History of the Moundville Plaza. Paper presented at the Alabama Archaeological Society Conference, Moundville, AL.

2012 Davis, J. R. Hearing Meaning: Toward an Audible Iconography. Paper presented the Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Memphis, TN, in the symposium “Pushing the Cognitive and Iconographic Envelope of the Mississippian Period Eastern Woodlands.”

2011 Davis, J. R. Ground-Truthing Anomalies in Moundville’s Plaza. Paper presented at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Jacksonville, FL.

2011 Davis, J. R. Inspirited Objects: Responsive Pots as Living Things. Paper presented at the MidSouth Archaeological Conference, Memphis, TN.

2010 Davis, J. R. Mississippian Art as Process. Paper presented at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Lexington, KY, in the symposium “Symbolic and Visual Communication in the Mississippian Period: Interpretation, Context, and Methodology.”

2009 Davis, J. R. Making Moundville Palettes: Past and Present. Paper presented at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Mobile, AL.

2009 Davis, J. R. Crafting in the Countryside: A Comparison of Three Late Prehistoric Nonmound Sites in the Black Warrior River Valley. Paper presented at the Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Atlanta, GA, in the symposium “Rethinking Moundville and its Hinterland.”

2008 Davis, J. R. Crafting in the Countryside: A Comparison of Three Late Prehistoric Nonmound Sites in the Black Warrior River Valley. Paper presented at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Charlotte, NC.

Field Experience:

2015 (winter) Principle Investigator, Moundville Riverbank Stabilization, Moundville, AL – late Mississippian midden excavation at the rapidly eroding riverbank

2012 (summer) Principle Investigator, Moundville Plaza Project, Moundville, AL – ground- truthing magnetic anomalies suspected of being hearths and structure walls

2011 (summer/fall) Principle Investigator, Moundville Plaza Project, Moundville, AL – ground- truthing magnetic anomalies suspected of being hearths and structure walls

2010 (fall) Principle Investigator, Asphalt Plant Mound, Moundville, AL – Terminal Woodland/Early Mississippian and village area

2010 (summer) Staff Archaeologist, Graveline Mound Archaeological Project, Gautier, MI (Directed by Lauren Downs and John Blitz, University of Alabama) – Late- Middle Woodland platform mound on the Gulf Coast

2009 (fall) Teaching Assistant, Field School at Moundville Archaeological Park, Moundville, AL (directed by John Blitz, University of Alabama) – Mound P summit architecture

2008 (fall) Teaching Assistant, Field School at Moundville Archaeological Park, Moundville, AL (directed by John Blitz, University of Alabama) – off-mound domestic middens and structures

2008 (summer) Field Archaeologist, Salvage work in preparation for Moundville museum expansion, Moundville, Alabama (directed by Claire Thompson, University of Alabama) – off-mound domestic middens and structures

2008 (summer) Field Archaeologist, Joint U.S.-Cuban archaeological project at Chorro de Maíta, Holguin province, Cuba (directed by Vernon James Knight and Brooke Persons, University of Alabama) – Late Prehistoric/Contact period Taino political and ceremonial center

2007 (fall) Teaching Assistant, Honor’s Field School at the Pride Place site, Tuscaloosa, AL (directed by Vernon James Knight, University of Alabama) – Moundville hinterland site at the falls of the Black Warrior

2006 (summer) Assistant Director of Excavations, University of Alabama Museum of Natural History Expedition 28 at Moundville Archaeological Park, Moundville, AL (directed by John Blitz and Claire Nanfro, University of Alabama)

2005-2006 Field Technician, Brockington Cultural Resources Consulting, Norcross, GA

2004 (summer) Volunteer, Warren Wilson Field School at the Berry site, Morganton, NC (directed by David Moore, Robin Beck, and Chris Rodning)

Teaching Experience:

2015 (fall) Instructor, ANT 102 – Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, University of Alabama

2015 (spring) Instructor, ANT 102 – Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, University of Alabama

2014 (fall) Instructor, ANT 102 – Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, University of Alabama

2014 (fall) Instructor, ANT 100 – Introduction to Anthropology, University of Alabama

2012 (summer) Instructor, ANT 269 – Field Archaeology, University of Alabama

2012 (spring) Lab Manager, University of Alabama Complex Societies Archaeology Lab, Biology Building

2011 (May) Instructor, ANT 269 – Field Archaeology, University of Alabama

2010 (fall) Lab Manager, University of Alabama Archaeology Lab, Ten Hoor Hall – training and supervising eight undergraduates in the analysis of prehistoric artifacts from Moundville and Moundville-related sites

2006-present Teaching Assistant, University of Alabama - Spring 2014: ANT 103 – Great Discoveries in Archaeology - Fall 2013: ANT 100 – Introduction to Anthropology - Spring 2012: ANT 466 – Laboratory Methods in Archaeology - Fall 2011: ANT 269 – Field Archaeology - Fall 2010: ANT 269/UH300 – Field Archaeology/Honors Field Archaeology - Spring 2010: ANT 466 – Laboratory Methods in Archaeology - Fall 2009: ANT 269 – Field Archaeology - Spring 2009: ANT 466 – Laboratory Methods in Archaeology - Fall 2008: ANT 269 – Field Archaeology - Spring 2008: ANT 103 - Great Discoveries in Archaeology - Fall 2007: UH 300 - Honors Field Archaeology - Fall 2006-Spring 2007: ANT 103 - Great Discoveries in Archaeology

Professional Memberships:

Southeastern Archaeological Conference Society for American Archaeology Alabama Archaeological Society