St. Croix

Prehistoric Midden Coastal Site on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

I serve as an excavation team member on the Aklis Archaeological Project, a collaborative initiative directed by Dr. Derek Anderson, Dr. Molly Zuckerman, and Dr. D. Shane Miller through the Cobb Institute of Archaeology at Mississippi State University. Since 2023, I have actively participated in fieldwork at this coastal site, which is located in the Caribbean and is currently threatened by rapid environmental erosion. My responsibilities have included the careful excavation of both burial contexts and habitation features, contributing to the documentation and recovery of cultural materials before they are lost to shoreline retreat. Through this work, I have gained hands-on experience in the recovery and contextual analysis of human remains and domestic activity areas, supporting the project's broader goals of understanding past lifeways and addressing the urgent need for salvage excavation in at-risk archaeological landscapes.