A New Series of SCA Interviews

E. Breck Parkman

Back in 1997, when I was the President of the SCA, I initiated a series of interviews with the Society’s annual banquet speakers. That first year, I interviewed David Hurst Thomas of the New York Museum of Natural History. At the banquet the year before, I had sat at the table with Lewis Binford and was thrilled to hear the stories he shared about his life and experiences in the field. I found myself wishing that everyone in the room could have been at the table. The interviews that grew from that experience were a way of seating everyone at the table.

Over the next decade, I interviewed each of the SCA’s banquet speakers, ending in 2006 with Douglas Owsley of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. I thought of these as the SCA’s “Millennial Interviews.” They came as we were transitioning from one millennium to the next. It was both an exciting and challenging time. Archaeology was advancing in spectacular ways, especially in the realms of technology and innovation. This and more were covered in the interviews. At the time, I was especially interested in what the archaeologists I interviewed would recommend to students seeking a career in the profession. The advice the interviewees offered seems just as relevant today as it was all those years ago. If interested, you can still read these interviews on the SCA’s website.

Well, it’s been almost twenty years since that last interview and once again we’re approaching what promises to be a dramatic and challenging time for our profession. With the Society’s approval, I’d like to start these interviews again, whenever there’s to be a keynote speaker. For the first time in a few years, the SCA will have a banquet speaker at the upcoming conference in Burlingame. My friend and colleague, retired Senior State Archaeologist John W. Foster, will be talking about his work at Manantial de la Aleta, a Taino cultural site in the Dominican Republic. I heard John give a presentation on la Aleta a few months ago and I was really impressed. It’s a fantastic project and John’s a terrific archaeologist and public speaker. Although la Aleta is in the Caribbean, I believe this study is relevant to the work we are doing here in California. I encourage everyone to attend John’s talk. In the meantime, please enjoy the interview I conducted with him on behalf of the SCA.