Don Gaylord

Among other things, I often like to tell people that I'm an archaeologist. My research focuses on the Native American peoples who lived along the eastern seaboard of North America during the Late Woodland and early colonial periods. I am interested in trying to better understand the daily lives of Natives Americans and European colonists, with a particular interest in how these lives were to be forever changed through the process of European colonization. I see this as a dynamic process, which is incidentally still going on today, where there is no simple one-way transfer of peoples, materials, or meanings. I am presently performing a regional analysis spanning the Chesapeake Bay, though as my research progresses I intend to include a significantly more expansive area. In doing so I am examining, for the most part, sites that have already been excavated. This is being done with a view to reconstructing indigenous trade networks-particularly those involving copper-and theories of how these networks were affected by the influx of European colonists and their goods, as well as the "outflux" of Native Americans and their goods. This will involve a focus on exchange theory; archaeological reconstruction of symbolic meanings and ritual practices, particularly mortuary ritual; historical research; and the technical aspects of sourcing various materials. When I'm not posing as an archaeologist I can usually be found painting, playing my guitar, or doing just about anything that involves being outdoors. HI MOM!! HI DAD!!