Here’s the latest in our series of entertaining interviews with a diverse array of your fellow SHA members. Meet a member for the first time or learn something about a colleague that you never knew before. This blog series also offers current members an opportunity to share their thoughts on why SHA membership is important (Camaraderie? Professional service? Exchange of ideas in conference rooms and beyond? You tell us!). If you would like to be an interviewee, please email the Membership Committee Social Media Liaisons Eleanor Breen (eabreen@mountvernon.org) or Kim Pyszka (kmpyszka@aum.edu).

An Interview with Timothy Hawley (drhawleytim@gmail.com), a Project Director currently based in Denver, Colorado. Originally from Neenah, Wisconsin, Timothy has spent over two decades in cultural resource management and field archaeology. His work has taken him across the United States and internationally, contributing to projects ranging from prehistoric sites in the Midwest to colonial excavations in the Caribbean. He brings a thoughtful and reflective approach to archaeology, emphasizing collaboration, context, and the ethical dimensions of heritage work. Timothy’s projects have ranged from survey and excavation of mining-era ghost towns in Colorado to collaborative digs at ancient Puebloan villages in New Mexico and Latin American colonial sites. An enthusiastic field archaeologist and dedicated public educator, he regularly volunteers in local community history programs. He is an active member of the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA), and often contributes to outreach initiatives and conferences.

Fieldwork or labwork?

I have to admit I’m a field person at heart. For me, the instant connection of discovery in the field still wins out over the slow, methodical pace of the lab. That said, I also deeply appreciate lab work. After a long day of digging in the field, I enjoy the calm of the lab: washing pottery sherds, cataloging artifacts, and analyzing charcoal samples. It’s where the bigger picture forms. You can be out in the field uncovering fragments of the past, but it’s back in the lab that those bits of pottery and metal are dated, studied, and interpreted. There, a shard of ceramic might tell us about trade networks or diet, and a piece of wood can be radiocarbon dated to pin down dates of occupation. So I see fieldwork and labwork as two halves of the same whole. If I had to choose one, I’d lean toward fieldwork. I love the adventure, but the insights in the lab are indispensable. Both aspects feed my passion for understanding how people lived long ago.

What would be your dream site to work at?

Oh! There are so many! One that I can easily think about is Çatalhöyük in Turkey, one of the earliest large settlements in the world. In graduate school, I wrote a term paper on Neolithic urbanism, and Çatalhöyük was a case study. It’s not on my current project roster, but I’d jump at a chance to participate in a dig there or a similar Neolithic site. I’m also fascinated by underwater archaeology, so I’ve long wanted to get involved in a maritime excavation like the Old Providence Island shipwrecks in the Caribbean. Working on a sunken colonial-era ship or submerged Native American shell midden would combine my love of diving and history. Wherever I go next, I hope it challenges me with new techniques, new cultures, and new stories.

What are you currently reading?

Right now, I’m immersing myself in a mix of technical reports and some lighter fare. For my next project, I’m brushing up on Andean archaeology, so I’m reading The Sacred City of Caral-Supe: Cultural Symbol of Peru by Ruth Shady Solís. It’s fascinating. The book goes into detail about the architecture and society of Caral, and it really underscores that notion of it being the oldest city in the Americas (as UNESCO describes) - whc.unesco.org. I’ve been highlighting passages about the sunken courts and the quipu; it reads a bit like an adventure novel with all those pyramids and plazas.

I’ve also been flipping through National Geographic magazines and archaeology news sites weekly. For example, I recently read some great recent news about Levantine archaeology. There was a report this past September about archaeologists discovering what looks to be an Assyrian siege ramp at the ancient city of Azekah in Israel. It’s amazing to see how a Bronze Age city wall was modified into a ramp for warfare, and that find made headlines around mid-September 2020 - biblearchaeologyreport.com. Discoveries like that remind me how fresh our understanding of history always is. 

What recent discovery or research in archaeology has captured your attention?

I have been following news from the Near East in the last few weeks. In particular, the September 2020 announcements from Israel’s archaeology teams really intrigued me. Excavators at Tel Azekah in Judah (southern Israel) found what appears to be an Assyrian siege ramp from 701 BCE. The story goes that the team found an old Bronze Age fortification wall deliberately cut at a 45-degree angle, with material from behind it piled up like a ramp. They even found ritual chalices in the ramp’s base that match Assyrian reliefs. It was as if the Assyrians had “recycled” an older wall to create a pathway into the city. That discovery (and another one of a destroyed Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri likely felled by an earthquake) was reported in September and got a lot of press. I’ve been in touch with some colleagues who do Levantine archaeology, and everyone is buzzing about it. It’s the kind of discovery that connects history, archaeology, and even biblical texts (Azekah is mentioned in accounts of Sennacherib’s campaign), and it’s exciting to see such a clear real-world tie to ancient historical records.

On a different front, I’m also intrigued by work being done with new technology – for instance, LIDAR surveys in jungle sites or ancient DNA studies of skeletal collections. Just this year I read about a project using ground-penetrating radar to map ancestral Pueblo ruins in the Four Corners region without digging. These tech advances mean we’re finding and learning about sites in non-invasive ways, and that’s been a big topic at SHA conferences. In all, the rapid pace of new discoveries, whether through field excavations or lab analyses, keeps me excited about what archaeology will uncover next.

How does your involvement with SHA enhance your professional development?

Being part of SHA has made a huge difference in my career. SHA has been my primary professional community. The biggest benefits have been the networking and the resources. Through the society, I found mentors early on: senior archaeologists who offered advice on things like securing permits, writing grants, and even negotiating contracts. I’ve also been able to present papers at SHA conferences and get feedback on my work, which sharpened my research and writing.

The SHA’s publications are also invaluable. The Historical Archaeology journal and SHA Newsletter keep me up-to-date on the latest fieldwork and methods. For example, learning about digital archaeology techniques or new interpretive theories in those publications has directly informed how I run my own projects. And the membership grants and scholarships have literally funded important parts of my research and fieldwork. A few years ago, I received a small SHA grant that helped cover laboratory analysis of artifacts from an excavation. Without that support, it might have been out of our budget.

At what point in your career did you first join SHA, and what advice would you give to aspiring archaeologists?

I joined SHA as a young graduate student, right after completing my MA in 2002. A professor encouraged me to go to the annual meeting and meet the community, which turned out to be one of the best pieces of advice I ever received. My advice to anyone starting out is similar: dive in early. Get to a local field school or dig (many of which have SHA-affiliated faculty), and go to conferences if you can. The friendships and networks you build will be priceless. Also, don’t pigeonhole yourself. Explore different branches of archaeology to see what sparks your passion. On my own path, I started doing digs in the Midwest and Southwest, but I later travelled for work in New England, Mexico, and even Greece. Those experiences outside my “home turf” not only kept my enthusiasm high, but also taught me new methods and perspectives. Learn to tell good stories about your findings, too. Being able to communicate why your work matters (whether to a room full of archaeologists or a group of fifth-graders on a site tour) is hugely valuable.

Last but not least, be patient and persistent. Archaeology projects often take longer and cost more than expected, and you’ll spend a lot of time in paperwork, grant writing, and waiting on permits. Cultivate a strong work ethic and attention to detail. But if you stay curious and keep those long-term goals in sight, the discoveries you make, and the history you help preserve will make all the effort worthwhile.

 How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your work this year?

This has definitely been a year of adjustment. In early 2020, we had to pause several planned field projects due to travel restrictions and safety concerns. Many in-person site surveys were postponed or converted to local monitoring only. Personally, I spent spring 2020 wrapping up lab analyses and writing reports for projects we had completed in 2019. Instead of traveling, my team and I also shifted to virtual meetings and remote planning.

Interestingly, the downtime gave me a chance to focus on professional development. I took online courses in GIS and remote-sensing methods that I hadn’t had time to learn before. As of September 2020, we’re tentatively resuming some fieldwork on a reduced scale, following strict health protocols (smaller crews, masks when needed, outdoor-only meetings). It’s been a strange time, but the archaeological community has been resilient. We’ll get back out in the field safely before too long, and in the meantime, I’m grateful for the new skills and connections this unusual year has offered.

 What’s the biggest challenge facing archaeology today?

For me, it’s balancing the speed of development-driven work with the depth of interpretation the material deserves. Archaeology often happens under tight deadlines and limited budgets, and that can lead to data loss or missed opportunities for engagement. Another challenge is ensuring descendant communities have a say in how their pasts are represented. The discipline is making strides in that direction, but we can always do better.