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Meet the Regional Director — W. Sue Gross Regional News — April 2009 Houston Society –
Fort Bend Society –
Brazosport Society –
Region 5 News Updates can be found at www.houstonarcheology.org. Timely information about local events, etc. If you do not already receive the electronic version of these news updates, contact me at region05@txarch.org. |
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W. Sue Gross E-mail: region05@txarch.org I am the Region 5 Director for the southeast Gulf Coast area. I have been a TAS member more than 20 years, as well as being a member of the Brazosport and Houston societies. You may have seen me at any of the 16 TAS Field Schools that I have attended: at Nacogdoches (85), I was the one that had poison ivy before we camped in the middle of it; at Wolf Creek (87-88), I was one of the Four Little Kittens who Lost their Midden; at Devils River (89), I was on the crew that recorded a new unique proto-historic shield rock art site; at Red River (91-92), I remember bailing crawdads out of the excavation units so we could continue to dig in the mud; at Lake Jackson (94- 95), I was the face behind the registration and thoroughly enjoyed camping in my own house that year with a/c and hot showers; and at Marfa (00), we had the swimming pool in the tent! I like to wear funny hats during excavations, or earrings that say I DIG, or my miniature trowel earrings. I missed the 2005 and 2006 Field Schools, as I did not think anyone at work would believe that I was actually going to Paris to camp and dig in the dirt. To answer the question that most of us get asked when people find out that we enjoy digging in the dirt – "What made you get interested in Archeology?" – I have always liked history, and even dug up old bottles in the creek/trash dump behind my grandparent's house when I was a kid – anyone else have a pig-shaped mustard bottle for a piggy bank? One day I took a vacation trip to see the pyramids of Teotihuacan and the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, and was telling a co-worker about the trip, when he invited me out to a local excavation. As the saying goes, I was hooked. Being a part of the small regional Brazosport Society has allowed me to experience a full-range of duties; who can resist the line, "if you become a member of BAS, we will make you an officer"?! While my main interest has always been historical excavations, since that is where I started and can relate to the usage of the artifacts that are discovered, I have participated and enjoyed various archaic and prehistoric opportunities also. I have worked at the Hermitage (President Andrew Jackson's home) in Nashville, Colha in Belize, and a mammoth site in Clute. I presented a historical ceramics discussion at the Corpus Christi TAS Annual Meeting, and I am the Gross of the Gross, et al., Eagle Island Plantation report in the TAS Bulletin Volume 61/1990. Currently, Brazosport members are documenting the remains of 50+ plantations in Brazoria County. I have worked for Dow Chemical Company in Freeport for more than 25 years. Along with Bob, we have a cockatiel named Mary Austin Holley (Stephen F. Austin's cousin), and enjoy traveling, trout fishing, and backyard bird-watching. I collect 19th-century Staffordshire transfer-printed plates, refinish hand-made furniture crafted by my grandfather, and I enjoy quilting. See you at one of our upcoming Field Schools – ask anybody for the Brazosport group! |
