Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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12 UCW AUGUST 18-24, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Linda Carnes-McNaughton has spent her career as an archaeologist and works as such on Fort Bragg. "I discovered anthropology, the study of human cultures, biology and behaviors. It seemed like a perfect fit, then I went on 'a dig' and knew that was what I wanted to do forever, I wanted to learn about people of the past through discovery." As a military brat, Carnes-McNaughton was immersed in other cultures as a child when the family moved around. In Japan, at the age of 6, she took language classes, traditional dance and crafts and enjoyed the games she played with Japanese children. "I think that experience, that exposure, that im- mersion into another culture at such a young age, planted the seed of anthropology in my head." In her current work, Carnes-McNaughton said archaeologists are able to engage with folks who have direct connections to this land as well as others who want to know more about the people of the past. She goes on to say, "One of our current respon- sibilities is working with federally-recognized Indian Nations who once called the Sandhills their homelands. Building respectful long-term relationships with these heritage families en- hances our understanding of this landscape and its vital natural resources." "e term 'heritage families' refers to families whose ancestors we know from documentation and oral histories once lived on this landscape. eir ancestors could have been Native Ameri- cans, or early colonists or former enslaved Afri- cans who lived here, raised families here and may have died here, and are buried in one of our 26 early historic cemeteries. e work we do in dis- covering people of the past is greatly enhanced by the families' histories shared by descendants. Often, we can share what we learn about an old farm or house site with descendants and they will then share their knowledge with us." At this point in her career, she has been on nearly 100 digs, most of those in the southeastern United States, but primarily in North Carolina. "Once I was fortunate enough to do a small survey in Northern Ireland on historic pottery manufacturing sites. Over the years, I worked as an archaeologist for university-sponsored field projects, private-consulting agencies, and state- and now, federal-government programs," she said. "e sites ranged in age from prehistoric times to historic cultural periods; sites like 2000-year old soapstone quarry sites, to 19th century tar kilns, or early pottery kiln sites, to battlefield sites, home sites, colonial towns, prehistoric village sites, some cemeteries and even work on pirate shipwrecks." Carnes-McNaughton co-authored the book "Blackbeard's Sunken Treasure: e 300-year Voyage of Queen Anne's Revenge," with Mark U. Wilde-Ramsing. She really enjoyed working on the project. "I specialize in material culture studies (the artifacts – how they are made, what they date to, what they are used for, how they get recycled and who used them)." She began as a volunteer on the shipwreck project looking at the pottery and glass recovered on this 1718 site. en, the work expanded into examining items of personal gear such as items of clothing, smoking pipes, ornamentation like beads and buttons, buckles, etc., as well as navi- gational equipment, and then cooking or galley artifacts and finally into the realm of maritime medicines such as looking at medical equipment found on the wreck. "All this research led to a better understand- ing of who is represented by the artifacts, leaning more about activities that took place and how the remains of the wreck ended up on the ocean floor," Carnes-McNaughton said. "My co-author was the former QAR project director, an under- water and we realized that between us we made a great team to document what has been found on this important shipwreck. I enjoy this research as much as I enjoy pottery research." Working outdoors has always appealed to Carnes-McNaughton and excavation has always been her preferred avenue of discovery. She en- joys the fieldwork the most but also enjoys inter- action with the people (descendants and others) who have a vested interest in the history of the Sandhills and pre-Fort Bragg landscape. She also likes starting a conversation by sharing a single ar- tifact and talking about what it means to different people. at is oftentimes very intriguing. "If I had to pick one single site that was a life- changing experience it was helping to excavate the oldest European-style pottery kiln found in North America, the 1566 kiln at the Spanish fort site of Santa Elena on Parris Island, South Caro- lina." said Carnes-McNaughton. "at was sheer delight." Carnes-McNaughton encourages others to explore the field in which she has found a reward- ing career. "Archaeology is important science in that it helps us look at the past in order to understand the present and future of our place on this planet. Being an archaeologist means looking at the world around us in a different perspective. We learn to be humanists at the same time we prac- tice our science." COVER Linda Carnes-McNaughton is an archaeologist on Fort Bragg. Bottom left: Carnes-McNaughton excavates the Lamont House cellar in 2006. e Lamont House site is located in a training area on Fort Bragg. Archaeologists have unearthed its history back to John Lamont, a Scottish immigrant who purchased the land in 1859, and lived there with his family until his death in 1871. Bottom right: Carnes-McNaughton talks with site visitors. (Photos courtesy Fort Bragg Garrison PAO) COVER Fort Bragg archaeologist investigates, preserves and shares history by ELAINA J. MARTIN ELAINA J. MARTIN, Staff Writer. COMMENTS? editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910-484-6200.