Contact: Maridith Geuder
John W. O'Hear
A Mississippi State authority in Southeastern prehistoric archaeology will head a national professional group that focuses on archaeology of the region.
John W. O'Hear, who joined the university faculty in 1976, is beginning a two-year term as president of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference. As senior archaeologist and curator of research collections at the Cobb Institute of Archaeology, he has directed numerous large-scale excavation projects at prehistoric Native American sites in Mississippi and Alabama.
Founded in 1938, SEAC has a membership of more than 1,000 individuals and organizations. In addition to hosting an annual professional meeting that attracts more than 450, the group publishes a semi-annual peer-reviewed journal, Southeastern Archaeology, featuring both scholarly articles and book reviews.
Beginning in 1940 and continuing for many years, the SEAC conference had a major theme, ranging from Middle Mississippi pottery to the archaeology of historic tribes. More recently, thematic meetings have been replaced with a variety of academic and research sessions spanning several days.
"The growth of the organization reflects, in part, the increased research and employment opportunities in contract archaeology," O'Hear said.
In addition to the Southeast, he has been involved in field work in Mexico, Jordan and Israel. He currently co-directs an ongoing project in Cienfuegos Province, Cuba.
O'Hear also is working with the Chickasaw Nation on a significant collection of 17th and 18th century artifacts from the Tupelo area that the tribe recently acquired.
He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in anthropology from the University of Alabama, with additional graduate work at the universities of Michigan and North Carolina-Chapel Hill.