Staff profile
Sarah E. Cowie, M.S.
Consulting Archaeologist, Industrial and Historical Archaeology, Archaeology of Landscapes.
How did you get interested in archaeology?
I grew up in central Mississippi, and spent many childhood days traipsing through derelict barns and overgrown cemeteries. I loved the mystery of abandoned places whose history and meaning seemed forgotten. A local archaeologist allowed us kids to help sift dirt on his excavations, and I was immediately hooked on this unique means of accessing the past.
As an undergraduate, I participated in an internship program that sent me to England for a summer, where I helped excavate a site that had been occupied repeatedly for thousands of years. The same plot of land had been used as a Stone Age ritual gathering place, an Iron Age village, a Roman Era fort, and a nineteenth century industrial site. I was amazed that people had interacted with the same landscape with such different results. This experience generated my interest in studying how people, landscapes, and technologies intersect and change over time.
How did you become an archaeologist?
In 1994 I earned a B. A. in Archaeology from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. Two years later, I earned a M.S. in Industrial Archaeology from Michigan Technological University. Since then I have worked as an archaeologist for a number of CRM companies and government agencies in the Southeastern, Midwestern, and Southwestern United States. I returned to graduate school in 2000, and now I am nearing completion of my Ph.D. in Anthropology with the University of Arizona. I believe that formal education is important for studying archaeological theory, research designs and scientific techniques. However, we learn some of our most important lessons while doing fieldwork with our friends, colleagues and mentors. That is probably what I love best about archaeology: there is always something more to learn.
What do you do at Southern Research?
As a Consulting Archaeologist, I develop research designs, direct surveys and excavations, and write, write, write! I have worked as Field Director on several major excavations ranging from a contact period Creek Indian farmstead, to a historic canal system. With my training in Industrial Archaeology, I especially enjoy studying this region’s many water-powered grist mill sites and related communities.
What do you do when you are not working?
My interest in different cultures extends to my passions for cooking (especially Southeast Asian and African cuisines) and listening to music (nearly everything from punk to opera). The rest of my time is happily consumed with family; my husband and baby daughter share my enthusiasm for dirt.