Dr. David Anderson is a professor of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee. He has nearly forty years of direct experience in southeastern archaeology, and has written extensively on Paleoindian archaeology in the Southeast, including as co-editor of the only regional synthesis on the subject to date, The Paleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast (Anderson and Sassaman 1996). He was a major participant in the National Historic Landmark program’s Paleoindian Theme Study for the Eastern United States, and the author of the section covering the Southeastern United States, including the section on how to evaluate Paleoindian sites for NRHP eligibility.

Shane Miller is a doctoral student at the University of Arizona, specializing in Paleoindian archaeology, lithic technology and spatial analysis. He received his Masters degree in Anthropology in 2007 from the University of Tennessee, with his thesis research documenting Clovis deposits at the Topper Paleoindian site in Allendale, South Carolina, where he was the senior field director for two years. With Anderson, he is a co-director of the online Paleoindian Database of the Americas project. His dissertation research focuses on the relationship between climate change and early hunter-gatherer landscape use in the Cumberland and Tennessee River Valleys.

Tom Pertierra is the Director of Operations for the University of South Carolina’s Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey (SEPAS) program. He is also the founder of SEPAS, Inc. a Direct Support Organization that logistically supports archaeological projects that involve the public in their programs. An avocational archaeologist, Tom has assisted Dr. Albert Goodyear in directing the Topper project in Allendale South Carolina for the past six years. An accomplished flintknapper and excavator, he is an expert on managing project logistics, security, and collections analysis. He specializes in public outreach, which will be a major part of this project. In addition, SEPAS, Inc. provides a broad array of field equipment that will be made available to the Bells Bend project including total stations, hand excavation equipment, a mobile equipment trailer and computerized analysis laboratory.

Ashley Smallwood is a doctoral student at Texas A&M University and the Center for the Study of the First Americans. She is studying Clovis technology in the southeastern U.S., with a specific focus on the adaptive context of Clovis biface production. In 2006, Ashley received her Masters degree; her thesis research documented evidence of use-wear on bifaces from the Gault site, a Clovis site in Central TX. In 2009 and 2010, she was the senior field director at the Topper Clovis site, and she is currently analyzing the lithic assemblage from this site as well as assemblages from other important Clovis sites in the Southeast, including Williamson and Carson-Conn-Short. The goal of Ashley’s dissertation is to identify the signatures of Southeastern Clovis biface technology and the organization of this industry to culturally define Clovis in the region.

Erik Johanson is a M.A. student at the University of Tennessee and an archaeologist with UT's Archaeological Research Laboratory. His thesis project involves predictive modeling for Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. Research interests include prehistoric archaeology of North America, specifically settlement modeling in the Southeast. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Tennessee.

Thad Bissett is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  His dissertation research focuses on the geographic and temporal origins of the Late Mississippian Dallas phase in East Tennessee.  His master's thesis, completed at Florida State University in 2003, concerned Early Archaic lithic technology in the lower Southeast.  He is also currently engaged in research on Middle Archaic adaptations in the Midsouth, including obtaining new radiocarbon estimates from Eva (40Bn12) in Benton County, TN.  Before returning to graduate school in 2007, he worked as a CRM archaeologist and project supervisor in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Sarah E. Walters is a M. A. student in Anthropology at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  She received her B. A. in Anthropology from Louisiana State University.  Her research interests focus on prehistoric archaeology with an emphasis on lithic technology, as well as an interest in experimental and theoretical archaeology.  Since 2007 she has been involved in several archaeological projects with various private firms, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions.

Derek Anderson is a Ph.D. student at the University of Arizona (where he is bff with Shane Miller) with a focus on Paleoindian studies.  He received his BA from Penn State and his MA from the University of Wyoming, with his thesis focusing on the prehistoric occupation of rockshelters in the Bighorn Mountains.  He has been involved in a variety of academic and CRM projects throughout North America since 1999 and is interested in the archaeology and territoriality of hunter-gatherers, specifically resource use (faunal and lithic) and mobility during the late Pleistocene in North America.

Douglas A. Sain is completing his MA degree from Eastern New Mexico University. His master’s thesis documents Clovis blade technology at the Topper Site in Allendale County, SC.  His research interests include Paleoindian archaeology, lithic technology, patterns of prehistoric settlement, and technological organization.   Douglas obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Anthropology from Appalachian State University in 2003, and has been accepted as a doctoral student at the University of Tennessee.  His archaeological experience includes fieldwork as a supervisor at the Topper Site, the Blackwater Draw Site in Portales New Mexico, and employment with various Cultural Resource Management firms throughout the Southeastern U.S.  

Lydia Dorsey is a Masters student in anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She received her B.A. in anthropology from the University of Wake Forest in 2008 and is now entering the third year of her Masters program. Lydia concentrates in zooarchaeology, particularly within the context of southeastern prehistory. She is currently in the midst of her thesis research on the faunal collection from the Zebree site in northeastern Arkansas.

Tracy Ann Hadlett graduated with a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of South Florida in Fall 2009.  Since then she has been involved with the Topper Site in Allendale, South Carolina where she helped operate and maintain the total stations.  Her interests include subsistence strategies of Paleoindian and Archaic time periods, zooarchaeology, and spatial analysis. She is a member of the Central Gulf Coast Archaeology Society and is in the process of applying to graduate school.