Research

ASRI’s Research Initiatives

Produces basic and applied research complemented by related education initiatives

- ASRI’s multi-faceted approach combines archaeological investigations, literature reviews, historical studies, geographic investigations, and earth science fieldwork, and personal interviews.

Research Competencies: Case Study Forgotten Black Pioneers

Illinois Forgotten Black Pioneers: Rediscovered in “In Search of DeSable”:

Jean Baptiste Point de Sable (c. 1740-1818) was the founder of modern Chicago

Overall, “The Search for De Sable” project includes three facets.

ASRI conducted an exhaustive historical study of the written records to clarify De Sable’s historical importance as well as the overall cultural interaction between Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans throughout the Midwest.
ASRI continues the search for De Sable’s physical remains in order to glean clues as to his quality of life and physical appearance.
ASRI and affiliated groups are working to develop an educational curriculum for k-12 children.

If Point De Sable’s remains are found several evaluations and events will take place

Facial Reconstruction – A Bioengineering Approach
.Background – DNA Linkage to the Past
African American Osteological Research Database

Negotiation for ASRI research has commenced for inclusion in the PBS documentary “From DeSable to Obama”.

Research Competencies: Case Study Facial Reconstruction Project

Facial Reconstruction Project for Historical Illustration

ASRI completed this project as part of its research competency. The individual to be reconstructed was believed to have been an African-American female, between the ages of 30 and 39
The skull chosen for reconstruction dated from the 1840s, and had been excavated from a burial site in central Illinois
A three-dimensional computer model of the skull was produced from existing CT data.
A physical reproduction of the skull was completed by using facial reconstruction techniques developed for historical and forensic science
ASRI’s focus on anatomical knowledge, historical facts, and the methodological aspects and their utility in forensic facial reconstruction will continue to be discussed in forthcoming literature.

Research Competencies: Case Study Worlds Oldest Tabasso Sauce Bottle Reconstruction

Virginia City received international attention when the discovery of the world’s oldest known TABASCO® Sauce bottle. Fragments of the shattered bottle were found at the site of the Boston Saloon, a business operated by African American William A. G. Brown between 1864 and 1875. The bottle dates to approximately 1869.
“The bottle is an extremely important artifact because of what it tells us about the distribution of TABASCO® Sauce and about African American cuisine in the American West.”
Dixon’s crew found the cribbage board while working in John Piper’s Old Corner Bar, also in Virginia City. The fire of 1875 damaged Piper’s saloon, and the cribbage board was left in the debris. Archaeologists retrieved the cribbage board partially damaged and with parts missing
Specific to the needs of the Nevada State Museum, members of ASRI/Forevision were engaged in the process to restore and preserve the TABASCO® bottle and cribbage board which combined three distinct operations: Computed Tomography (CT), Virtual Modeling and Rapid Prototyping.

Research Competencies: Case Study Skeletal Reconstruction

A team of scientists conducted a thorough taphonomic analysis the Kennewick Man skeleton.
Prior to the taphonomic studies, members of Forevision executed industrial CT scans of the 9 pieces of the cranium and the fragments of the right hip with the projectile point.
The reconstructed polymer prototype of the cranium was the first use of this technology on human bone. Casts were subsequently made so many scientists and students can benefit from the nine-year effort to preserve these precious remains.
The only cultural item found with the Kennewick Man skeleton is a projectile point still embedded in the bone of his right hip. The projectile point prototype was digitally ‘freed’ so that lithic experts can actually hold, rotate, and discuss the type of point still embedded in the bone. The reconstructed prototype of the hip will resolve the controversy about the direction from which the point entered the bone. Polymer prototypes were created from the scanned data using Rapid Prototyping technology.

Research Competencies: Cultural Heritage Institute

This Innovative Cultural Heritage Institute already located inside the Pembroke education program:

Presents students with an opportunity to produce basic and applied research complimented by related education initiatives to enhance “academic excellence”

The ASFS program’s multi-faceted approach combines archaeological investigations, literature reviews, historical studies, geographic investigations, and earth science fieldwork

Students at the field school will learn from scientists and specialists in Anthropology, Archaeology, Ecology, Biology, Geology, Zoology, Paleontology, and rural and urban environmental planning.

The courses include hands-on training for students and employs global geographic information systems (GIS), and environmental archeological surveys and excavations

Syllabus focus includes prehistoric land-mass, historic settlement of the area, the geological history of the region, native plant and animal communities, and ecology of the area.