Applied EarthWorks, Inc.

08/14/2026

"Oldest known giant rock scallop bead suggests California coastal trade began millennia earlier"

That's the headline based on Applied EarthWorks' efforts.

"It's cool that this is the oldest of its kind identified so far, but cooler still to view it as part of a broader Early Holocene cultural landscape seemingly well-established in this locale as much as 10,000 years ago," said Barry A. Price, an archaeologist at Applied EarthWorks Inc. and one of the study's authors, along with Simone Schinsing and Jasmine Kidwell. The study is published in California Archaeology.

Archaeologists have discovered two giant rock scallop beads that push back the clock on the first appearance of these high-status ornaments. The discovery shows that these prized marine beads were traded hundreds of miles from the California coast thousands of years earlier than previously thought.

06/15/2026

Applied EarthWorks, Inc. staff pay it forward: AE Staff Archaeologists Rachel Burgess, Morgan Moulis, and Justin Tidd volunteered at the Cal Poly field school on the Pecheo Coast held 6/5/26. Pictured are some of the participants and sights from the day.

Thank you to Terry Jones and Wes McCool for including Applied EarthWorks, Inc. in this opportunity to develop the next generation of archaeologists for the Central Coast and beyond.

06/10/2026

2026 Award of the Michelle Newcomb Memorial Scholarship

Applied EarthWorks, Inc. celebrates the inaugural award of the Michelle Newcomb Memorial Scholarship at Allan Hancock College (AHC), to Sarah Hernandez! Sarah graduated from AHC with an AA this spring and is enrolling at UC Santa Cruz this fall to major in Anthropology. She plans to pursue an emphasis in archaeology. Congratulations to Sarah!

Æ established the scholarship in 2025 to honor Michelle’s deep enthusiasm for AHC’s service to students and the community, archaeology and related sciences, and re-entry academic students. Michelle was an Æ employee owner and Associate Archaeologist, also serving as Lab Manager and faunal shell analyst.

We are grateful to the AHC Foundation, who generously topped off the annual $500 scholarship award—and doubled it to bestow TWO, $500 awards to Sarah in this inaugural year!

Those interested in contributing to help boost the scholarship fund through the Allan Hancock College Foundation can contact:
Natalie Rucobo, Scholarship Programs Manager
Phone 805-922-6966 ext. 3675
Email [email protected]

Recipient Sarah Hernandez, center, with Robert Newcomb, M.A. and Ann Munns.

06/09/2026

Have you read the UISPP Journal article by Applied EarthWorks' own Dr. Amy Ollendorf?

With support from the U.S. National Science Foundation, co-principal investigators beginning in 2011 undertook the first non-Iraqi archaeological investigation of the Tigris-Euphrates delta in nearly 20 years. Accompanied by a geologist, they visited archaeological sites in southern Iraq to look for links between wetland resources and the emergence of Mesopotamian cities.

Learn more about what they discovered -

Amy Ollendorf – PHYTOLITH STUDY OF A MUD-BRICK SAMPLE FROM UR IN SOUTHERN IRAQ: PRELIMINARY RESULTS With support from the U.S. National Science Foundation, co-principal investigators beginning in 2011 undertook the first non-Iraqi archaeological investigation of the Tigris-Euphrates delta in nearl...

05/03/2026

Over $1 trillion annually is lost by US companies because of employee turnover and it costs about 2x that person’s salary to replace them. One solution is mentorship. It has been proven to increase employee retention by roughly 70%.

Society for American Archaeology’s Mentorship panel was informative and engaging. The multi discipline panel featured academic and business perspectives including our own Jennifer Barbee, President, and Amy Ollendorf, Executive Director.

After the meeting, we had dinner with live jazz at John’s Grill, a San Francisco institution since 1908.

05/02/2026

05/02/2026

Society for American Archaeology CRM EXPO happening now. Stop by the Applied EarthWorks, Inc. booth. Talking to students at and candidates is a lot of fun!