UA chooses new director of Arkansas Archeological Survey

Alex Barker, immediate past president of the American Anthropological Association, has been selected as the next director of the Arkansas Archeological Survey.

University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt will recommend Barker to the University of Arkansas board of trustees for approval when the System’s governing body meets Nov. 17-18 at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff campus.

Barker, 61, would replace George Sabo III, 70, who retired June 30 after about eight years as director and about 42 years with the Arkansas Archeological Survey. Melissa Zabecki, state archaeologist at the Arkansas Archeological Survey, has been interim director since Sabo’s retirement.

The job of the Arkansas Archeological Survey, an entity of the University of Arkansas System, is to study and protect archaeological sites in the state; preserve and manage information and collections from those sites; and communicate what its staff learns.

It has 10 research stations — seven at state university campuses, two at state parks and one at the UA System’s Winthrop Rockefeller Institute. The stations are at Arkansas State University, Jonesboro ; Henderson State University, Arkadelphia; Parkin Archeological State Park in Cross County; Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park in Lonoke County; UA-Fayetteville; the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith; the University of Arkansas at Monticello; the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; and Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia.

“I’m impressed with the hard work of the search committee and the high-quality pool of candidates the search attracted,” Bobbitt said in a statement. “I’m confident that Dr. Barker — who has a rich history of research and leadership in the field — is the right person to lead the Survey and look forward to working with him to advance the important work being done there for the System and for the state.”

Barker has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Marquette University, a master’s degree in anthropology from Wichita State University and a doctorate degree in anthropology from the University of Michigan.

He has worked as director of the Museum of Art & Archaeology at the University of Missouri and as vice president for collections and research, and curator of North American Archaeology at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

Barker has also worked as interim executive director, director of science programs, director of research and collections and curator of archaeology at the Dallas Museum of Natural History.

His research focuses on the iconography of the late prehistoric southeast, the role of heritage in the formation of individual and group identities, and the intellectual history of the myth of the mound builder.

Speaking about his new job, Barker said in a statement, “This new role brings together my longstanding interest in the integration of archaeological research, heritage management, interpretation and public engagement with my leadership experience in these areas in both university-based and freestanding museum settings.”

His employee contract would run from Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2026, at an annual starting salary of $125,000, according to the agreement between Barker and the UA System.

Barker