Note: This is a hybrid event! We invite you to join us in-person at the Santa Cruz Elks Lodge, 150 Jewell Street Santa Cruz, 95060, or via Zoom (see below for Zoom registration form)!

Join SCAS for a presentation by Dr. Marco Meniketti on: “Experiments with Documenting Ancient and Historic Landscapes. A Case Study Using Inexpensive 3D imaging and AI Modeling.”

DATE: Thursday, February 5, 2026

TIME: 7:30 – 8:30 PM (Pacific)

ZOOM REGISTRATION FORM: Meeting Registration – Zoom RSVP for Zoom by 6:30 PM on Thursday, February 5, 2026

Archaeological sites around the world are threatened with destruction and loss for a variety of reasons including challenges brought on by climate change. This dilemma is even more evident among coastal sites in regions where intensifying storm surge and storm frequency contributes to an increase in coastal erosion. This presentation will highlight recent experiments in 3D interactive mapping. While we cannot save all sites threatened by such forces, we can document as many as possible. Combined with AI learning, artifacts and other surface features might be identified within the maps. The case study in the Caribbean has applications in California.

Dr. Meniketti is a Professor and Senior Archaeologist at San Jose State University. His career began in the Great Basin as an archaeologist for the Nevada Department of Transportation before he returned to graduate school to study Maritime Archaeology and Industrial Archaeology. Marco earned his doctorate in Historical Archaeology from Michigan State University. He has served as the Chair of the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology, served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Historical Archaeology, and is a National Fellow of the Explorers Club. Although much of his work is in the Caribbean, he has engaged in California research on early industry and labor at timber mill and lime kiln sites. This focus led to a collaboration with California State Parks to conduct excavations in Niscene Marks State Park in Aptos.