Emily Kracht
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emikracht.bsky.social
Emily Kracht
@emikracht.bsky.social
160 followers 380 following 23 posts
Archaeologist studying the Caribbean+pottery+materials
Former collections assistant at FLMNH, current Gaucho at UCSB and NSF GRFP Fellow🏺🌊
https://sites.google.com/view/emily-kracht/biography
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Emily Kracht
killgrove.bsky.social
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.

Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
robingnelson.blacksky.app
The NSF Bio Anthro Program DDRIG, Cultural Anthrpology DDRIG, and Archaeology DDRIG have all been archived (as of yesterday afternoon). Please speak with your grad students and plan accordingly. To say I am angry and depressed about this is an understatement.
November 26, 2025 at 3:25 PM
emikracht.bsky.social
More edu resources here and on my website! Including printable zines:

sites.google.com/view/emily-k...
floridamuseum.bsky.social Florida Museum of Natural History @floridamuseum.bsky.social · 9d
Museum Resource 🏺 Caribbean ceramic ID
Saladoid is #FancyAF, polychrome painting with a glossy finish, est. 800-200 BC in Venezuela, spread into Puerto Rico & the Lesser Antilles.

Emily Kracht created these info cards for Ceramic Tech Lab. Check them out:
www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/ceramiclab/b...
Infographic labeled "A handy guide to Caribbean ceramic identification- Saladoid". With descriptive writing and three hand-drawn images of colorful ceramics. Descriptive writing as follows in bullet points: Fancy af. One of the first series in the Caribbean. Beginning of the "Ceramic Age". Asterisk*. Polychrome painting, with a glossy finish. Est. 800-200 BC, in Venezuela. Spread into Puerto Rico & the Lesser Antilles. People making Saladoid pots were most similar to their mainland neighbors. Relied on a more terrestrial diet. Credit: Emily Kracht (@emweasels). Asterisk (*) at the bottom reads: Though Archaic age groups may have had pottery too!
November 22, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
antiquity.ac.uk
Christopher Columbus sighted Puerto Rico #OnThisDay in AD 1493. The island had been occupied for at least 5000 years at this point, and new research investigates Puerto Rico's poorly-understood Early Period (c. 4200 BC–AD 250) with these beautiful pendants

🆓 buff.ly/qsY7H9M

🏺 #Archaeology
Six stone pendants of different shapes and colours. The majority are made from a lustrous black rock.
November 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM
emikracht.bsky.social
Happy Friday! Just wanted to share some beautiful color changes already happening with our clay samples, unfired and fired to 400 and 500°C.
Picture of clay briquettes sitting on a black plastic tray with identifying labels etched into the clay surface.
October 24, 2025 at 8:27 PM
emikracht.bsky.social
Met with a 4th grade classroom just a few days ago and they had really great questions prepared!! Really cool to see how into archaeology they were 🪏🧪⚱️🍎
sarahmackattack.bsky.social Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · Oct 24
Heyyyy we desperately need more archaeologists to volunteer to answer questions from students via video chat through @skypeascientist.bsky.social.

We have 80 unmatched teams. We’ve already matched 650 😵‍💫

If you know any archaeologists, please send them here www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
Sign Up
Skype a Scientist gives you the opportunity to connect with students and the public around the world. ​
www.skypeascientist.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:21 AM
emikracht.bsky.social
Sharing my newest open-access article, where I compared some new neutron activation analysis (NAA) data of Puerto Rican ceramics to previously studied ceramics in Puerto Rico, eastern Dominican Republic, and St. Croix!

Also attached another pie chart figure!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Map of Puerto Rico with four sites highlighted, including pie charts at the location of each site. The pie charts break down identified imports versus local ceramics identified within each assemblage. Arrows were also added as an indicator of exchange along general directions, ie south, with line thickness related to intensity of movement.
October 20, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
floridamuseum.bsky.social
Archaeologists partnered with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma to better understand why Pensacola potters, who lived in Mobile Bay and adjacent coastal regions to the east and west around A.D. 1150-1700, used marine shell temper in their pottery.
Story:
www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/temp...
in the foreground are numerous rounded clay pots half buried in flaming logs and hot coals of a fire on the ground and in the background are two people crouching to carefully move them around three people in outdoors clothing are standing and kneeling around a spot of red clay being dug out of a grassy area on the shore of a calm bay under bright sunlight people are seated in chairs and on benches in a circle around a good size fire in the center of a clearing while several people work in a wood pile nearby to feed the flames
October 15, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
lindsaybloch.bsky.social
🏺 The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS) is hiring an archaeological analyst, based in Charlottesville, VA. bit.ly/DAACSanalyst
Paycor Job Openings
at Monticello
bit.ly
October 9, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
sarahmackattack.bsky.social
Here I am. Once again. I'm out of archaeologists.

We matched 576 groups w/archaeologists, leaving 13 groups unmatched. This brings me pain! We've never run out of scientists like this before. 598 requests for one category is A LOT. But still.

Archaeologists 🥺
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
Sign Up
Skype a Scientist gives you the opportunity to connect with students and the public around the world. ​
www.skypeascientist.com
October 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
sarahmackattack.bsky.social
Welp here we are again, fresh out of Archaeologists for Skype a Scientist matches.

This fall, we have matched 248 groups with Archaeologists for online Q&As. I have 38 more groups who need a match, but I'm out of Archaeologists!

Archaeologists! Please volunteer
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
a woman is smiling and holding a cup that says help me .
Alt: a woman is smiling and holding a cup that says help me .
media.tenor.com
September 22, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
lindsaybloch.bsky.social
🏺DYK that the first people in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos made pottery with dust that originated in the Sahara?!

Our new article confirms this, and a whole lot more about how the Lucayans engineered pottery in this challenging environment.

doi.org/10.1080/1556...
@emikracht.bsky.social
Palmetto Ware Pottery of the Lucayan Islands: Reverse Engineering a Novel Pottery Type
Palmetto Ware is a low-fired earthenware that was developed in the Lucayan Islands (The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands) ca. AD 700–800. Its production and use by the Lucayan...
doi.org
October 1, 2025 at 10:10 PM
emikracht.bsky.social
I loved working on this and so glad to see it published!! ✨️
lindsaybloch.bsky.social Lindsay Bloch @lindsaybloch.bsky.social · Oct 1
🏺DYK that the first people in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos made pottery with dust that originated in the Sahara?!

Our new article confirms this, and a whole lot more about how the Lucayans engineered pottery in this challenging environment.

doi.org/10.1080/1556...
@emikracht.bsky.social
Palmetto Ware Pottery of the Lucayan Islands: Reverse Engineering a Novel Pottery Type
Palmetto Ware is a low-fired earthenware that was developed in the Lucayan Islands (The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands) ca. AD 700–800. Its production and use by the Lucayan...
doi.org
October 1, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
post-doc-club.bsky.social
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month

www.jstor.org/action/showL...
September 29, 2025 at 3:27 PM
emikracht.bsky.social
New year and new undergraduate interns!! This year, I'll be mentoring with a focus on clay curation and experimental testing of ceramics!

We started with making some test bars this week, including some clays from California and North Carolina, the latter obviously the beautiful bright red one 😍
Image of legs sitting on the ground outside, which is a yellow gravel. Next to her are a swt of keys, printed article, corded headphones, and bags of clay. Image of hands pressing clay into a rectangular mold form on a tray on yellow gravel. Other clay test bars are visible in different colors. Bags of clay, pottery tools, a sieve, and a printed journal article are also visible. Image of four clay test bars, ranging from dark brown to bright red. Writing on each section of the test bar denotes sample name and firing temperature.
September 27, 2025 at 4:51 PM
emikracht.bsky.social
I just finished making up some free printable zines on Caribbean archaeology! Featured are nine (for now) zines on different topics, including foodways, mythology, ballgames, language, edu resources, and more!

Link here but also available on my website!

drive.google.com/drive/folder...
Image of a printable zine titled, "Women in the Early Caribbean". Each page features a few short sentences and hand drawn images.
August 11, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
brianapobiner.bsky.social
Anthropology collections manager job at the AMNH @amnh.org in New York! Additional info: A PhD (or PhD candidacy) is required to apply. Prior training in collections management and databases is essential. This is not a research position. Salary range $93-98k/year. careers.amnh.org/postings/4509
Curatorial Associate
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions, and has as its mission to discover, interpret and disseminate information about human cult...
careers.amnh.org
July 17, 2025 at 3:53 PM
emikracht.bsky.social
Want to learn more about ceramics and exchange in early Puerto Rico? New paper by myself and colleagues is now out!

We looked at 12 sites and +300 ceramics to recreate ancient routes of interaction, including their directionality and intensity.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Accessibility and Exchange in Boriquén: Compositional Study of Ceramics in Pre-colonial Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico was populated by ceramic producing horticulturalist groups from South America somewhere around 600–400 BC, known as the beginning of the Ceramic Age in the Caribbean. The island served ...
www.tandfonline.com
July 21, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
levostregc.bsky.social
*INDIANA JONES AND THE CLOSURE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGY DEPARTMENT*
A news story: "Disney Reportedly Planning Full Reboot of the INDIANA JONES Franchise"
July 2, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
I spoke with several leading archaeologists to better understand the impact recent federal funding cuts will have on archaeology in the US. The future doesn’t look good.

#NSF #NEH #archaeology #paleoanthropology #heritage

New at @science.org 🏺🧪
Funding cuts to U.S. archaeology could imperil field’s future
A Science analysis of canceled and curtailed federal grants reveals hits to research, collections, and training
www.science.org
June 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
davidimiller.bsky.social
Been quiet lately for a good reason (vacation), but hopping onto to say:

🚨 NEW NSF LAWSUIT TODAY!!!

🥳🥳🥳

Targets grant terminations & freezes in spending congressionally appropriated funds.

Press release: democracyforward.org/updates/coal...

Complaint: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
two little girls are dancing on a stage .
Alt: two little girls are dancing on a stage, one snaps her fingers
media.tenor.com
June 18, 2025 at 8:37 PM
emikracht.bsky.social
Wanted to celebrate a little good news. Last Friday some other graduate students and I held an inaugural Anthropology Department Research Symposium for students! It was really successful, and we were able to get 100% of the costs covered for poster printing, awards, and plenty of food!
Photo of a large group of people outside smiling for the camera. A picture of food on a table, including sandwhiches, meats, cheeses, crackers, veggies, and desserts. A picture of a chalkboard with the words "Inaugural Anthropologh Research Symposium" written out decoratively. A picture of a room and food covering the central table, including soda waters, pastries, chips, oranges, and plates.
June 3, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Emily Kracht
joshuasweitz.bsky.social
How bad will it be? Catastrophic.

Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.

But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.

Speak up now before it is too late.

(inflation adjusted $-s below)
NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.
May 31, 2025 at 2:50 AM
emikracht.bsky.social
Social, Behavioral, & Economic Sciences is getting hit with a 67.6% cut, worse than other programs within NSF. Funding for archaeologists comes from the division for Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, which is facing a 77.3% cut.

It appears every post doc program has been 100% cut.
Screenshot of NSF budget cuts to various programs
May 30, 2025 at 9:44 PM
emikracht.bsky.social
Did a pottery firing demo for my department here at UC-Santa Barbara. Couldn't figure out where to legally build a fire, so we improvised a bit!

Overall, it was pretty successful! Commercial clay always fires pretty poorly, but most of the ceramics survived or can easily crossmend.
Collage of fired pottery showcasing all the ceramics, the visible color difference between fired and unfired pottery, the comparison of successfully fired pots and those left in shards as a result of rapid heating, and finally a crossmended Venus figurine. A collage of all of the unfired pottery sitting on a table, the pottery sitting on a picnic table where the firing took place, a picture of the pottery sitting on a metal grate warming up, and a picture of the pottery in the fire itself on a stand-up fire pit.
May 30, 2025 at 8:15 PM