Anthropology Professor Wins Prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award

Richard Jefferies, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky, was honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 meeting of the Southeastern Archeological Conference (SEAC).

SEAC gives this award to senior scholars who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of archeology. Throughout his 30-year career, Jefferies has conducted an extensive amount of research. His most significant work centers on the Middle to Late Holocene hunter-gatherers, who lived in the Ohio River Valley from 8,000 to 3,000 years ago. The results of Jefferies’ research are detailed in his book, "Holocene Hunter-Gatherers of the Lower Ohio River Valley," published in 2009.

Jefferies is currently investigating a 17th century Spanish mission period occupation on Sapelo Island, Georgia. For the past 15 years, he has focused his research on the site of a former Guale Indian town that once stood on the north end of Sapelo Island.   

Jefferies is also an inspiring educator. He continues to recruit graduate and undergraduate students from UK, as well as other universities, to collaborate on research. "My work demonstrates the value of working in one location for an extended period of time and incorporating researchers from many different scientific disciplines," he explained. "I hope the students will see the benefits and rewards of conducting long-term, multi-disciplinary research projects."

During his career, Jefferies has served as president of the Southeastern Archeological Conference (2000-2002), as well as an executive officer and as a member of the Student Paper and Nominations Committees.