Community-Based Digital Heritage Lab


About the Lab

The Community-Based Digital Heritage Lab (CDHL) is the center for interdisciplinary, community-driven archaeological and anthropological research at UConn. It is home to projects by Dr. Nathan Acebo and his students.

Research at the CDHL is focused on:

  • Macro/microscopic artifact analysis, specifically lithic, ceramics, metals, and plastics
  • X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis of geological and archaeological samples
  • Quantitative Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis
  • Oral History Collection
  • Qualitative geospatial data visualization (e.g., StoryMap production)
  • Digital artifact curation, photogrammetry, and 3D printing

Current Projects

Dr. Acebo’s Projects

  • Enduring Indigenous Homelands Project (2021-present)
  • Orange County Archaeological Collections Remediation Project (2022-present)
  • Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Micro-Projects in Hawaii


Brady Kelsey’s Projects

  • Holistic Ecology and Archaeology for the Land: Osa / HEAL: Osa (2022-present)

Selected Publications

Acebo, Nathan P. and T. Schneider in press 2024. Indigenous Homelands Beyond the Missions in California. In Critical Mission Studies Handbook (University of California Press).

Acebo, Nathan P. and P. Nelson in press 2024. Embracing Decolonial Epistemic Asymmetry: Transformative Indigenous Knowledge and Stories in Colonial California. In ‘What End for Epistemology in Archaeology? Indigenous Knowledges, Ontology, and Axiology in Archaeological Research’ (University of Arizona Press).

Acebo, Nathan P. 2022 Terminal Narratives and Indigenous Autonomy: Fragmented Historicity in the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange County, CA. In Exploring Place: Historical Archaeology of the American West, edited by Carolyn White and Emily Dale. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, UT.

Acebo, Nathan P. 2021 Survivance Storytelling in Archaeology. In the Handbook of the Archaeology of Indigenous-Colonial Interaction in the Americas, edited by Lee M. Panich and Sara L. Gonzalez. Routledge, Oxon, UK.

Our Team

Lab Director

Graduate Students

Contact Us

nathan.acebo@uconn.edu
Address: Beach Hall, Room 302
354 Mansfield Road, Unit 1176
Storrs, CT 06269-1176