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Dale Pate is currently a Crew Chief at All Phases Archaeology in Mobile, Al. Since graduating from the University of South Alabama in December 2019, he has participated in nearly 100 archaeological projects in some capacity, from phase III mitigations in South Dakota to CRM phase I surveys in the Gulf Coast.

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Dale is interested in maize’s progression throughout the Southeast and Gulf Coast. Maize’s eventual divorce from nixtamalization is a specific event that has had very little research done on. In this early stage, Dale plans on using ceramic morphologies and bioarcheological markers to support this study. Dale is also exploring rickets and pellagra as indicators of diet-based health in pre- and post-contact communities and some case studies in Appalachia and perhaps even nondomestic populations that were heavily supported by US maize-based food donations. Having done ethnobotanical research for South Alabama, Dale sees a very tangible worth in continuing our collective knowledge of teosinte and our ongoing journey with it.

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Chair: Dr. Kandace Hollenbach