Ben Ford is a historic and maritime archaeologist who conducts research in the Great Lakes and Pennsylvania.
Ben received his PhD in Anthropology from Texas A&M University through the Nautical Archaeology Program. He also has degrees from the College of William and Mary and the University of Cincinnati. He is the author or editor of six books, including The Shore is a Bridge: The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Lake Ontario, which was innovative in integrating marine and terrestrial archaeology to analyze human interaction with the shore environment between 5000 B.P. and AD 1900.
He is currently studying the Revolutionary War-era site of Historic Hanna’s Town through a combined analysis of existing collections and new excavations, as well as the late eighteenth-century site of Newport Village, and the nineteenth-century African American settlement at Laurel Ridge. He is also involved in work to identify locations in Lake Erie that would have been habitable before the lake level rose. He is a founding member of the Pennsylvania Archaeology Shipwreck Survey Team and is a member of the Maryland Historical Trust Board of Trustees.
Ben has extensive experience in applied archaeology, working for the public and private sectors. His research interests include North American historical archaeology, maritime archaeology, maritime cultural landscapes, GIS, and spatial analysis in archaeology.
Ben teaches Historical Archaeology, Issues in Historic Preservation, Historical Artifact Analysis, Contemporary Anthropology, Spatial Archaeology, Seminar in Cultural Resource Management, Archaeological Theory and Research Design, Archaeological Field School, Voyages of Discovery, World Archaeology, and Basic Archaeology.
- Office:
- McElhaney Hall, Room G1D
- Email:
- Office Phone:
- 724-357-2733