Tommy Ike Hailey received a B.A. in Archaeological Studies from The University of Texas in 1989, followed by a Ph.D. from Texas A&M in 1994. Dr. Hailey’s areas of interest include Archaeological Conservation, Underwater Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, and Archaeological Geophysics. He has participated in terrestrial and underwater archaeological projects in Italy, Jamaica, Vermont, Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Florida. Current projects include 1) the Fort Jesup Archaeological Project, which involves geophysical survey and excavation at a nineteenth century frontier fort, 2) a geophysical study of two nineteenth-century cemeteries, 3) experiments in thermal imaging of archaeological sites.

“The Location and Identification of Buried Archaeological Features Using Ground-Level and Low-Altitude Aerial Color-Infrared Thermal Imaging”

• Investigate the application of color-infrared thermal imaging in archaeology by surveying known locations of buried archaeological features at a variety of archaeological sites, including unmarked graves at two nineteenth-century cemeteries, building foundations at a nineteenth-century frontier fort, and a defensive moat at an eighteenth-century Spanish presidio;
• Identifying the color-infrared thermal “signatures” given off by these features for use in other sites with similar features;
• Comparing ground-level and low-altitude aerial survey results to determine which technique is more effective in the discovery and identification of the locations of buried features at archaeological sites.