William M. Gardner
XXXX? - Dec 21 2002

William M. Gardner left his remains for the Ossuary on 21 December 2002. He studied under James Griffith and worked on serial analysis of Florida ceramics in his early years. For various reasons Bill did archaeological work from the Ohio valley to the east coast, and this gave him a valuable perspective on movements of native peoples in the eastern half of the US. His biggest works were the discovery and lengthy excavations at the Thunderbird Site and surrounding areas during the seventies. The Thunderbird Site was the first paleo-Indian site on the east coast, and due to Bill's efforts and organization, much of the area is now maintained and protected by the National Park Service for future research. Bill taught for thirty some years at The Catholic University of America. He began his Thunderbird Archeological Associates CRM company to train students for the business of archaeology, and his students occupy many of the archaeological positions on the east coast from the Carolinas to New York and Connecticut. About thirty years ago, Charles McNett. Fred Kinsay, and Bill Gardner founded the Mid-Atlantic Archaeology Conference, which takes place once a year. (See website, www.maacmidatlanticarchaeology.org) It has grown from a meeting of a few interested parties to over 300 members and has published many volumes of papers. Bill's last work was on the fortifications bult during the Revolutionary War through the valley Bill was handsome, charming, difficult, and funny. He was a political Liberal, a published poet, a dreamer, and most of all an excellent teacher. It is not a surprise that we miss him so much. My name is Toni Davidson, I was one of Bill's students. I am now a Ph D student at American U. If you have any questions about this notification, please contact me at tonid@american.edu. Thanks