Jill-Karen Yakubik, Ph.D., RPA
Principal Investigator

Dr. Jill-Karen Yakubik, President and sole owner of ESI, is a Registered Professional Archeologist.  She has had field experience at prehistoric and historic period sites in New Jersey, Louisiana, Florida, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Honduras.  She has served as Project Manager on intensive survey, site testing, and data recovery operations.  From December 1981 through August 1986, Dr. Yakubik worked full time in cultural resource management, serving as Vice-President of Research for R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates, Inc.  Her responsibilities included project management, analysis of historic materials, archival and historical research including oral history, and supervision of research assistants and laboratory personnel.  During the same period, she served as co-author on thirty cultural resource technical reports.

In 1990, Dr. Yakubik completed her doctorate in Anthropology at Tulane University.  Her dissertation, Ceramic Use in Late-Eighteenth and Early-Nineteenth-Century Southeastern Louisiana, included the analysis of over 20,000 sherds from 12 rural and urban sites from six parishes.  Ceramic data were organized for analyses using Dbase III Plus.  Three separate databases for the collections as a whole, for tin-enameled earthenwares, and for coarse earthenwares were developed.  The latter two included detailed information on paste and glaze Munsell colors, paste texture, hardness, thickness, and form.  By utilizing ceramic frequency seriation, eighteenth-century probate inventories, and comparative information from French and British colonial sites outside of Louisiana, Dr. Yakubik demonstrated that British-manufactured ceramics did not come into widespread use in the area until after 1780.  By examining commercial patterns both during and subsequent to the American Revolution, she established that British ceramics were introduced to New Orleans by French and American merchants through the Caribbean and by direct trade by French merchants with England.  As part of this research, Dr. Yakubik developed a detailed typology for tin-enameled and coarse earthenwares found in southeastern Louisiana.

In the course of her experience as a historic materials analyst for cultural resource management reports, Dr. Yakubik has analyzed more than 120 collections of eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century ceramics and other historic materials from Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, and New Jersey.  In addition to her expertise with historic domestic, agricultural, and industrial material, Dr. Yakubik has undertaken specialized analyses on funerary remains.  During archeological investigations of the Bonnet Carré Spillway, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, she had the opportunity to examine numerous nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century coffins from two cemeteries.  She also proposed a methodology for the dating of burials in unmarked graves based on coffin shape, associated hardware, and construction materials.

Dr. Yakubik served as Principal Investigator under DACW29-97-D-0016, DACW29-94-D-0020 and DACW29-92-D-0012 to the New Orleans District, Corps of Engineers, and is currently Principal Investigator on DACW29-02-D-0005 for that agency.  As such, she has supervised 54 delivery orders, which have included cultural resources inventory of public access lands in the Atchafalaya Basin; historical research and archeological reconnaissance for the Mandeville seawall replacement; cultural resources survey of three EABPL off-site borrow areas; cultural resources investigations for Items M-225.5 to 207-R and M-178.0 to 173.2-R; 15 HTRW studies; pre-construction topographic survey of the Shell Beach Bayou Archeological Complex (16SB39, 16SB40, and 16SB140); pre- and post-construction soil testing of samples from the Shell Beach Bayou Archeological Complex; data recovery at the Bayou des Familles site (16JE218), data recovery at the Camino site (16JE223); post-construction topographic survey of the Shell Beach Bayou Archeological Complex; cultural resources survey of Grand Terre Island; intensive survey of the Bayou L’Ours Watershed; national register evaluation of the New Orleans drainage system; design and preparation of an interpretive display of artifacts recovered from the Bayou des Familles and Camino sites; significance assessment of Darrow; cultural resources report for Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet New Lock and Connecting Channel; peer review of National Register Evaluation of the Keystone Lock and Dam; documentation of the remains of a historic boat; intensive survey of the Brady Canal Hydrologic Restoration Project; intensive survey along Bayou Sale and NRHP test excavations at 16SMY66; NRHP evaluation of the Virgin Island; land use history for the Morgan City and Berwick flood-proofing measures for riverfront businesses project; cultural resources investigation of the Morgan City/Berwick Flood proofing measures for riverfront businesses project; cultural resources survey of a borrow area for the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee Item W-123; land-use history for the Lower Atchafalaya Basin reevaluation study; cultural resources survey of the MRGO dredges material Bayou La Loutre disposal areas; National Register Evaluation of the Florida Avenue Bridge; preparation of camera-ready copy of the popular history of the Bayou Chene community; historical research and archeological survey of the historic portion of Southern University; archeological data recovery, North Bend Plantation; analysis and technical report of remote sensing data for the USS Kinsman; land use history for the Southeast Louisiana Flood Control Project; National Register testing of a railroad embankment for the Hollygrove drainage improvement feature; National Register testing of three historic properties and Phase I investigations at Double Eagle; cultural resource survey for the west bank vicinity of New Orleans hurricane protection project; historical background research and analysis of human remains recovered from Bayou Plaquemine; land-use history for Atchafalaya Basin real estate fee and easement acquisitions; archeological data recovery, Old Hickory Plantation; development of historic conservation plans for the Bywater and Holy Cross National Historic Districts; land-use history of the Harahan Pump Canal Project; cultural resource investigations on Grand Terre Island; land use history for Barataria Coast 2050 HTRW assessment; historical research on North Rampart Street, Sister Street, and Jourdan Avenue; cultural resource survey and land-use history for Lake Pontchartrain West Shore Hurricane Protection Project; and cultural resources evaluation, sites 16LF19, 16LF100, & 16LF261.  In addition to her role as Principal Investigator, Dr. Yakubik also served as Project Manager for cultural resources investigations for Items M-225.5 to 207-R and M-178.0 to 173.2-R, for land use history for West Bank hurricane protection, and for data recovery at the Camino site.  Dr. Yakubik also served as Principal Investigator for cultural resources survey of the Westwego to Harvey Canal Hurricane Protection Project, Lake Cataouatche Area (Contract DACW29-97-M-0295) and the National Register Evaluation of the Bayou Jean Louis Cemetery (16SM89) (Contract DACW29-97-M-0234).

Dr. Yakubik has served as Principal Investigator on a number of cultural resources investigations for transportation corridors.  These have included the Desire Corridor Major Investment Study; the Southern New Jersey Light Rail Transit System, Capitol Extension; the MagLev Demonstration Project; U.S. I-49 South, Route US 90, Lafayette, Iberia, and St. Mary parishes; the Desire Corridor EIS; improvements to US Highway 84 between LA 28 and LA 65, LA 8 from LA 126 to Harrisonburg, and U.S. Highway 190, Slidell, improvements.  These projects have included architectural evaluations and either archeological survey and testing or the identification of high probability areas for the location of archeological remains using archeological, geomorphological, and historical data.  The first three of these projects also required the evaluation of multiple alternative rights-of-way with respect to their effect on cultural resources, as well as recommendation of mitigation measures.  Dr. Yakubik is currently serving as PI on three additional large corridor studies:  the CSX relocation through southern Mississippi; State Route 16, Philedelphia Bypass, Neshoba County; and U.S. I-49 South, Route US 90, Jefferson, St. Charles, and Lafourche parishes

Dr. Yakubik also served as Principal Investigator for archeological data recovery at Ashland-Belle Helene Plantation.  Although the property had been previously evaluated as being eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, a systematic archeological survey had never been made at the estate.  Thus, the approximately 100-acre parcel was shovel tested at gridded intervals.  Subsequently, Dr. Yakubik wrote a research design for data recovery, which included both the quarters and industrial complexes of the plantation.  This effort included extensive mechanical excavation at the sugarhouse, excavation of 178 1 x 1 m units at two selected cabin sites, and archeological monitoring of the clearing of approximately 25 acres that included the vast majority of the quarters and the entire industrial complex.  Fieldwork took place from August 1992 until March 1993, and included crews of up to 18 individuals.  While it was not possible for Dr. Yakubik to be present full-time through such a protracted project, she was in daily communication with all three Project Managers, and at minimum, spent one day per week at the site.  She and or the late Dr. Herschel Franks were also present throughout mechanical excavations and subsequent documentation at the sugar house.  Dr. Yakubik was also responsible for the artifact analyses for these investigations.

Dr. Yakubik has also served as Principal Investigator for smaller-scale excavations at five other plantation sites.  At Orange Grove Plantation, this has entailed ensuring that excavations proceeded smoothly and that the highest documentation standards were maintained on this large, complex, multi-component site while as many as 400 school children per day attended public excavations.  Dr. Yakubik was also Principal Investigator for intensive survey at the Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center and Wilderness Park and for NRHP test excavations at Beka Plantation.  The latter offered the opportunity for close examination of a plantation that had undergone virtually no disturbance since its abandonment in the early-twentieth century.  Test excavations demonstrated that the site was eligible for nomination to the National Register.  The Audubon Institute accepted Dr. Yakubik's recommendation for redesign of the project to avoid the site.  Dr. Yakubik was Principal Investigator for excavations at Destrehan Plantation.  This project was funded by the River Road Historical Society, who obtained a federal matching grant administered by the Division of Archaeology.  More recently, Dr. Yakubik served as Principal Investigator for intensive survey at Buena Vista Plantation, and for NRHP testing and archeological data recovery at Wilton Plantation.  The latter included excavations of several eighteenth-century earthfast structures and a colonial pottery kiln.

More recently, Dr. Yakubik served as PI for archaeological data recovery at the South Tall Timbers site.  Thirty-six 1 x 1 m units and 23 shovel tests were excavated within the required ROW.  Excavation revealed two distinct cultural deposits dating to the late Archaic period and either the middle or late Woodland period.  The earlier association is based primarily on the presence of Motley and Delhi projectile points.  The later component is more than likely affiliated with an early Coles Creek occupation, as evidenced by the presence of Baytown Plain var. unspecified ceramics, Scallorn projectile points, and a broken projectile point representing either an Alba or Scallorn type.

Dr. Yakubik served as Principal Investigator for excavations at the Cabildo.  She was present throughout fieldwork and supervised all aspects of excavation.  Although very little artifactual evidence of the eighteenth-century component at the site was preserved, the massive brick foundations of the 1730 civil prison and its 1751 facade addition were discovered.  These architectural remains were a dramatic comparison to the impermanent, stake-in-the-ground construction of the ca. 1730 Royal military barracks found at 726-728 Toulouse Street.  Dr. Yakubik was also the Principal Investigator for this project.  As was the case with the Cabildo, she personally supervised excavations, as well as removal of the preserved wood timbers for conservation.  Dr. Yakubik was invited to present a paper on the Toulouse Street investigations at a symposium on French Colonial archeology at the 1995 Society for Historical Archaeology annual meeting.

Dr. Yakubik was Principal Investigator for intensive survey of 2,745 acres at Fort Polk, Vernon Parish.  Other projects for which she has been PI include archeological data recovery at the Birds Creek site, intensive survey and NRHP testing for the improvement of LA Highway 8, intensive survey of U.S. Hwy. 190 in Slidell, intensive survey of the Ouachita River Bridge and approaches at Sterlington, and archeological monitoring of construction at the US Customs House.  In November 1993, Dr. Yakubik was contacted by Jean Lafitte National Park and Preserve to personally conduct emergency documentation and archeological monitoring when a portion of the remains of the American line from the Battle of New Orleans was encountered during drainage line construction.  This resulted in the mapping of preserved palings that were associated with the defensive earthwork.

Dr. Yakubik's work on delivery orders to the New Orleans District, Corps of Engineers (NODCOE) under contract DACW29-92-D-0017 included serving as Project Manager on three projects (NRHP test excavations within the Holy Cross National Historic District, NRHP test excavations at 16SC61, and intensive survey in West Baton Rouge and Pointe Coupee Parishes with NRHP test excavations at Nina Plantation and 16WBR12).  Test excavations at Nina, 16WBR12, and 16SC61 all were undertaken with a backhoe.  This required meticulous observation and recordation to prevent the possible loss of data.  As a result of a backhoe monitoring methodology developed by Dr. Yakubik and the late Dr. Franks, ESI was able to maintain vertical control as accurate as 3 cm.  At Holy Cross, Dr. Yakubik supervised conventional shovel testing and hand excavation.  Her careful control of 5 m gridded shovel test results enabled the placement of four productive units.  Dr. Yakubik also served as Co-PI on this project, and was in charge of obtaining right-of-entry to privately owned lots.

Dr. Yakubik has served as PI on a number of small-scale intensive surveys.  These have included surveys for the U.S. Postal Service in both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and for the U.S. Coast Guard in Belle Chasse.  Dr. Yakubik was also Principal Investigator for NRHP test excavations at six Spanish Colonial Period sites in the Barataria Unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, performed for the Southwest Region, NPS.  These sites are the remains of a Canary Islander settlement established ca. 1779.  The National Park Service, Southwest Region, has published this report in their Professional Papers Series.

Dr. Yakubik was Project Manager for archeological test excavations at Neals Landing (8JA45), Florida under contract to the Mobile District, Army Corps of Engineers.  She served as Project Manager for intensive survey and site definition on 649 acres in the Boxley Valley, Buffalo National River, Arkansas, under contract to the National Park Service, Southwest Region.  Dr. Yakubik served as Project Manager for intensive survey of 65 acres within the Barataria Unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, as well as for NRHP evaluations within the 1900 block of Carondelet Street, and excavations at the Dufour-Baldwin House, Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans.

Dr. Yakubik has served as the Archivist/Historian on over thirty cultural resources management studies, including numerous detailed histories of specific sites, four areal inventories, and a preservation planning document for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.  Her dissertation also included detailed archival research on the sites from which collections were utilized, as well as examination of 70 probate inventories dating from 1762 to 1795.  Dr. Yakubik has performed archival and historical research in seventeen Louisiana Parishes, Washington DC, New Jersey, Florida, and Arkansas.  She has written numerous historical overviews, both regional and site-specific, from research conducted in the above states.  She also produced the history of settlement and occupation of the Chalmette Unit for the Historic Resource Study undertaken by the Denver Service Center of the National Park Service.

Dr. Yakubik has acquired considerable expertise in oral interview as a result of her historical research.  She has conducted interviews of local residents on areal and site-specific topics in Louisiana, Florida, and Arkansas.  Dr. Yakubik gathered extensive information on community history, social relations, and genealogy from interviews with elderly African-American residents in the towns of Norco and Montz as part of investigations of the Bonnet Carré Spillway.  Her interviews also revealed the presence of a previously undocumented cemetery within the Spillway.