Barry Gaulton

Barry Gaulton is a Professor at Memorial University's Department of Archaeology within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. He serves as Editor of Newfoundland and Labrador Studies and was awarded the President’s Award for Public Engagement Partnerships in 2017. His research primarily focuses on historical archaeology in Eastern North America, with specialized interests in early modern fisheries, vernacular architecture, and European settlement patterns. He maintains a long-standing community-university partnership with the Colony of Avalon Foundation at Ferryland, Newfoundland.

His research employs interdisciplinary methods to explore colonial lifeways and material culture. Key projects include the Avalon Historic Petroglyph Project documenting Indigenous rock art, investigations of transhumant forager-fishers in Trinity Bay, and comparative studies of French colonial artifacts. His publications demonstrate sustained focus on trade networks, cultural adaptation in coastal environments, and public archaeology initiatives.

Recent articles show increasing methodological sophistication through isotopic analysis of rodent diets to infer human behaviors and geochemical sourcing of colonial artifacts. Thematically, his work illuminates how material culture reflects transatlantic economic relationships in the 17th-18th centuries, while field projects emphasize participatory approaches to heritage preservation.

Gaulton received the President’s Award for Public Engagement in 2017 for collaborative work with the Colony of Avalon Foundation. His laboratory facilities support artifact conservation and isotopic analysis of archaeological materials.

He collaborates extensively with graduate students and community organizations. Ongoing excavations at Ferryland continue to uncover structures from George Calvert's 1621 colony, advancing understanding of early English settlement through meticulous stratigraphic documentation.