Professional Research Specialties
As an archaeologist, my strengths lie primarily in my ability to analyze mid- to late-19th century military artifacts (a skill I honed while working for the U.S. National Park Service), and in archaeological mapping and spatial analysis.

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Doctoral Dissertation Research
I am most interested in the impact of warfare and militarization on American society and culture. I am currently working on a project at Dooley's Ferry, a 19th-20th century ferry crossing on the Red River in southern Hempstead County, Arkansas. Located on the Great Bend of the Red, Dooley's Ferry was one of the early crossing points for settlers and explorers heading into Mexico/Texas, and was an important part of Confederate defensive strategy for the region during the Civil War.

My research involves mapping the extant entrenchments that ring the old ferry crossing to this day. Closer in, I intend to conduct excavations that will not only give us a clearer idea of what the community around the ferry was like, but how the war affected life at Dooley's Ferry through the landscape through the introduction of new features such as earthworks, camps, etc. and changes in access to national and global trade networks.

Committee
Dr. Frederick H. Smith (chair)
Dr. Jamie C. Brandon
Dr. Marley R. Brown III
Dr. Scott R. Nelson
Dr. Matthew J. Liebmann

My previous dissertation project focused on the Spanish-Cuban-American War battlefields around Santiago de Cuba, Oriente Province, Cuba. This was to be part of collaborative project involving scholars from the University of Nebraska and the Office of the City Historian of Santiago de Cuba. For various reasons, this project is on the back burner.

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Master's Thesis Research
University of Nebraska
2002-2004

Thesis Title
Identifying Culturally-Based Variability in Artillery Ammunition Fragments Recovered from the Battlefield of Pea Ridge, Arkansas

Thesis Committee
Dr. Douglas Scott (chair)
Dr. William J. Hunt, Jr.
Dr. Peter A. Bleed
Dr. Paul Demers (honorary)

Related Publications
Carlson-Drexler, C. G.
2006 Using Spatial Analysis to Identify Battery Positions at the Site of the Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri. In Fields of Conflict: Battlefield Archaeology from the Roman Empire to the Korean War. D.D. Scott, L.E. Babits, and C.M. Haecker, eds. Pp. 58-74. Westport, CT: Praeger Security International.

Drexler, Carl G.
2005 Identifying Cultural Differences in Shell Fragment Standardization: An Example from Civil War Arkansas. Paper presented at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology, York, United Kingdom.

2004 Cultural Influences on Artillery Projectile Morphology in the Trans-Mississippi, 1862. Paper presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology, St. Louis.

2003 Ordnance Standardization as a Measure of Relative Industrial Capacity: A View from Civil War Arkansas. Paper presented at the 123rd Annual Meeting of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences, Lincoln.

Drexler, Carl G., Alicia L. Coles, and Joel A. Masters
2004 Thunder in the Trans-Mississippi: Quantitative and Metallurgical Analyses of Civil War Ordnance from Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield and Pea Ridge National Military Park. Paper presented at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Montreal.

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Undergraduate Thesis Research
Grinnell College (Iowa)
2001-2002
Dr. John C. Whittaker, advisor

Thesis Title
Hard Times in the Black Sands: The Trade Relations of the Sinagua at New Caves and Bench Pueblos, Arizona.

Related Publications
Drexler, Carl G.
2002 Hard Times in the Black Sands: Changing Trade Relations among the Sinagua of New Caves and Bench Pueblos. Paper presented at the 114th Annual Meeting of the Iowa Academy of Science, Des Moines.