John Sabol
John Sabol is an archaeologist, cultural anthropologist, actor, and “ghost excavator”. He has many years of experience in all of these fields. In each, he has unearthed and engaged the manifestations of past presence that still continue to percolate in the contemporary environment of archaeological sites, in the belief systems of non-Western cultures, in his characters portrayed in film and on TV, and at haunted locations he has investigated.
As an archaeologist, he has unearthed past material remains in excavations and site surveys in England, Mexico, and at various sites in the United States (including Eastern South Dakota, the Tennessee River Valleys, and in Pennsylvania). His anthropological fieldwork includes the studies of “ghosts” and native cultural beliefs in the afterlife among various groups in Mexico (Mixtec, Zapotec, Lacandon, Nahuatl, and Otomi). His acting career includes “ghosting” performances of various characters and scenarios in more than 35 movies, TV shows, and documentaries. He has conducted “ghost excavations” (an archaeological-ethnographic-theatrical approach embodied in the P.O.P. Theory) in England (Winchester), Germany (Frankfort), Mexico (Mexico City), at various sites throughout Pennsylvania (including Gettysburg, Ft. Mifflin, and Eastern State Penitentiary), New York, Virginia, Maryland, and in the cities of Knoxville (Tennessee), San Antonio (Texas), Santa Fe (New Mexico), New Orleans (Louisiana), and at abandoned sites in eastern South Dakota. He has appeared in the A&E TV series, Paranormal State as an investigative consultant.
He has written nine books. These include: Ghost Excavator (2007), Ghost Culture (2007), Gettysburg Unearthed (2007), Battlefield Hauntscape (2008), The Anthracite Coal Region: The Archaeology of its Haunting Presence (2008), The Politics of Presence:Haunting Performances on the Gettysburg Battlefield (2008), Bodies of Substance,Fragments of Memories:An Archaeological Sensitivity to Ghostly Presence (2009), Phantom Gettysburg (2009), and Digging Deep: An Archaeologist Unearths a Haunted Life (2009). He is currently writing two other books: “The Re-Haunting(s) of Gettysburg”, and “Digging-Deeper: Stories and Experiences of a Life in Ruins”.
He has a M.A. in Anthropology/Archaeology (University of Tennessee), and a B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology (Bloomsburg University). He has also attended Penn State University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of the Americas (Cholula, Puebla, Mexico), and has studied theatre and method acting in Mexico City.
He can be reached via this web site or at cuicospirit@hotmail.com.
His other websites include:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeoqapc/ghostexcavator , www.theghostexcavator.com www.myspace.com/ghostexcavator , and on Facebook.