Right now, the United States is burning. This is not the first time. It is not the last. In the wake of yet another social maelstrom caused by the Original Sin at the heart of U.S. history, I’ve been getting emails, text messages, and other requests to help archaeologists articulate […]
Transitioning from cultural resource management (CRM) archaeology to academia has not been as easy for me as I’d already spent a decade doing CRM before getting hired by a university. This means I’d already gotten used to the rough and tumble world of contract archaeology—going to the field at the […]
Cultural resource management archaeology did not exist the last time the world suffered a massive pandemic like COVID-19. We don’t know how the industry or its practitioners will react to global shutdown and rapidly-spreading illness, but we know what happened when our ancestors faced similar conditions. The 1918—1919 Influenza Pandemic […]
The San Francisco Bay Area has a unique history based on the role it’s played in shaping the United States. It’s history isn’t always pretty, but it is what makes the Bay Area unique. Echoes of the past are still visible. The landscape was shaped by the fires of Bay […]
After long days conducting archaeological fieldwork, I have taken shelter in a range of different forms of lodging ranging from tents to multi-room suites (FYI: I think tents are great for camping but not for work. Knowing you have to work the next day spoils the novelty of sleeping in […]
The season is upon us. The season for archaeological field schools. In a matter of days, thousands of aspiring archaeologists will find themselves doing REAL archaeology for the first time. The thrill of discovery. Excitement of being in the field. The weary solace in doing a hard day’s labor. These […]
Some cultural resource management archaeologists are homeless. I’ve known this for years. It’s a part of being an archaeologist in the United States we don’t want to talk about. Cultural resource management archaeology is an unconventional career where practitioners can expect to spend extended periods away from home while working. […]
Archaeologists Cheryl LaRoche and Michael Blakey (1997) described how construction at a the Ted Weiss Federal Building in New York City ground to a halt under withering protests from New York City’s Black community when they realized a slave burial ground was being removed for a construction project. Even though […]
Recently, I encouraged cultural resource management archaeologists start blogging as a means of reaching out to archaeology students and sharing their experiences as professionals. I believe outreach this is the best way we can shorten the learning curve for aspiring archaeologists who are currently in college. Other CRMers also felt […]
Cultural resource management archaeology was never even mentioned during my undergraduate career. I finished my Bachelor’s degree in 2001 but didn’t learn about CRM until about a year after I’d already graduated. Things had changed a little bit by the time I finished my Master’s in 2005. A course on […]
