I have been lead author or primary contributor to over 60 cultural resource management archaeology reports. That’s not including reports where I wrote a historic background, artifact analysis, or boilerplate contribution. All of that writing represents dozens of man-hours and thousands of dollars’ worth of research. Those reports represent the […]
In the beginning, there are 64 teams. The NCAA selection committee ranks each team and creates four groups loosely based on regions of the country. Then, they play each other until only one remains. The NCAA mens basketball tournament, March Madness, begins with a spectacular flurry. Half of the teams […]
I was recently informed that a CRM archaeology technical report isn’t true archaeology writing. It was a shocking revelation that came from somebody that has written dozens of cultural resources reports that instantly made me start thinking about the nature of our industry and the way we value our reports, […]
Yesterday, I received good news. The property owner of the Erma Hayman House in Boise, Idaho has given permission to conduct an archaeology project on this property. This will be the next step in my dissertation work on The River Street Digital History Project, but it is also an excellent […]
Small liberal arts colleges are starting to lose the battle against the “educational-industrial complex.” This month, two colleges in the eastern United States—Sweet Briar College and Tennessee Temple University—announced they will close their doors this year (2015). Insurmountable financial challenges and declining enrollment were cited as the reason for the […]
We’ve all seen the following clauses in a job description: — A combination of education and experience which includes College-level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education. — The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may […]
Ticks are one of the main reasons why I don’t like working in the east or Midwest. I can handle scorpions, brown recluse, and black widows. I get freaked out by diamondbacks, sidewinders, and Mojave rattlers, but the fear subsides relatively quickly and is replaced by heightened awareness. But, ticks. […]
A few months ago, I penned a (un)popular blog post titled “When archaeology field techs have to teach PhDs how to do archaeology”. Some people thought it was great. Many did not. Fortunately, I haven’t been kicked out of graduate school over it. The basic premise was: Universities are not […]
I wonder how many hours I’ve spent being a cultural resource management archaeologist. It’s hard to calculate because, even though I’ve been doing CRM since 2004, I haven’t always been employed full-time as a CRMer. In fact, based on the longest stints I’ve had with CRM companies, I think it’s […]
Archaeological Monitoring (v.) (1) watching and waiting for a mechanical excavator to reveal an archaeological deposit; (2) a great way for archaeologists to find sites and Native people to reclaim their heritage before development destroys all traces; (3) something construction companies and developers (should) know about but always seem to […]
