CRM


NSF Archaeology grant success and the University of Arizona

Last week, Doug Rocks-MacQueen posted an article on his blog Doug’s Archaeology titled “Top Organizations Receiving NSF Archaeology Funds.” I was surprised to see my current grad school at the top of the list by a long shot. The University of Arizona dominated the list of National Science Foundation (NSF) […]

Financial independence is the key to ending the poverty mentality in archaeology

Are cultural resource management companies just drab grey suits? 2

Do we cultural resource management archaeologists do the same things? Are historic preservationists just following the Secretary of the Interior’s Guidelines for the Treatment of Historic Properties? After decades of historic preservation and cultural resource management guidelines, are we all just going through the motions—just checking the boxes for our […]

Are cultural resource management archaeologists just like Wall Street bankers?

Should archaeologists carry guns in the field?

Guns in the archaeology classroom; Guns in the field 4

First, I just want to clearly tell everyone: I’m not anti-gun; I’m anti-idiot with a gun. Self-defense is a basic right for all people. This right should not to be confused with interpretations of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution that gun aficionados seem to thing means, “it’s […]


American Red Cross First Aid app is an invaluable tool for archaeologists 1

Last weekend, I took my bi-annual CPR/AED refresher certification through the University of Arizona Recreation Center. I have long been obsessed with learning as much as I can about health and safety in order to help improve the abysmal condition of safety training and awareness in the cultural resource management […]

First_Responder_thenounproject

Archaeology tools at forestry suppliers

Feel the shock and awe of the Forestry Suppliers Archaeology Tools Catalog 1

“The arrival of the catalog became a major social event…In the early days, people wrote letters about their lives when mailing orders to the company…One of the authors of this book…can remember the special excitement among children when, twice a year, the Sears catalog arrived in the mail” (Leiss, William […]


Is amenity STILL at the heart of historic preservation?

Amenity (n)­ (1) something that makes life easier or pleasant; (2) the attractiveness and value of real estate or of a residential structure; (3) a feature conducive to such attractiveness and value; (4) something that conduces to comfort, convenience, or enjoyment A long time ago, back in the mid-1900s, historic […]


What should be taught in an archaeology field school? 2

My last few posts have been getting some serious discussion amongst the archaeologists I know and from hundreds of archaeos I don’t know. Most of the feedback I’ve been getting has been either positive or at least benign. But I’ve also heard that my posts have pissed off a few […]

Does archaeology fit within your personal ethos?

Why aren’t archaeologists receiving better training in college? 1

I am not the first or the last to ask this question. It seems a very fitting question to ask after writing two widely circulated blog posts positing why are field techs teaching PhDs basic field skills and explaining that archaeologists can earn graduate degrees where they actually learn how […]