What was I thinking?
Spread much too thin, now too late
Long days, longer nights
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Hi,
Hi Chris, Folsom8k, and others…
First of all thanks for letting me join the Blog, it seems to be a good group of people that are passionate about archaeology. As was requested here’s little about myself; as of now I am looking for work in archeology, having applied to various CRM firms and BLM offices. I want to gain more practical experience in archaeology. I am also applying to grad school, with the goal of entering in the fall of 2007.
All the work I have been doing recently in archeology has been of my own interest. I have been working on sourcing materials such as obsidian and clays. In October I spent two weeks collecting samples from obsidian locations, which were submitted for xrf analysis. However my main interest has been sourcing the clay materials for SVG ceramics. I have spent three weeks hiking around Parowan valley analyzing the geology and collecting samples. I have done this work so far, keeping in mind all the issues presented in the paper by,
Dean E. Arnold, Hector Neff, Ronald L. Bishop.
“Compositional Analysis and “Sources” of pottery: An Ethnoarcheological Approach” 1991
This topic has interested me, mainly because I love ceramics, archeology and the Great Basin, and working with these ceramics is a combination of all three. I was first introduced to Fremont archaeology in the Eagle Valley field school hosted by Uc Davis. Since then I have been working with Clint, and developing various project ideas.
First of all thanks for letting me join the Blog, it seems to be a good group of people that are passionate about archaeology. As was requested here’s little about myself; as of now I am looking for work in archeology, having applied to various CRM firms and BLM offices. I want to gain more practical experience in archaeology. I am also applying to grad school, with the goal of entering in the fall of 2007.
All the work I have been doing recently in archeology has been of my own interest. I have been working on sourcing materials such as obsidian and clays. In October I spent two weeks collecting samples from obsidian locations, which were submitted for xrf analysis. However my main interest has been sourcing the clay materials for SVG ceramics. I have spent three weeks hiking around Parowan valley analyzing the geology and collecting samples. I have done this work so far, keeping in mind all the issues presented in the paper by,
Dean E. Arnold, Hector Neff, Ronald L. Bishop.
“Compositional Analysis and “Sources” of pottery: An Ethnoarcheological Approach” 1991
This topic has interested me, mainly because I love ceramics, archeology and the Great Basin, and working with these ceramics is a combination of all three. I was first introduced to Fremont archaeology in the Eagle Valley field school hosted by Uc Davis. Since then I have been working with Clint, and developing various project ideas.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Abbreviated Thesis
I've managed to cut the main point of my thesis down to about 35 pages in preparation for publication. This is probably much more readable than the full text. I have a pdf of the draft if anyone would care to look at it. I would appreciate comments before submitting it for publication.
Cady has a copy of the pdf the Provo folks could get, otherwise email me (watkins.chris@gmail .com) for a copy.
Cady has a copy of the pdf the Provo folks could get, otherwise email me (watkins.chris@gmail .com) for a copy.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Fremont Foragers?
In response to Jenny:
I think I did a pretty good job of starting to deconstruct the concept of Fremont foragers in my thesis. Essentially, the only "evidence" for a Fremont foraging strategy is found in the west desert and Great Salt Lake Marshes, unless you count Madsen's cattail extravaganza at Backhoe (and I for one don't, I'd bet the farm that there were mats on those pithouse floors).
In my thesis, I argue that in places where Fremont territory abuts foragers, there is a fuzzy border. Conversely, to the south where they are butting up against other farmers, there is a clear social boundary. We see this in the pottery. It all depends on what you want to call Fremont. I call the foragers cozying up to the Fremont farmers butt-kissers who are trying to get their hands on corn. They're either marginalized former Fremont, or people coming in from other foraging groups who are trying to cash in on corn and a higher prestige lifeway.
I have yet to see any believable evidence for a true Fremont forager from an area that is not a borderland. The whole argument is based on cattail at Backhoe and evidence from areas without a clear social boundary. It has no legs to stand on.
I think I did a pretty good job of starting to deconstruct the concept of Fremont foragers in my thesis. Essentially, the only "evidence" for a Fremont foraging strategy is found in the west desert and Great Salt Lake Marshes, unless you count Madsen's cattail extravaganza at Backhoe (and I for one don't, I'd bet the farm that there were mats on those pithouse floors).
In my thesis, I argue that in places where Fremont territory abuts foragers, there is a fuzzy border. Conversely, to the south where they are butting up against other farmers, there is a clear social boundary. We see this in the pottery. It all depends on what you want to call Fremont. I call the foragers cozying up to the Fremont farmers butt-kissers who are trying to get their hands on corn. They're either marginalized former Fremont, or people coming in from other foraging groups who are trying to cash in on corn and a higher prestige lifeway.
I have yet to see any believable evidence for a true Fremont forager from an area that is not a borderland. The whole argument is based on cattail at Backhoe and evidence from areas without a clear social boundary. It has no legs to stand on.
Chirping Crickets...
Hopefully now that the comps are over, we will see a flurry of activity.
Here's an update from the BYU neck of the woods...
(and not just my neck! HA!...lame...stupid...sorry)
Anyway, all of the first year grads are now breathing a sigh of relief since the comps are done. Now, we can only hope to pass.
The fieldschool is quickly approaching. It has been interesting to see the difference in expectations from Jim Allison. Many of the "vital" things that were field school necessities in the past (according to Joel) are being done away with. Elimination of the "Brother Love Revival Tents" and the Van Pelt Trailer have been discussed. Also, we have had several students drop out and now only have 16 (Jenny, correct me if I'm off numerically)
Jim has drafted the research design, and if I (or Jenny) have time, I'd like to post the key elements of it on FoF. It would be great to see some of your input.
The Fulton Research thing is coming up, in which we all kiss Ira's millionare derriere and get a free lunch. Chris, I thought about a repisal submission for our "Obsdidian" poster, but decided against it. Instead, I will be doing a poster on "Spottsen Cove". I think that mispelling all of my posters could become a signature trademark.
Also, we should be thinking about the GBAC and some of us (ex. arch session participants) should be thinking about sending me some abstracts. I will be drafting a proposal, my own abstract, and sending out a few e-mails, so be on the lookout. I also need to talk to JEC soon.
I know there is more, but I'll let the rest of you tack it on in the comments or other posts.
Here's an update from the BYU neck of the woods...
(and not just my neck! HA!...lame...stupid...sorry)
Anyway, all of the first year grads are now breathing a sigh of relief since the comps are done. Now, we can only hope to pass.
The fieldschool is quickly approaching. It has been interesting to see the difference in expectations from Jim Allison. Many of the "vital" things that were field school necessities in the past (according to Joel) are being done away with. Elimination of the "Brother Love Revival Tents" and the Van Pelt Trailer have been discussed. Also, we have had several students drop out and now only have 16 (Jenny, correct me if I'm off numerically)
Jim has drafted the research design, and if I (or Jenny) have time, I'd like to post the key elements of it on FoF. It would be great to see some of your input.
The Fulton Research thing is coming up, in which we all kiss Ira's millionare derriere and get a free lunch. Chris, I thought about a repisal submission for our "Obsdidian" poster, but decided against it. Instead, I will be doing a poster on "Spottsen Cove". I think that mispelling all of my posters could become a signature trademark.
Also, we should be thinking about the GBAC and some of us (ex. arch session participants) should be thinking about sending me some abstracts. I will be drafting a proposal, my own abstract, and sending out a few e-mails, so be on the lookout. I also need to talk to JEC soon.
I know there is more, but I'll let the rest of you tack it on in the comments or other posts.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
GIS Class
I know this really only applies to those still at BYU, but I thought I'd let you know that the GIS class (Geog 503) has expanded to 14 seats...looks like we will be able to weasel our way into it after all!
NSF and Curation Crisis
NSF reviewers can bite me. As some of you may know I applied for an NSF dissertation improvement grant a little while ago. I received notification from the project director (John Yellen) that I would not be receiving funds. Yellen was way cool and offered to discuss any of the reviews I wanted to go over. Seems like a helpful guy. One of the reviews was “Very Good”, the other two reviews were “Fair”. By the NSF rules if you have even one “fair” you’re out. The two reviewers who gave me fair had some good points. Basically they both said that I need to discuss my specific hypotheses more and my methodology. Which is fine. I had kept me proposal kinda general because I wasn’t sure exactly what they wanted. Both “fair” reviewers said they would like to see my project funded, I just have to make those changes. Fortunately, you can re-apply when ever you want with the dissertation grant. So I’ll be fixing the problems and sending it back in….hopefully in a month or two. They were fast at reviewing it, only a month. So for any of you who will be applying for an NSG Dissertation Improvement Grant, there is a lesson for you. When I rewrite and get accepted (which I will!) if any of you are interested in getting a copy so you can see the format and what they are looking for just let me know. Or if you have questions about the process....because “Fastlane” was freaking confusing at first.
As some of you may know, on the side I’m interested in the “Curation Crisis” (the YAR will live one day!). Lately, I’ve been curious as to the percentage of MA’s or PhD’s that are completed using new archaeological data vs. those based on curated collections. I’ve been sending out a survey to archaeology faculty all over the country to help get this info. I’m hoping to write up a little article on it. My main bone to pick right now is that professors don’t really push collections at the MA level. I mean many suggest it, but I think departments should make a concerted effort to have their MA’s use unanalyzed collections. This would really help with getting this information off of the dusty useless shelves and into the literature. Yeah for Cady. So if you overhear any of the faculty at your school saying “Did you get this damned survey from some kid named Yoder at UNLV?!”, politely suggest that completion of the survey shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes and the gods of archaeology will bless them with cosmic karma. May all the weather on your excavations be 65 degrees with sunny skies.
As some of you may know, on the side I’m interested in the “Curation Crisis” (the YAR will live one day!). Lately, I’ve been curious as to the percentage of MA’s or PhD’s that are completed using new archaeological data vs. those based on curated collections. I’ve been sending out a survey to archaeology faculty all over the country to help get this info. I’m hoping to write up a little article on it. My main bone to pick right now is that professors don’t really push collections at the MA level. I mean many suggest it, but I think departments should make a concerted effort to have their MA’s use unanalyzed collections. This would really help with getting this information off of the dusty useless shelves and into the literature. Yeah for Cady. So if you overhear any of the faculty at your school saying “Did you get this damned survey from some kid named Yoder at UNLV?!”, politely suggest that completion of the survey shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes and the gods of archaeology will bless them with cosmic karma. May all the weather on your excavations be 65 degrees with sunny skies.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Kana-a Wha?!?!...
When I came to ASU, I never thought that in a room of archaeologists, I would have the most experience with Tusayan Whitewares. Today as I was analyzing a Colonial Hohokam assemblage, I pulled a whiteware out of the bag. Nobody in the lab could ID it, so I went over to the type collection and called it Kana-a Black-on-white.
Who knew how far the 30 minute lesson Jim gave us in the SW seminar would go?
Who knew how far the 30 minute lesson Jim gave us in the SW seminar would go?
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Thesis Done...
My thesis is finally complete. If anyone would like a copy before it is posted on-line, let me know and I'll email you a pdf. It's only 2.8 MB.
Monday, March 06, 2006
30th GBAC in Vegas!
As I'm sure you all know the 30th GBAC is in Vegas this year. I figure you're all already aware but they issued a call for papers. The website is http://www.gbac.whsites.net/32.html so check it out! While its still early I thought I'd post the idea of the group getting together one night of the conference and do some catching up. I'm offering my house as the place. We could have a barbecue or pizza or something. Dave only lives a few blocks away from me and we're both close to the strip (abt. 15 mins) so it would be a good location for everyone. Let me know what you think.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Defining the Fremont on Wikipedia
Some of you may be familiar with the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
I looked up the Fremont today and noticed that there was very little devoted to them. In fact, the Fremont page is nothing more than a "stub". Wikipedia allows various people to expand stubs with more information, making the entry better.
It would be cool to throw together a basic overview of the Fremont and submit it to Wikipedia.
This would accomplish two goals:
1. People could be more informed about the Fremont
2. We could spin it to fit our theories.
Then, when O'Connel, Ugan, or Hey-sus stumble across the Wikipedia page, they will be shocked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_people
I looked up the Fremont today and noticed that there was very little devoted to them. In fact, the Fremont page is nothing more than a "stub". Wikipedia allows various people to expand stubs with more information, making the entry better.
It would be cool to throw together a basic overview of the Fremont and submit it to Wikipedia.
This would accomplish two goals:
1. People could be more informed about the Fremont
2. We could spin it to fit our theories.
Then, when O'Connel, Ugan, or Hey-sus stumble across the Wikipedia page, they will be shocked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_people
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