Monday, June 25, 2007
Mt Meadows Massacre Article
This will appear in the September Ensign. Looks to be a definitive statement...
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Type, Series, and Ware in Fremont Ceramic Classification
I already sent this to several of you. If I missed anyone that's interested, let me know. Comment away!
ABSTRACT
For nearly thirty years, Fremont ceramic analysts have primarily relied on a single seminal work – Prehistoric Ceramics of the Fremont, by Rex E. Madsen (1977). Although the value of R. Madsen’s study cannot be overstated, the intervening years of research have yielded a wealth of relevant data and refined analytical techniques. In addition, certain key observations from previous analyses were omitted from the R. Madsen typology. I review the past and current conceptions of the Fremont ceramic typology as well as the literature pertaining to variability within pottery types, specifically temper. Based on this existing research and my own observations, I propose a reclassification of Fremont pottery within the Type – Series – Ware hierarchy proposed by Colton and Hargrave (1937). Fremont pottery is surmised under a single ware, with series defined by temper and types by surface treatment. Building on the work of Lyneis (1994; Geib and Lyneis 1996), and in reference to recent developments in Hohokam ceramic studies (Abbott 2000), I further suggest ways to identify temper variability and to apply quantifiable differences to studies of pottery provenience.
ABSTRACT
For nearly thirty years, Fremont ceramic analysts have primarily relied on a single seminal work – Prehistoric Ceramics of the Fremont, by Rex E. Madsen (1977). Although the value of R. Madsen’s study cannot be overstated, the intervening years of research have yielded a wealth of relevant data and refined analytical techniques. In addition, certain key observations from previous analyses were omitted from the R. Madsen typology. I review the past and current conceptions of the Fremont ceramic typology as well as the literature pertaining to variability within pottery types, specifically temper. Based on this existing research and my own observations, I propose a reclassification of Fremont pottery within the Type – Series – Ware hierarchy proposed by Colton and Hargrave (1937). Fremont pottery is surmised under a single ware, with series defined by temper and types by surface treatment. Building on the work of Lyneis (1994; Geib and Lyneis 1996), and in reference to recent developments in Hohokam ceramic studies (Abbott 2000), I further suggest ways to identify temper variability and to apply quantifiable differences to studies of pottery provenience.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Friday, June 01, 2007
A Craig Freeman sighting
This just in-
Lane ran into Craig Freeman in Vivian Park (Provo Canyon). Craig was on Rollerblades. Lane said that Craig is still doing construction/concrete stuff, but that he is thinking about getting back into archaeology.
So, who knows? Maybe everyone's favorite metalhead and epigrapher will return to the fold.
Lane ran into Craig Freeman in Vivian Park (Provo Canyon). Craig was on Rollerblades. Lane said that Craig is still doing construction/concrete stuff, but that he is thinking about getting back into archaeology.
So, who knows? Maybe everyone's favorite metalhead and epigrapher will return to the fold.
Aaron's SIR
This semester was pretty uneventful. It comprised of me going down to Sand Hollow in January, and then spending the rest of the time in the bone room analyzing the chipped stone from PVAP. After plodding through only one box (there are 14 total), I have now analyzed 900+ tools from Summit (42IN40). Most of them are utilized flakes.
So, my previous method of "just get through all the boxes" has been foiled. No way am I gonna be able to do 13 more boxes with similar artifact counts and ever graduate. Enter sampling strategies.
For now, I am working on revising drafts of my proposal and figuring out how to sample the assemblage. I've been reading a lot of stuff on Homol'ovi (the Hopi Mesas area) and despite the obvious differences between the Hopi and the Fremont, I have gained some perspectives into how to sample a massive collection, and also gotten some ideas about studying spatial distributions of chipped stone.
This past week I was near Bliss, Idaho with Lane doing Idaho Power stuff for Mr. Baker. We documented several sites along the Snake River. Cool stuff up there. We found several points, some late prehistoric ceramics, sandstone shaft smoothers, and a few rock shelters. Apparently the week before I went up, they found a burial. Shane was all over it. Not much left, just some vertebrae and teeth.
We did find a really cool site near the banks of Salmon Falls that, according to his journal, was visited by John C. Fremont. He and his cronies traded with the Shoshone for dried Salmon and spent some time near the falls. The site was very large with lots of groundstone, shell, chipped stone, rock art, and circular features with upright slabs. There was also a historic component, stacked stone walls and a ditch. It was pretty picked over by visitors to the site (read: looters) and little has been done to preserve it. After finding several looter pits, Lane shook his head and uttered, "Bastards." He then lamented Idaho's neglect for this historically significant site. Hopefully, with some strong suggestions to put it on the register, it will get there. We could have easily spent three days recording that site due to the massive amount of stuff there.
I wish there was more to report, but I didn't take any cool classes, and I've been doing a lot of analysis so there isn't much else to say.
So, my previous method of "just get through all the boxes" has been foiled. No way am I gonna be able to do 13 more boxes with similar artifact counts and ever graduate. Enter sampling strategies.
For now, I am working on revising drafts of my proposal and figuring out how to sample the assemblage. I've been reading a lot of stuff on Homol'ovi (the Hopi Mesas area) and despite the obvious differences between the Hopi and the Fremont, I have gained some perspectives into how to sample a massive collection, and also gotten some ideas about studying spatial distributions of chipped stone.
This past week I was near Bliss, Idaho with Lane doing Idaho Power stuff for Mr. Baker. We documented several sites along the Snake River. Cool stuff up there. We found several points, some late prehistoric ceramics, sandstone shaft smoothers, and a few rock shelters. Apparently the week before I went up, they found a burial. Shane was all over it. Not much left, just some vertebrae and teeth.
We did find a really cool site near the banks of Salmon Falls that, according to his journal, was visited by John C. Fremont. He and his cronies traded with the Shoshone for dried Salmon and spent some time near the falls. The site was very large with lots of groundstone, shell, chipped stone, rock art, and circular features with upright slabs. There was also a historic component, stacked stone walls and a ditch. It was pretty picked over by visitors to the site (read: looters) and little has been done to preserve it. After finding several looter pits, Lane shook his head and uttered, "Bastards." He then lamented Idaho's neglect for this historically significant site. Hopefully, with some strong suggestions to put it on the register, it will get there. We could have easily spent three days recording that site due to the massive amount of stuff there.
I wish there was more to report, but I didn't take any cool classes, and I've been doing a lot of analysis so there isn't much else to say.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Yoder and Stats
I seem to remember a tent-mate who found a very effective use for archaeological stats. 
Yoder, I still need to send this one to Ian Robertson. I think he'd get a kick out of it.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Yoder's SIR_Spring 2007
This semester was relatively light at the beginning but quickly took a downward spiral. As far as classes go, I only had two, one of which was a directed readings course.
I took Anthropological Statistics from Karen Harry. Why? Because I’m such a stats retard that I don’t remember anything if I’m not constantly using it. Even though it was pretty basic stats I was worried at first, but Ian’s teachings were still rattling around in the back of my head, and surprisingly, I was able to remember a lot of it once I started thinking stats again.
My directed readings course was focused on stuff for both my dissertation and for my comps. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about technological style, iconological style, isochrestic style, and the whatnot. I’m particularly a fan of the technological and isochrestic style camp and this theoretical orientation will be the basis for much of my dissertation research. And can I throw a plug in here for James Sackett. The guy knows how to write. He has a nice clean, clear, writing style that keeps you interested. Whenever I’m writing for an academic audience (article or presentation) I always feel compelled to dress it up in fancy terms. I hate doing this but feel like that as a grad student I have to do this to be taken more seriously. This is crap and I don’t want to do it anymore. I, and everyone else in archaeology, should write in clean clear language like only a few do really well.
At the end of the semester I decided to take the job with Uncle OPA and then had to cram everything to get out of Vegas and up to Utah in time. I started the job two weeks before the end of the semester which meant that I had to have others cover the Anthro 101 classes I was teaching, turn in assignments early, etc. It got very hairy near the end, but was worth it.
Now I’m keeping it real in Sand Hollow. Speaking of which, I am able to write this today because we got SANDBLASTED and had to pack up and come home early this morning. We got to the site around 6:20am, and were able to work for a couple of hours but conditions quickly turned into a full scale sand storm. So it was home for FSing and writing up notes. Grit in the teeth, good times. I am still waiting for Aaron to come down (come on dude, just for a week) and can’t wait for Mike to start. I’m also supposed to be studying for my comps at night, but so far that has failed to happen. Where does the time go?
I took Anthropological Statistics from Karen Harry. Why? Because I’m such a stats retard that I don’t remember anything if I’m not constantly using it. Even though it was pretty basic stats I was worried at first, but Ian’s teachings were still rattling around in the back of my head, and surprisingly, I was able to remember a lot of it once I started thinking stats again.
My directed readings course was focused on stuff for both my dissertation and for my comps. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about technological style, iconological style, isochrestic style, and the whatnot. I’m particularly a fan of the technological and isochrestic style camp and this theoretical orientation will be the basis for much of my dissertation research. And can I throw a plug in here for James Sackett. The guy knows how to write. He has a nice clean, clear, writing style that keeps you interested. Whenever I’m writing for an academic audience (article or presentation) I always feel compelled to dress it up in fancy terms. I hate doing this but feel like that as a grad student I have to do this to be taken more seriously. This is crap and I don’t want to do it anymore. I, and everyone else in archaeology, should write in clean clear language like only a few do really well.
At the end of the semester I decided to take the job with Uncle OPA and then had to cram everything to get out of Vegas and up to Utah in time. I started the job two weeks before the end of the semester which meant that I had to have others cover the Anthro 101 classes I was teaching, turn in assignments early, etc. It got very hairy near the end, but was worth it.
Now I’m keeping it real in Sand Hollow. Speaking of which, I am able to write this today because we got SANDBLASTED and had to pack up and come home early this morning. We got to the site around 6:20am, and were able to work for a couple of hours but conditions quickly turned into a full scale sand storm. So it was home for FSing and writing up notes. Grit in the teeth, good times. I am still waiting for Aaron to come down (come on dude, just for a week) and can’t wait for Mike to start. I’m also supposed to be studying for my comps at night, but so far that has failed to happen. Where does the time go?
Monday, May 21, 2007
Mike's SIR - Spring '07
This past semester was a little busier than the last. I don't know if my mental state will remain stable, but we'll see. Now that it is over, I can breathe a little easier. Overall, it was a good one.
Linguistic Theory - This is a required course for all graduate students at OU. It was really good to read some classic stuff by Boas, Sapir, and Kroeber. I really enjoyed Keith Basso's book on the Western Apache. His writing style is very colloquial and frank. I think we should all write a little more like that, but then journals wouldn't publish our stuff. My project for this class was working on the Q'eqchi'- English dictionary that my friend (at SUNY Albany) and I had started about a year ago. We are using a software program by SIL that is for field linguists and is a tool used to build lexicons. The advantage of this is that we can output the lexicon to many different formats - web, text (WORD, etc.), and as a stand-alone dictionary with searchable functions. This is going to take longer than we expected, but it needs to be done.
Symbolic Anthropology - I took this as a special readings course with a Berkley-ite who allowed me to take a mock-comprehensive exam question instead of write a paper at the end. It was good practice and got me ready for at least one portion of the exam, which I will be taking next Spring. Also, I was able to read some of the classic symbolic literature from the 60s and 70s like Firth, Cohen, Turner, Levi-Strauss, Ortner, and Douglas. It was a really good baptism by fire. I may bleed archaeology, but I occasionally pee cultural anthropology and enjoy it. What can I say? They don't call me Soco for nothing.
Work - I've been a TA for a few semesters now and will be taking on my own intro to anth. class this coming fall. It should be fun; I really enjoy teaching. Also, I work for the property management company where I live and have been able to get cheap rent. I work for them 2 days out of the week and do on-call emergency maintenance at night and on weekends. In addition, there have been a lot of freelance opportunities this past semester which included English to Spanish translations, 2 websites, and 2 logo design projects. I should have passed on all of them due to time constraints.
Film - In all the hoopla of school and work, the illegal immigration film rolls on. We just interviewed our first illegal immigrant last night (although we still concealed his identity). None have been willing to appear on camera until now. A new law also just passed here in Oklahoma making it a felony to transport an illegal. I guess I won't be taking any of the Spanish Branch members anywhere, or maybe I will. The law also prevents illegals from obtaining state ID, health benefits, and jobs (employers are required to do social security number checks on all new employees). It is a hot topic everywhere, but we have been able to document the debate right here in OK.
Summer - So the rumors are true. I will be working for Uncle OPA this summer. I'm really excited to be working with all the folks at Sand Hollow. Amie and the kids will also be coming along after a fourth summer in a row of having to leave them for an extended period of time. It also looks like I may even make money for the first summer in a long time. And now that OPA has some cool techno tools, Scott and I can finally do a write-up on the Tablet PCs and handheld computers.
Lay-tar-----------------------------------
Linguistic Theory - This is a required course for all graduate students at OU. It was really good to read some classic stuff by Boas, Sapir, and Kroeber. I really enjoyed Keith Basso's book on the Western Apache. His writing style is very colloquial and frank. I think we should all write a little more like that, but then journals wouldn't publish our stuff. My project for this class was working on the Q'eqchi'- English dictionary that my friend (at SUNY Albany) and I had started about a year ago. We are using a software program by SIL that is for field linguists and is a tool used to build lexicons. The advantage of this is that we can output the lexicon to many different formats - web, text (WORD, etc.), and as a stand-alone dictionary with searchable functions. This is going to take longer than we expected, but it needs to be done.
Symbolic Anthropology - I took this as a special readings course with a Berkley-ite who allowed me to take a mock-comprehensive exam question instead of write a paper at the end. It was good practice and got me ready for at least one portion of the exam, which I will be taking next Spring. Also, I was able to read some of the classic symbolic literature from the 60s and 70s like Firth, Cohen, Turner, Levi-Strauss, Ortner, and Douglas. It was a really good baptism by fire. I may bleed archaeology, but I occasionally pee cultural anthropology and enjoy it. What can I say? They don't call me Soco for nothing.
Work - I've been a TA for a few semesters now and will be taking on my own intro to anth. class this coming fall. It should be fun; I really enjoy teaching. Also, I work for the property management company where I live and have been able to get cheap rent. I work for them 2 days out of the week and do on-call emergency maintenance at night and on weekends. In addition, there have been a lot of freelance opportunities this past semester which included English to Spanish translations, 2 websites, and 2 logo design projects. I should have passed on all of them due to time constraints.
Film - In all the hoopla of school and work, the illegal immigration film rolls on. We just interviewed our first illegal immigrant last night (although we still concealed his identity). None have been willing to appear on camera until now. A new law also just passed here in Oklahoma making it a felony to transport an illegal. I guess I won't be taking any of the Spanish Branch members anywhere, or maybe I will. The law also prevents illegals from obtaining state ID, health benefits, and jobs (employers are required to do social security number checks on all new employees). It is a hot topic everywhere, but we have been able to document the debate right here in OK.
Summer - So the rumors are true. I will be working for Uncle OPA this summer. I'm really excited to be working with all the folks at Sand Hollow. Amie and the kids will also be coming along after a fourth summer in a row of having to leave them for an extended period of time. It also looks like I may even make money for the first summer in a long time. And now that OPA has some cool techno tools, Scott and I can finally do a write-up on the Tablet PCs and handheld computers.
Lay-tar-----------------------------------
Friday, May 11, 2007
Friends of OPA Unite!
Now that Dave and probably Mike have joined the rest of the crew with Uncle OPA, I wonder if the time is ripe to talk to the bosses about organizing a "Friends of OPA" alumni group to support Rich and co. It could start, and possibly stay, small, existing primarily as an email list. It would be easy to put together on google groups.
Basically, we could send out an "OPA Update" to the listserv two or three times a year to let people know how OPA was doing, and have the list ready for people to send in their letters of support to the Dean and Crandall the next time the ship starts sinking. This would also serve as the basis for future group activities, such as the occasional get-together to excavate Wolf Village, or a forum to get the money together for endowed fellowships in support of graduate students studying Fremont subsistence, architecture, and ceramics (Joel, Rich, and Lane's primary research interests).
I can think of the following people other than the FOF:
Sarah Baer
Jake Sauer
Megan Schaub
Jamie Bartlett
Aubrey Baasgaard
Shane Baker
Mery Ann Clements
Jan Wickel
Wade and Jessica Arden
The Big Horn Archaeology dudes
Kenny Winch
Charmaine Thompson
Byron Loosle
The Dude from Baseline Data
Jim Wilde
Debbie Newman
Emily Wise
and many more!
What does everyone think? Maybe some of you guys in St. George can talk to Rich about it, and I'll email Joel. We can start putting together an email list and ask people if they want to be on the google group, and then see what we can do to support Uncle OPA!
Basically, we could send out an "OPA Update" to the listserv two or three times a year to let people know how OPA was doing, and have the list ready for people to send in their letters of support to the Dean and Crandall the next time the ship starts sinking. This would also serve as the basis for future group activities, such as the occasional get-together to excavate Wolf Village, or a forum to get the money together for endowed fellowships in support of graduate students studying Fremont subsistence, architecture, and ceramics (Joel, Rich, and Lane's primary research interests).
I can think of the following people other than the FOF:
Sarah Baer
Jake Sauer
Megan Schaub
Jamie Bartlett
Aubrey Baasgaard
Shane Baker
Mery Ann Clements
Jan Wickel
Wade and Jessica Arden
The Big Horn Archaeology dudes
Kenny Winch
Charmaine Thompson
Byron Loosle
The Dude from Baseline Data
Jim Wilde
Debbie Newman
Emily Wise
and many more!
What does everyone think? Maybe some of you guys in St. George can talk to Rich about it, and I'll email Joel. We can start putting together an email list and ask people if they want to be on the google group, and then see what we can do to support Uncle OPA!
Watkins SIR Spring 2007
Not really an eventful term, but my highlights were:
Classes -- Beyond Chiefdoms with Ben Nelson and Kate Spielmann. In this class, we reviewed the chiefdom literature and pretty much decided that the classically defined chiefdom only ever existed in Polynesia, but that there are societies that are neither states nor tribes that the chiefdom label could be applied to, for lack of a better term. Also, we decided that chiefdoms do not necessarily preceed states, and in fact, there are no historical or archaeological cases where a chiefdom turned into a state. I wrote a paper for this class in which I compared mortuary assemblages from the Southwest (including the Fremont, Hohokam, PIV, and Casas Grandes) to a Southeastern Chiefdom. Surprisingly, the Fremont assemblage was a lot like the chiefdom, and the pure Southwestern groups were very similar. Go figure!? I only used one metric to compare them though, the diversity index, which is a count of the number of artifact classes in a burial, which supposedly is related to the number of roles a person held in life.
Dissertation -- I continue to collect and analyze sherds from the Southern Sinagua area, putting together a temper typology for the region. As part of my analysis, I'm developing a new method to analyze ceramic thin sections by digitally photographing the slides and using computer software to quantify the amount of each temper particle present. The team includes people from Geology, Archaeology, Electrical Engineering, and Photography. If it works, and I'm pretty sure it will, we will reduce the cost of thin section analysis by 1/10th. Exciting times!
Work -- I'm currently finishing up a chapter describing Hohokam mortuary ritual on Canal System 7 based on a dataset of nearly 1,000 burials excavated over the last year or two. I've identified several roles, including household ritual specialists, group ritual specialists, hunt/war leaders, and ceramic entrepreneurs. We'll see if any of it holds up.
This summer -- I'll be working on my dissertation 2 days a week, and doing excavations here in the Phoenix Basin the rest of the week. Good times, my friends, good times.
Classes -- Beyond Chiefdoms with Ben Nelson and Kate Spielmann. In this class, we reviewed the chiefdom literature and pretty much decided that the classically defined chiefdom only ever existed in Polynesia, but that there are societies that are neither states nor tribes that the chiefdom label could be applied to, for lack of a better term. Also, we decided that chiefdoms do not necessarily preceed states, and in fact, there are no historical or archaeological cases where a chiefdom turned into a state. I wrote a paper for this class in which I compared mortuary assemblages from the Southwest (including the Fremont, Hohokam, PIV, and Casas Grandes) to a Southeastern Chiefdom. Surprisingly, the Fremont assemblage was a lot like the chiefdom, and the pure Southwestern groups were very similar. Go figure!? I only used one metric to compare them though, the diversity index, which is a count of the number of artifact classes in a burial, which supposedly is related to the number of roles a person held in life.
Dissertation -- I continue to collect and analyze sherds from the Southern Sinagua area, putting together a temper typology for the region. As part of my analysis, I'm developing a new method to analyze ceramic thin sections by digitally photographing the slides and using computer software to quantify the amount of each temper particle present. The team includes people from Geology, Archaeology, Electrical Engineering, and Photography. If it works, and I'm pretty sure it will, we will reduce the cost of thin section analysis by 1/10th. Exciting times!
Work -- I'm currently finishing up a chapter describing Hohokam mortuary ritual on Canal System 7 based on a dataset of nearly 1,000 burials excavated over the last year or two. I've identified several roles, including household ritual specialists, group ritual specialists, hunt/war leaders, and ceramic entrepreneurs. We'll see if any of it holds up.
This summer -- I'll be working on my dissertation 2 days a week, and doing excavations here in the Phoenix Basin the rest of the week. Good times, my friends, good times.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Herod's Tomb Found?
Could this be? Somebody get Holly on the horn to assess this. And let's get those SIRs in. I'll try to have mine up today.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
And by the way, Mr. Yoder joins OPA
You like that....by the way...OPA. I'm good.
So those positions that Scott posted about a one-year contract with OPA.....yours truely will be filling one of those positions. Hurrah! I'll be helping run the Sand Hollow excavation during the summer and analysis and write up in the fall and winter. I'm looking forward to working with the bosses again and can't wait to get into the dirt (or sand in this case). I start on Monday. Pretty quick, but I'm way excited. Aaron might even be around.
Now if I could just sell my house. Not to worry, I hear the market is great! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18289082/
So those positions that Scott posted about a one-year contract with OPA.....yours truely will be filling one of those positions. Hurrah! I'll be helping run the Sand Hollow excavation during the summer and analysis and write up in the fall and winter. I'm looking forward to working with the bosses again and can't wait to get into the dirt (or sand in this case). I start on Monday. Pretty quick, but I'm way excited. Aaron might even be around.
Now if I could just sell my house. Not to worry, I hear the market is great! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18289082/
SAA's and graduate students
Is anyone going to the SAA's this year? My professors keep asking me this. This is understandable. But when I answer no, one or two of them kinda look at me odd like "really, why not? What are you doing instead?"
I know they just want to be nice and are interested in my academic welfare, BUT, I feel like saying "I have a wife, three kids with one on the way*, and make a whopping $12,000 a year" Are you serious?!@#% No I'm not going to the freakin SAA's. You want to know what I 'm doing instead, I'm buying diapers; and then I'll probably drop by the welfare office and pick up my foodstamps. After that I'll spend another 12-15 hour day at my office working on assigments, publications, and research. THAT'S what I'm doing instead of going to the SAA's!
*Sally is now 4 or 5 months pregnant with our last one. Please O Pleeease let it be a little girl or I will be facing a discontent wife who reminds me that the sex of the child is entirely dependent on the male (i.e. Mr. Yoder).
I know they just want to be nice and are interested in my academic welfare, BUT, I feel like saying "I have a wife, three kids with one on the way*, and make a whopping $12,000 a year" Are you serious?!@#% No I'm not going to the freakin SAA's. You want to know what I 'm doing instead, I'm buying diapers; and then I'll probably drop by the welfare office and pick up my foodstamps. After that I'll spend another 12-15 hour day at my office working on assigments, publications, and research. THAT'S what I'm doing instead of going to the SAA's!
*Sally is now 4 or 5 months pregnant with our last one. Please O Pleeease let it be a little girl or I will be facing a discontent wife who reminds me that the sex of the child is entirely dependent on the male (i.e. Mr. Yoder).
Sunday, April 22, 2007
I want to kill myself
By: Phyllis GundersonArchaeologist Mathilda Howard believes in solid scientific fact, not mythical advanced civilizations or stones that shine. But when an old Tibetan monk shares his experience of the "lights that do not die," Matt knows she had to learn more. From a sacred mountain in China to a lost civilization in Brazil, Matt finds that she is digging up more than simple artifacts. Her questions lead her to a new religion, but it may cost her all that she values in life: her career, her prestige, and even her family. As evidence of the shining stones mounts, she finds herself faced with decisions she never thought she'd have to make. How much is Matt willing to sacrifice for the lost stones of the Jaradites?
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Continuing BYU's Parowan Synthesis...
Just wanted to send a Congrats and Well Done to Molly for her thesis proposal defense on Monday. She'll have to supply the details, but the worked bone gaming pieces of PVAP are looking like they'll tell us some interesting things when compared to the ethnographic evidence. Molly stood up to our favorite trio of committee members (the 3 J's) very confidently and made some interesting points about our favorite neighborhood Fremont.
Kudos!
Kudos!
Monday, April 02, 2007
anti-evolution museum
Hey all, it's been a little quiet around here so I decided to post a link to a story about an anti-evolution museum that some Christian Fundies are building in Kentucky.
http://www.kentucky.com/158/story/26286.html
If the link doesn't work, just google "anti-evolution museum, kentucky" It should show up.
Due to all of our religious backgrounds, I think this story is worth a read. It's not Fremont related, but the main content of the story could hit home with archaeologists/other scientists with religious convictions.
I think that we should be quick to point out pseudo-science like this museum. I know that I have dealt with many a Mormon Fundie who has told me that dinosaur bones were put on the earth by Satan to deceive men, that C-14 is a flawed method, and that the age of Earth is in the 4-5000s.
http://www.kentucky.com/158/story/26286.html
If the link doesn't work, just google "anti-evolution museum, kentucky" It should show up.
Due to all of our religious backgrounds, I think this story is worth a read. It's not Fremont related, but the main content of the story could hit home with archaeologists/other scientists with religious convictions.
I think that we should be quick to point out pseudo-science like this museum. I know that I have dealt with many a Mormon Fundie who has told me that dinosaur bones were put on the earth by Satan to deceive men, that C-14 is a flawed method, and that the age of Earth is in the 4-5000s.
Monday, March 05, 2007
A nod to Mr. Ure
I figured that you all should know that Mr. Ure has been accepted to our auspicious graduate studies program at BYU. I think this news is worth its own post due to the fact that Scott's "Joining the Fray" post is down at the bottom of the page.
Congrats Scott, if only you knew what you were getting into...just kidding.
Congrats Scott, if only you knew what you were getting into...just kidding.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
I guess someone considers the Fremont part of the SW
Props out to our very own Chris Watkins whose thesis abstract showed up in Pottery Southwest.
http://www.unm.edu/~psw/PDFs/current.pdf
http://www.unm.edu/~psw/PDFs/current.pdf
Monday, February 26, 2007
Excavation Blog
I got this email forwarded to me today. Maybe we should set up a blog for Sand Hollow...
Prof. Michael Smith and his research team are blogging from their excavation project at Calixtlahuaca, Mexico!
Calixtlahuaca was a large urban center of the Matlatzinco culture, closely related to the Aztecs (A.D. 1100-1520).
n Hear about their latest discoveries,
n Learn about the history of the site, and
n Experience the day-to-day life at an archaeological dig as it is happening!
The blog contains the team’s informal reports and is geared toward the general public, with pictures, links and illustrations. The project began this month and will go through July 2007. Check back regularly and follow their progress!
Links:
Calixtlahuaca Blog
Professor Michael Smith’s Homepage
Calixtlahuaca Archaeological Project Website
School of Human Evolution & Social Change
Prof. Michael Smith and his research team are blogging from their excavation project at Calixtlahuaca, Mexico!
Calixtlahuaca was a large urban center of the Matlatzinco culture, closely related to the Aztecs (A.D. 1100-1520).
n Hear about their latest discoveries,
n Learn about the history of the site, and
n Experience the day-to-day life at an archaeological dig as it is happening!
The blog contains the team’s informal reports and is geared toward the general public, with pictures, links and illustrations. The project began this month and will go through July 2007. Check back regularly and follow their progress!
Links:
Calixtlahuaca Blog
Professor Michael Smith’s Homepage
Calixtlahuaca Archaeological Project Website
School of Human Evolution & Social Change
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Announcing the USAS/UPAC Convention 2007
June 8-10th at UVSC. Registration starts Thursday afternoon.
This year's theme will be The Archaeology of Utah Valley: The Late Prehistoric Period and Contributions to Archaeology by USAS members.
Dr. J will be our keynote speaker at a catered dinner Saturday night. Charmaine will likely introduce him and then, to his surprise, we'll hopefully have some sort of presentation afterward in honor of his contributions to USAS as well as to archaeology in Utah Valley and in the Late Prehistoric.
Any ideas or personal experiences you can share are much appreciated. We'd love to have you guys come do presentations--Friday and Saturday--or lead workshops. Obviously this is a small venue and most of the audience is comprised of amateurs over 60, but Utah Valley is central enough that we expect a fairly good UPAC attendance this year. Any subject is welcome, though obviously the closer to the theme the better. Aaron--Spotten Cave would be particularly applicable and we may have several field trips that will pass by and be able to point it out beforehand. Hint...
I know everyone's spread out, especially that time of year, but new blood and new ideas could really breathe life into this. And hey, free presentation opportunity. Registration forms won't be out until the end of March, but the fee is only like $10 and you get a groovy t-shirt. =)
Let me know if you guys want to participate. If for no other reason, for those of you still at BYU, you know Dr J loves to see us participate in this stuff. Thanks!
This year's theme will be The Archaeology of Utah Valley: The Late Prehistoric Period and Contributions to Archaeology by USAS members.
Dr. J will be our keynote speaker at a catered dinner Saturday night. Charmaine will likely introduce him and then, to his surprise, we'll hopefully have some sort of presentation afterward in honor of his contributions to USAS as well as to archaeology in Utah Valley and in the Late Prehistoric.
Any ideas or personal experiences you can share are much appreciated. We'd love to have you guys come do presentations--Friday and Saturday--or lead workshops. Obviously this is a small venue and most of the audience is comprised of amateurs over 60, but Utah Valley is central enough that we expect a fairly good UPAC attendance this year. Any subject is welcome, though obviously the closer to the theme the better. Aaron--Spotten Cave would be particularly applicable and we may have several field trips that will pass by and be able to point it out beforehand. Hint...
I know everyone's spread out, especially that time of year, but new blood and new ideas could really breathe life into this. And hey, free presentation opportunity. Registration forms won't be out until the end of March, but the fee is only like $10 and you get a groovy t-shirt. =)
Let me know if you guys want to participate. If for no other reason, for those of you still at BYU, you know Dr J loves to see us participate in this stuff. Thanks!
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