79TH ANNUAL MEETING SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

the

SAA archaeological record MAY 2013 • VOLUME 13 • NUMBER 3

S O C I E T Y F O R A M E R I C A N A R C H A E O L O G Y
ADVANCES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRACTICE
A Journal of the Society for American Archaeology
Edited by Christopher D. Dore,
University of Arizona & ASM Affiliates, Inc.

A digital, peer-reviewed, quarterly journal focusing on

methods, techniques, and innovative practice.

Advances in Archaeological Practice is a peer-reviewed journal that seeks to share

solutions in the broad practice of archaeology. Launching in 2013, the full-color digital
journal is published four times per year. The journal publishes original articles that
present creative solutions to the challenges archaeologists face in the ways that they
approach the archaeological record to learn about the past and manage archaeological
resources. “Practice” is defined broadly and topics can include, but are not limited to,
innovations in approach, technique, method, technology, business models,
collaboration, compliance, process, ethics, theory, public engagement, and training.
The journal is a benefit of membership in the Society for American Archaeology (SAA).

For author guidelines, editorial board, sample articles, and much more, please visit the
journal’s page on SAAweb (www.saa.org).

Look for the link to the courtesy issues available in 2013!

You can be a part of SAA history!

Now is the time to ready your manuscript for the inaugural issues.

For submission information,

please contact Christopher Dore at [email protected]
the

SAAarchaeological record
The Magazine of the Society for American Archaeology
Volume 13, No. 3
May 2013

Editor’s Corner 2 Jane Eva Baxter

Volunteer Profile: M. Kathryn (Kat) Brown 3
Developmental Archaeology and Long-Term 4 Tom D. Dillehay and José Saavedra
Partnerships with the Chilean Mapuche
Lessons Learned from Libya 9 Susan Kane
From Source to Center: Raw Material 14 Anne S. Dowd
Acquisition and Toolstone Distributions
iTrowel: Mobile Devices as Transformative Technology 18 Nathan Goodale, David G. Bailey, Theodore Fondak,
in Archaeological Field Research and Alissa Nauman

SPECIAL FORUM: 23
I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

Report from the SAA Board of Directors 42

SAA 78th Annual Business Meeting 45
2013 Awards 51

In Memoriam: John Walter Weymouth 57

In Memoriam: David M. Brugge 58

news and notes 56

calendar 59
positions open 59

On the cover: The Arch of

Septimius Severus at
Leptis Magna.
the

SAAarchaeological record
The Magazine of the Society for
American Archaeology
Volume 13, No. 3
May 2013

EDITOR’S CORNER
The SAA Archaeological Record
(ISSN 1532-7299) is published five Jane Eva Baxter
times a year and is edited by Jane
Eva Baxter. Submissions for the Sep-
tember issue onrward should be sent

I
to Anna M. Prentiss, anna.pren- t is hard to believe, but this is my final issue as Editor of The SAA Archaeological
[email protected], Department of Record. I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity to serve the SAA, to
Anthropology, The University of work with so many interesting and dedicated people, and to learn so much about
Montana, Missoula, MT 59812. archaeology from its diverse practitioners. While it would be impossible to thank every-
one individually, I very much want to say thank you to everyone who was supportive,
Deadlines for submissions are: generous, and collaborative with their time and energies and who understood fully that
December 1 (January), February 1 the position of Editor is one of volunteer service to the SAA.
(March), April 1 (May), August 1
(September), and October 1 Three years ago when I began my term as Editor, I envisioned my role as a facilitator
(November). Advertising and place-
ment ads should be sent to SAA
for authors wishing to disseminate materials of broad interest to the SAA membership.
headquarters, 1111 14th St. NW, I was motivated by the knowledge that The SAA Archaeological Record is the only pub-
Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005. lication that reaches all SAA members, and was informed by an appreciation for the
The SAA Archaeological Record is very diverse group of people who fall under the umbrella of “archaeologist” in the 21st
provided free to members and insti- Century. I also wanted to feature regularly forums and articles by SAA Committees,
tutional subscribers to American Task Forces, and Interest Groups so the magazine would be a vehicle to keep the mem-
Antiquity and Latin American Antiq- bership aware of the types of work and variety of interests that the SAA supports and
uity worldwide. The SAA Archaeo- enables as an organization. Finally, I tried to do some “behind the scenes work” to
logical Record can be found on the
improve the magazine and its utility, including the establishment of publication guide-
Web in PDF format at www.saa.org.
lines for the magazine and an indexing of the first 12 volumes of The SAA Archaeolog-
SAA publishes The SAA Archaeolog-
ical Record (coming later this year!).
ical Record as a service to its mem-
bers and constituencies. SAA, its
editors and staff are not responsible Never during my time as Editor did I have to develop content. Much effort went into
for the content, opinions and infor- identifying people who were doing interesting things and encouraging them to view
mation contained in The SAA the magazine as a place to present it to colleagues. Other efforts were put into nagging,
Archaeological Record. SAA, its edi- prodding, cajoling and otherwise motivating authors to get manuscripts in to keep the
tors and staff disclaim all war-
pages full issue after issue. For my final issue, however, I decided I finally would devel-
ranties with regard to such content,
opinions and information pub- op some content to share with the membership. The special forum, “I love archaeolo-
lished in The SAA Archaeological gy because...” is this content.
Record by any individual or organi-
zation; this disclaimer includes all One of the notable features of archaeologists generally is a genuine love of archaeolo-
implied warranties of mer- gy that underlies and informs all the day-to-day things that go into being an archaeol-
chantability and fitness. In no event ogist. I have a hard time imagining that practitioners of other disciplines have such a
shall SAA, its editors and staff be
liable for any special, indirect, or
pervasive and widespread sense of loving their field of work. Archaeologists, however,
consequential damages or any freely admit loving archaeology—sometimes in a passionate and excited way dis-
damages whatsoever resulting from cussing their work and at other times as a reminder clause after describing a difficult
loss of use, data, or profits, arising aspect of their job (but at least I get to do what I love...). Probably sounds familiar. I
out of or in connection with the use asked 25 people (21 came through!) to write a one-page essay that began with the line
or performance of any content, or sentiment “I love archaeology because” and to include a picture of themselves
opinions or information included
“doing” archaeology. The result is a series of love letters to archaeology from people at
in The SAA Archaeological Record.
all ages and stages of life and career, from different countries and backgrounds, and
with different working relationships to archaeology. Some contributors are people I
Copyright ©2013 by the Society for know quite well, others are people I knew of and wanted to hear from, and many are
American Archaeology. All Rights
people I got to know because they were authors or guest editors during my time at The
Reserved.

>EDITOR’S CORNER, continued on page 13

2 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

VOLUNTEER PROFILE

volunteer profile
M. Kathryn (Kat) Brown

As I began to write this piece, My lack of poster experience made chairing this committee a
I reflected on the significant learning experience, and an enjoyable one at that. I have been
impact that the SAA and its fortunate to work with great, thoughtful colleagues on the Stu-
annual meeting have had on dent Poster Award Committee, as well as the chair of the SAA
my career and life. I attended my first annual meeting 18 years Awards Committee, the board liaison, and the president and
ago in 1995 as a graduate student, and I gave my first presenta- executive director of the SAA. In addition to working with great
tion (a co-authored paper) that same year. I remember the people, I have learned to appreciate the art of putting together a
excitement and anxiety that I felt as I stepped up to the podium, visually stimulating poster that presents innovative research in
and my palms sweat to this day just thinking about that a concise manner. As chair, I have spent much more time at the
moment. I have attended the annual meetings every year since SAA poster sessions, and I now recognize the unique and
then, with the exception of 2006, when the meetings were held important role that posters play in our annual meeting. A poster
in Puerto Rico. I would have attended those meetings as well if allows the presenter to engage directly and in greater detail with
it weren’t for the fact that I was eight and half months pregnant his or her audience. In a poster presentation, the author can
and unable to fly. address a wider variety of questions—both anticipated and
unanticipated—about his or her research and ask questions of
My membership in the SAA and my participation in the annual the audience in return. A good poster presentation stimulates a
meetings have contributed much to my growth as a scholar. great dialogue. This high level of intellectual engagement con-
When I was a graduate student, attending the annual meetings trasts with the usual research monologue of a spoken paper, and
was always exhilarating. I fondly recall being awkwardly over- it is rewarding, whether the presenter is an undergraduate
dressed and trying to meet certain archaeology “rock stars” who attending his or her first SAA meeting or a professor emeritus.
had published something significant that inspired me. Of The increased opportunities for networking during a poster ses-
course, being invited to the infamous SAA parties—or crashing sion are particularly valuable for graduate students. Who
them—was also always a thrill. Because I was benefiting so knows? An eye-catching poster describing important and inter-
much from my SAA membership, I volunteered to be in a work- esting research may be just what it takes to meet your personal
shop entitled “Surviving Graduate School,” organized by the “rock star” archaeologists. The odds are certainly better than
SAA’s Student Affairs Committee. I enjoyed this volunteer expe- hanging around the hotel lobby! I have come to recognize the
rience, and I vowed to become more involved in the SAA after I valuable role of posters, and I now encourage my graduate stu-
actually survived graduate school myself, completed my disser- dents to present both posters and papers.
tation, and became settled into a tenure-track academic position.
For me, serving the SAA has been a great experience. Yes, it has
My first opportunity came in 2010, when I became chair of the added a few lines to my CV, but in reality, it has done much
SAA Student Poster Award Committee. Chairing this committee more. As a volunteer, I have been able give back to the profes-
has been a bit ironic, I have to admit, as I have actually never pre- sional organization that has been central to my professional
sented a poster at the SAA annual meetings or at any other pro- growth; I have grown as a scholar and become a better mentor
fessional conference—I have always presented spoken papers. I to my students; and I have met excellent, committed colleagues
had occasionally wandered through the poster exhibits, particu- whom I otherwise would not have known. Volunteering pro-
larly when I had friends presenting posters or when they were vides a broader perspective of our society and a sense of pur-
located near the bookroom or on the way to the lobby bar. On pose, and I would recommend this experience to everyone com-
these occasions, I perused the posters and stopped to talk with mitted to our discipline.
presenters if their poster’s topic, title, or graphics caught my eye.
However, I never thought systematically about the poster as a
medium for presenting archaeology and the unique benefits and
challenges that distinguish a poster from a spoken paper.

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 3

ARTICLE

DEVELOPMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY AND

LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIPS WITH
THE CHILEAN MAPUCHE
Tom D. Dillehay and Jose Saavedra

Tom D. Dillehay is Professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and José Saavedra is Professor at the Universidad ARCIS-Chile, Santiago, Chile.

I
n recent years, archaeologists have engaged in much discus- 1500s to the late 1800s, allowed the Mapuche to appropriate cul-
sion and debate concerning the role that local community tural elements (e.g., horse) from the “huinka” (non-Mapuche) and
awareness and participation should have in archaeological integrate them into their culture.
research, particularly in remote indigenous areas where people
do not always understand the objectives and activities of archae- Despite the fact that the Chilean state aimed to assimilate the
ology. Partnerships with these communi- Mapuche quickly, their geographic and
ties can promote archaeology and make social isolation on indigenous lands
people aware of the potential benefits of (reducciones) has allowed them to survive
archaeological research. For the purpose and generally to reproduce their cultural
of bringing more attention to this topic, uniqueness even after military defeat and
we report here on more than three partial assimilation into Chilean society
decades of archaeological and anthropo- (UNPO 2012). While certain aspects of the
logical research that the first author and culture have changed over the past few
his colleagues have conducted with centuries as a result of contact with Euro-
Mapuche communities in south-central peans, especially since the early twentieth
Chile. This research has led to a produc- century, many of the religious practices
tive working partnership, mutual respect and beliefs generally have persisted. As
and understanding, and the employment noted by several ethnographers (e.g., Baci-
of archaeological research to foster com- galupo 1998; Carruthers and Rodriguez
munity-level developmental projects. 2009; Faron 1964; Ortiz 2009), religion
and ideology have helped the Mapuche to
The Mapuche are the most numerous of survive culturally and ethnically. Today,
the indigenous peoples living in Chile at religious experiences, beliefs, and prac-
the present time. Numbering nearly tices still play a major role in shaping
700,000 persons, they represent almost other aspects of their lives (Figure 2), as
three percent of the total population of the well as their politics.
country. In the Araucania region of south-
central Chile, they constitute roughly 40 The first author has been fortunate
Figure 1. Maximum cultural and demographic
percent of the total rural population. A enough to teach, conduct research, and
expansion of the Mapuche people in the southern cone
much smaller number live in Argentina live intermittently in Chile since 1975,
(dark gray) of South America in the 1800s. Today
near the Andean border with Chile. Until focusing on academic program-building,
they are confined to south-central Chile and central-
the late 1800s, the Mapuche were inde- archaeology, and ethnoarchaeology (Dille-
western Argentina near the Chilean border.
pendent people. For centuries, they had hay 1989, 2007). Many of the challenges
halted the Spanish conquest and kept of living and working there during the
their frontier secure along the Bío Bío River. In the 1700s and mid-1970s to late 1980s were reminiscent of other countries in
1900s, they expanded their culture into the Pampa and Patagonia the process of rebuilding their social science programs after
areas of Argentina and were second only to the Inca Empire in traumatic military coups. Field research in parts of Chile all but
terms of territorial control (Figure 1). Periods of both war and ceased during the early years of the Augusto Pinochet dictator-
peace, and especially a long frontier existence from the middle ship; however, since the early 1990s, the amount and scale of

4 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

ARTICLE

Figure 2. Traditional large-scale public ceremony (nguillatun), where multiple patrilineages (lofs) gather to pray to important deities and ancestors and to per-
form healing and fertility rituals. (Reproduced with permission.)

archaeological research has increased significantly, including a The earlier research involved chronology building in areas
very active program of contract or environmental archaeology. where little to no archaeological work had been done before in
south-central Chile. Later, more anthropological and interdisci-
The initial research projects involved academic training pro- plinary research was carried out, involving archaeologists,
grams at the request of the Inter-American Developmental ethnographers, linguists, geographers, ethnohistorians, geolo-
Bank. The first author was completing his doctoral work in Peru gists, and a wide variety of paleoecological specialists. This work
at the time and was contacted by the bank to teach and help helped to reveal the late prehispanic mound-building cultures of
develop academic programs in anthropology after the Pinochet the region and the social complexity of the Mapuche society dur-
military coup. Upon his arrival at the Pontificia Universidad ing the Spanish contact and conquest epoch (Dillehay 2007;
Católica de Chile, Santiago and then Temuco, colleagues invited Dillehay and Saavedra 2010). Many of the students working
him to his first nguillatun, a large-scale public agricultural and with us during this period, including Mapuche, have graduated
fertility ceremony. This experience launched his career into and become professionals either in archaeology and anthropol-
Mapuche archaeology and ethnoarchaeology. His first few field ogy or in other disciplines.
seasons in the late 1970s to mid-1980s involved survey and exca-
vation, including work at the late Pleistocene site of Monte
Verde, which was constantly monitored by the military during Research, Community Partnership, and Development
the late 1970s and early 1980s. During these years, he used Initially, our research with Mapuche communities was difficult
archaeology to take an activist approach to trying to change most because they were politically oppressed and trusted few out-
Chilean attitudes towards the Mapuche. Chileans traditionally siders, Chilean or foreign. In the early 1980s, however, after
have taken a colonialist viewpoint that primarily resistance to gaining the trust of a few communities, our research was trans-
the Spanish and Chileans stimulated the political structure and formed from studying questions of when, how, and why to
cultural achievements of the Mapuche. working directly with and for the Mapuche. As a result, indige-

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 5

ARTICLE

nous knowledge of landscape, technology, and history was Mapuche archaeology. Working on a daily and yearly basis with
increasingly incorporated into our archaeological practices and the Mapuche requires respect, patience, and humility, which are
classes, and we began conducting more systematic and prob- not traits of all archaeologists. Some archaeologists ignore the
lem-oriented research on Mapuche lands. social context of sites, partly because they engage in short-term
projects and partly because they are not accustomed to working
To conduct research on Mapuche lands, an official permit is with the Mapuche and other indigenous people. As a result,
required from the Chilean Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales. some archaeologists lose the opportunity for a basic under-
From a political perspective, it also is important to obtain a writ- standing of the people and culture around them, denying the
ten agreement from CONADI, the federally sponsored Corpo- chance to participate in richer anthropological experiences.
ración Nacional de Desarrollo Indigéna. Equally necessary are Increased interaction with the Mapuche has led us to try to bal-
permits from local indigenous organizations, such as the Unión ance scientific evidence with Mapuche beliefs about creation
de Comunidades Indigénas de Purén, Lumaco and Los Sauces, and history. The Mapuche’s oral traditions are very important
as well as each lof, or kin-based community and family. It is also and make much sense with respect to the written records and
important to have support from local government and from archaeological findings (see Dillehay 2007).
those who manage local lands. In short, the permit process
requires interactions with multiple authorities and diverse polit- Set in this context, it took us more than twenty years to obtain
ical interests. The process simply takes time and patience, which permission to excavate sacred kuel mounds because we first had
must be viewed as an ethnographic experience itself. to gain the respect and trust of local Mapuche communities and
demonstrate the importance of opening these sites for archaeo-
One of our memorable experiences is the willingness of the logical inspection. (We were eventually invited by machi or
Mapuche to allow us to intrude in their lives for months at a shamans to excavate a portion of some mounds because they
time over the past thirty-five years. We have established a work- wanted the experience of stepping inside them to more directly
ing relationship with several indigenous communities, espe- communicate with the mound’s spirits.) The issue of the
cially in the Purén and Lumaco Valley, and the Universidad Aus- human remains of ancestors buried in mounds and other sites
tral de Chile, where the first author has been a professor since is a delicate issue. Our agreement with the Mapuche is to ter-
1977, has partnered with the communities to award scholar- minate and fill in a site excavation when a tomb is encountered.
ships to Mapuche students. Since the 1990s, we have formed
research partnerships with several local communities, to the Less sensitive is participation in numerous large-scale public
extent that fieldwork is more than just an academic endeavor nguillatun ceremonies where we have mapped and studied the
but also a community effort with local Mapuche families. We movement of people, goods, and services and afterwards inter-
have made many lifetime friends among the Mapuche in sever- viewed them about patterns of kinship exchange, political and
al localities. These experiences have been greatly enhanced by economic alliances, family and lineage histories, and the accu-
learning some mapundungun and attending religious cere- mulation and discard of ritual material. After these experiences,
monies each year. it became difficult to interpret the Mapuche past without first
examining the indigenous present. In the late 1970s, we thus
Although the Mapuche practice and intimately know their reli- decided that our archaeological work had to focus on ethnoar-
gion, detailed sacred knowledge is regulated and limited in its chaeology to study the material correlates of public ceremony,
distribution to ritual priests (nguillatufe), shamans (machi), and mound building (Figure 3) symbolic meaning, the use of space,
certain elder leaders (lonko, ulmen), with access related to age, leadership roles, and so forth. In fact, we have argued in sever-
proficiency of sacred language, initiation, deeds, and appren- al publications that the loss of ethnographic data and, especial-
ticeship. There are also special stories and spaces that many do ly, the use of material culture and space in the Mapuche cere-
not have rights to, and certain information should not be pro- monies are equally, if not more, important than preserving and
vided to outsiders. Sacred places such as ceremonial fields, studying the archaeology of sites. Although many changes have
cemeteries, and historical sites are generally well preserved, occurred since we began studying these ceremonies, this
although logging and reforestation, dense growth of under- research has a suggestive value for considering the kinds of
brush, and road construction are preservation concerns in many material and behavioral variables we should be thinking about.
locations. Increased logging in some indigenous lands has led In the 2007 book Mounds, Resistance and Empires: Araucanian
to occasional armed conflict between the Mapuche and lumber Polity and Ritual Narratives, Dillehay recorded and analyzed the
companies (Carruthers and Rodriguez 2009; Faiola 1999). pre-Hispanic and Hispanic archaeological and nguillatun sites,
but much of the reading of the social and religious landscape
Cooperative ventures, earning trust, respect, advocacy, and the came from the Mapuche themselves, who informed us of par-
presentation of the past have become a large part of doing ticular landscape knowledge and worldviews.

6 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

ARTICLE

Figure 3. A Mapuche earthen mound and its ceremonial field and borrow pit. The mound is called rehuekuel, which refers to the mound with the sacred axis
mundi that ascends to the upper Wenumapu world of the deities and ancestors. This mound was in ceremonial use by local communities and machi (shamans)
until the 1940s. Its earliest date is about A.D. 1400 (Dillehay 2007).

This kind of research has led us to a methodological concern served an important archaeological site with a kuel, an occupa-
that requires more than the conventional single-site or commu- tion zone and a fortified Spanish settlement. The site is fenced,
nity location. Required for kinship exchange patterns of a larg- has a sign explaining its nature and content, and has not been
er social and ceremonial order, such as those involving multiple planted in trees. Since so many late archaeological and histori-
lineages from various communities, are multiple sites of obser- cal sites are no more than a meter deep, tree plantations are
vation and participation that cross-cut dichotomies such as the quickly destroying them. Our project believes it is an ethical
local and supra-local lineage groups. Logistically and politically, issue to work with the Mapuche to attempt to conserve sites.
this approach requires years of research working with multiple
investigators and communities and a strong commitment to Yet ethical practices in working with the Mapuche involve much
long-term research and an ethnographic patience to wait until more than conserving sites and merely following a set of static
local informants are ready to inform, a process often taking guidelines, such as those provided by professional associations
months to several years. or Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements on university
campuses. We have had to anticipate and address any ethical
dilemmas that may arise. For instance, one unanticipated issue
Site Conservation and Ethical Issues was the depth of conflict between different local Mapuche com-
Although in Chile the conservation of archaeological sites is a munities with different political agendas regarding archaeolog-
formal obligation of the state, it is becoming a shared responsi- ical research on their lands. As a result, we often have delayed
bility with the Mapuche, who often continue to struggle for fieldwork in order to reach compromises between communities
national recognition and resource rights. Mapuche concerns are in favor of doing archaeology and those uninformed of the
slightly different from those of native North American peoples. nature of our work and thus dubious of its benefits. It often
They are struggling for survival, with resources being removed takes much time and patience to work with communities to
by lumber companies, lands threatened by the encroachment of gain their trust and respect. We also had to assure equity in hir-
outsiders, and other conflicts. To many Mapuche, preservation ing practices across communities and within each lineage.
of sacred areas, ancestral graves, and cultural sites is just now Another issue that has developed is who owns the archaeologi-
becoming a feasible topic (Figure 4, Dillehay et al. 2007). cal information once it is collected and analyzed. The Mapuche
are aware of micro-units and levels of local-level study but not
In working with private lumber companies in the Puren and the macro construction. For instance, when an elder reports that
Lumaco Valley, an area traditionally conflictive, we have con- a certain sacred hill was the location of a specific type of cere-

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 7

ARTICLE

established greater trust and respect for archaeologists by pre-

senting our plans and finds and especially by hiring and work-
ing with local Mapuche for employment. We also have worked
with local shamans and leaders to better understand the mean-
ing of sacred sites and to protect them. We also hope to have
contributed to a better understanding of Mapuche history by
outsiders and to the teaching and interpretation of that history
to huinca.

References Cited
Bacigalupo, Ana Mariela
1998 The Exorcising Sounds of Warfare: Shamanic Healing and
the Struggle to Remain Mapuche. Anthropology of Conscious-
ness 9(5): 1–16.
Carruthers, David, and Patricia Rodriguez
2009 Mapuche Protest, Environmental Conflict, and Social Move-
ment Linkage in Chile. Third World Quarterly 4:743–760.
Figure 4. Large raised agricultural fields along the south-central coast of Chile
Dillehay, Tom D.
that date between A.D. 1200 and 1600 (Dillehay et al. 2007).
1989 Araucania: El Pasado y El Presente. Editorial Andres Bello,
Santiago, Chile.
2007 Monuments, Empires, and Resistance: Araucanian Ritual Narra-
mony and names the lineages worshipping there, this is local tives and Polity Formation. Cambridge University Press, Cam-
knowledge for which we obtain the permission to study, record, bridge.
and cite in publications. But when we combine data from mul- Dillehay, T.D., M. Pino, R. Bonzani, C. Silva, J. Wallner, Le Quesne
tiple site locations and communities, we construct macro-sce- 2007 Cultivated Wetlands and Emerging Complexity in South-Cen-
narios to determine the variability in wider structures. These are tral Chile and Long- Distance Effects of Climate Change.
patterns not always recognized by the Mapuche. Whether a Antiquity 81:949–960.
macro- or a micro-pattern, we gain the permission from inform- Dillehay, Tom D. and José Saavedra
ants to study and cite information. Obtaining this permission 2010 Arqueología Cultural de los Valles de Puren, Lumaco y Liucura,
and working with some Mapuche communities under condi- Chile. Vanderbilt Publications in Anthropology, No. 52. Van-
tions of sporadic conflict with timber companies and the gov- derbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
ernment has been difficult at times. Faiola, Anthony
1999 Chilean Reawakening: Democracy Emboldens Natives to
Fight for Land, Better Lives. Washington Post, 6 June: 19–21.
Future Considerations Washington, D.C.
Despite the recent influx of archaeologists working in the Arau- Faron, Louis
cania region and the success of several recent projects, there are 1964 Hawks of the Sun: Mapuche Morality and its Ritual Attributes.
still several major challenges facing researchers today—funding University of Pittsburgh Press.
Ortiz, Patricio
for research, education and training, depositories for material
2009 Indigenous Knowledge, Education and Ethnic Identity: An
and artifacts, and improved collaboration with the Mapuche, to
Ethnography of an Intercultural Bilingual Education Program in
mention a few. Ethnoarchaeological fieldwork is urgently need-
a Mapuche School in Chile. VDM-Verlag, Saarbruken, Ger-
ed to document patterns currently being lost at an alarming rate
many.
due to modernization, evangelization, and the gradual migra- Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)
tion of the Mapuche to Chilean towns for economic opportuni- 2012 President of Chile Acknowledges “Debt” Owed to the
ty. In some ways, the fairly recent development of “salvage” Mapuche in European Parliament. Electronic document,
archaeology has opened south-central Chile to more collabora- www.unpo.org/member/mapuche/mapuche, accessed
tion, but it is still isolated in some ways, with most archaeolo- November 6, 2012.
gists working in the north, where the Tiwanaku and other com-
plex societies existed, and in central Chile.
Watch for the SAA Online Seminar Series
Finally, researchers must ask: what benefits accrue to the
coming this Fall.
Mapuche from archaeological research? We believe that we have

8 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

ARTICLE

LESSONS LEARNED FROM LIBYA

Susan Kane

Susan Kane is a classical archaeologist and Professor of Art History in the Department of Art at Oberlin College ([email protected]).

A
rchaeology is a global enterprise. Its discipline has been and the American Journal of Archaeology between 1971 and 1977,
defined as the place where the present and past meet and and, from 1984, a seven volume Final Reports series was pub-
interact in the study of material evidence. Even though lished by the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania,
we archaeologists often consider the various ways in which pol- but some aspects of the project are still unpublished.
itics affect the study of the past, nothing can prepare us for the
time when current politics—the seeming collision of the pres- Following resumption of relations between Libya and the Unit-
ent and past—impact our ability to do fieldwork or even offer us ed States in 2004, the American Mission was reconstituted
a new responsibility. under my direction. At first it seemed as if the project could
begin again from the point where it had stopped, but it quickly
became clear that many things had changed in the intervening
Background 23 years. For one thing, political relations, while technically
As a graduate student, I began my doctoral research in Libya in resumed, were still tentative, and visas were not forthcoming on
the mid 1970s, working with Professor Donald White of the the predictable and regular basis necessary to do our fieldwork.
University of Pennsylvania’s American Archaeological Mission For another, the Libyan Department of Antiquities had suffered
to Libya. White started working in Libya in the 1960s, and in greatly over this period from the political embargo of the 1980s
1969 he began excavating the extra-mural Sanctuary of Demeter and 90s, which greatly reduced Libya’s ability to engage with the
and Persephone in the Wadi bel Gadir at the UNESCO World world. It had sustained governmental neglect (most visible in
Heritage Site of Cyrene (Figure 1). In 1981, political problems the lack of funding), and it had a greatly reduced staff, many of
between the U.S. and Libya led to a cessation of relations whom had no modern training (foreign languages were banned
between the two countries, which resulted in the project’s unan- from the schools in the 1980s, and few of the young archaeolo-
ticipated and unwelcome suspension. When we left in the late gists had any experience outside of Libya).
summer of 1981, we had no idea that we would not be return-
ing to Libya for almost 25 years. Our project was left unfinished.
White published his data in a series of articles in Libya Antiqua

Figure 1. The American Mission site in the Wadi bel Gadir, 2004. Figure 2. Temple of Zeus at Cyrene.

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 9

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Figure 3. Apollo Sanctuary at Cyrene.

The extent of this situation was known—the UNESCO site

reports of 2003 and 2006 (Giovanni Boccardi, World Heritage
Centre Mission Report, March 2003; François Souk report, June
2006) graphically pointed out the many issues that Libya, a
country with five UNESCO World Heritage sites (Figures 2–5), Figure 4. Roman Theater at Sabratha.
faced in order to bring management of their cultural heritage
sites up to modern standards. First and foremost on that list was counties (known as the Arab Spring) had not yet begun in Libya.
the lack of adequate documentation of sites on appropriate car- That changed dramatically from February 17 onwards as protests
tography and the designation of identified buffer zones around in Benghazi became transformed into active resistance following
their World Heritage sites: “It is essential that the Libyan the killing of protesters by security forces of the Qaddafi regime.
Department for Antiquities develop a nation-wide initiative to Over the next few weeks, the conflict quickly escalated as the
this effect, giving priority to this aspect of documentation as regime’s attempts to quell the incipient revolution were met with
fundamental for the suitable management of the sites inscribed clashes of increasing violence that spread across Libya. As fight-
on the World Heritage List” (Boccardi 2003). ing intensified and the deaths mounted, the rebels called for
help to protect the Libyan civilian population.
Discussions in 2005–2006 about these UNESCO reports with
old friends at the Department of Antiquities at Shahat (Cyrene), On March 17, the United Nations Security Council passed a res-
most notably the then-controller Abdul Kader el-Muzeine, olution to impose a no-fly zone in the airspace over Libya. The
resulted in a plan for the American Mission to begin a series of initial air campaign included strikes by French and Italian
capacity-building and infrastructure improvement projects in planes coupled with missile attacks on Libyan air and ground
collaboration with the Department of Antiquities at Shahat. defense systems by the British and American forces. On March
Since 2006, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli and 31, NATO took command of the allied air operations over Libya.
the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), the Intense fighting continued throughout the spring and summer
American Mission has been awarded a series of grants for until the killing of Muammar Gaddafi and several other leading
capacity-building initiatives. Initial work included the acquisi- regime figures on October 20, 2011.
tion of equipment for the Department’s computer laboratory
and the training of staff in computer systems and the English
language. Building upon this basic training, work is now focus- American Mission Concerns
ing on training in the inventory, mapping, and documentation At the outset of the revolution, our immediate concern was
of archaeological sites in the Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, as well for the safety of our Libyan friends. We followed develop-
as on the development of an integrated inventory of archaeolog- ments as closely as we could, although international reporting
ical sites and museum objects. From 2005–2011, even though was often spotty and communication with people in Libya was
we were able to enter Libya only on a sporadic basis, we man- difficult. The Cyrenaican cities of al Bayda and Shahat fell to
aged to sustain our training. But politics intervened yet again. the opposition during the first few days. Facebook pages,
YouTube videos, and email messages from friends graphical-
ly outlined the bloody conflict. In addition to our concerns for
The Libyan Revolution our friends in Libya, we also began to worry about the NATO
When the American Mission team left Libya on February 3, air campaign and how the war would affect the archaeological
2011, the series of protests and demonstrations in neighboring heritage of Libya.

10 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

ARTICLE

duction of one comprehensive list for all of Libya. Tom Elliot,

Associate Director for Digital Programs and Senior Research
Scholar at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at
New York University, was asked to coordinate the consolidation
of various lists that had been compiled. On March 24, 2011, the
Cultural Heritage Center (U.S. State Department, Bureau of
Education and Cultural Affairs) forwarded four lists to Elliot,
Kane, and Carrier—two from UNESCO via the U.S. Committee
of the Blue Shield, one from ICOMOS, and one via UNESCO,
probably from an Italian source. The Cultural Heritage Center
requested that the group check these lists for accuracy, differen-
tiate the most important sites from the less important ones, and
add non-archaeological sites such as museums, historic build-
ings, libraries, and other culturally relevant properties.

Elliot established a closed (private) Google Group for exchange of

information and secured student labor from ISWA. Group mem-
bers included Tom Elliot (Institute for the Study of the Ancient
World, USA); Susan Kane and Sam Carrier (Oberlin College,
USA); Professor Andrew Wilson and Dr. P.M. Kenrick (Institute
of Archaeology, University of Oxford, UK); Professor David Mat-
tingly (University of Leicester, UK); and Paul Bennett (Society for
Libyan Studies and the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, UK).

Over the course of the next two weeks (March 25–April 9, 2011),
Figure 5. The Arch of Septimius Severus at Leptis Magna. the sites on these lists were reviewed, updated with improved
coordinates, provided with short descriptions, and ranked in
order of importance. That final list contained 242 records with
Development of the “No-Strike” List coordinates (42 most important, 79 important, 121 least impor-
We were not alone in our concern for the archaeological her- tant). The final list was transmitted by the U.S. State Depart-
itage of Libya. On March 14, 2011, Corine Wegener, President of ment to NATO in early April 2011 (Figure 6).
the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, contacted me asking for
assistance in compiling a list, with coordinates, of important
archaeological sites and museums in Libya. This list was for dis- Post Conflict Assessment
tribution to the U.S. military. These coordinates were to be Blue Shield and the International Military Cultural Resources
placed in all targeting information systems so that the sites Work Group (IMCuRWG) conducted two Civil-Military Assess-
might be avoided during military operations. ment Missions: the first in September 2011 to the Tripolitania
and the second to the Cyrenaica in November 2011. Both of
We were happy to comply with this request, as it would help to these missions found that relatively little damage had been done
protect Libyan cultural heritage. It was fortunate that our work to archaeological sites and museums. Virtually all damage was
with the Department of Antiquities in mapping sites in the attributed to small arms and anti-aircraft fire, and in some cases
Cyrenaica made it possible to provide a list of sites, drawn from the use of heavy equipment. Their online reports may be
the archives of the Department of Antiquities at Shahat and accessed at: http://www.blueshield.at/libya_2011/09-2011/
supplemented with other information. mission_report_libya_09-2011.pdf

The group of foreign archaeologists working in Libya is small

enough so that it was easy to spread the word that something Libyan Reaction
must be done to protect archaeological sites during the conflict. In January 2012, I returned to Shahat, and the first thing my
In the UK, Andrew Wilson at Oxford University and colleagues friends did was take me to the military base in the center of the
from the Society for Libyan Studies in London were working town. It was the first Gaddafi stronghold to fall in eastern Libya,
closely with their Ministry of Defense. Once we were aware of and they were delighted to point out to me that all archaeologi-
each other’s work, we agreed to collaborate together on the pro- cal remains within the camp were still intact. At a meeting dur-

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 11

ARTICLE

The no-strike list is a part of the Modernized Integrated Data-

base (MIDB), which is maintained by the Defense Resources
and Infrastructure office of the Defense Intelligence Agency and
is “the primary repository for data production and dissemination
of military intelligence involving worldwide orders of battle,
facilities, command and control networks, targeting, battle dam-
age assessments, and other related information required for
strategic assessments and national decision-making.”

Lesson 1: Close Is Good Enough

Military targeteers used the coordinates we had provided as a
basis for determining the actual coordinates entered into the
database. Our data enabled them to examine higher resolution,
military-grade imagery to identify more precisely archaeological
features that were off limits.

Lesson 2: It Is Not Just about Munitions

Figure 6. Map of NATO no-strike list sites in Libya.
The MIDB is used for more than targeting weapons. Archaeo-
logical sites are to be avoided, for example, during the construc-
ing that visit, the town of Shahat presented me with a plaque tion of forward operation bases and other operations during
and their formal thanks for the work we did to create the no- relief operations.
strike list for Libya. I was made an “honorary martyr” for my
efforts, which, as my husband says, is probably the best type of Lesson 3: MIDB Is Archaeologically Sparse
martyr to be.
At the outset of the Libyan revolution, the MIDB held informa-
tion about no more than about 30 archaeological sites in Libya.
A post-conflict study by NATO’s Joint Analysis and Lessons
This is typical.
Learned Centre (2012) concluded that they were so successful at
avoiding damage to cultural property in Libya that the operation
could form the basis for strengthening NATO’s approach to cul- Questions Raised
tural property protection in future operations. Meeting attendees (including Dr. Fred Limp and Dr. Jeff
Altschul, President and President-Elect, respectively, of the
SAA) discussed how the military and academic communities
Lessons Learned might work together more effectively. Among the questions dis-
On September 20, 2011, Sam Carrier, Tom Elliot, and I attend- cussed were:
ed the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Combatant Command
Cultural Heritage Action Group (C-CHAG), organized by Dr. 1. Now that the United States is a signatory to the Hague Con-
James Zeidler (Associate Director for Cultural Resources, vention, how should military training be revised to protect
CEMML, Colorado State University) and Dr. Laurie Rush (Cul- cultural heritage?
tural Resources Manager, IMCOM, USAG Fort Drum). During 2. How can the MIDB’s cultural heritage information to be
the meeting, we academics learned a good deal about military expanded?
matters and how NATO used the list of archaeological sites we 3. How can the MIDB be structured so as to provide public
had prepared. access to unclassified information about cultural heritage
records?
From a military perspective, the no-strike list “is a list of geo- 4. How can the academic community be engaged to partner
graphic areas, complexes, installations, forces, equipment, capa- with the military in these areas?
bilities, functions, individuals, groups, systems, or behaviors 5. What role can special interest groups in the Society for
that will not have action planned against them.... Targets on this American Archaeology and the Archaeological Institute of
list require national-level approval to strike.” Archaeological sites America play?
and museums are only a part of a large number of features on
the list. Others include hospitals, schools, libraries, diplomatic The Way Forward
offices, religious facilities, dams, and water treatment plants. The Defense Intelligence Agency is interested in expanding the

12 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

ARTICLE EDITOR’S CORNER

scope and content of its cultural property data and would wel- EDITOR’S CORNER, from page 2 <
come contributions from professional archaeologists. For inclu-
sion on the list, prospective sites should meet the criteria for
listing on the United States National Register of Historic Places
SAA Archaeological Record. I hope you enjoy these heartfelt
(see the criteria for inclusion in the brochure below). In addi-
reflections on why archaeology is so lovable, and that they offer
tion, there may be other site types that are highly valued or
you the opportunity to remind yourself of why you are lucky to
sacred at the local level; such sites are also candidates for inclu-
be a part of a discipline you love.
sion. Any format is acceptable as long as a data set is internally
consistent. Archaeologists interested in contributing informa-
One of the contributors to this forum is the incoming Editor,
tion should contact:
Anna Prentiss, and I thought learning why she loves archaeolo-
gy would be an excellent place to start her term. She and I have
Laurie W. Rush
worked very closely since January on transitioning the editor-
Cultural Resources Manager, U.S. Army
ship, and I can assure you the magazine is in excellent hands!
85 First Street West
Best of luck, Anna, and thank you for your commitment to serv-
Fort Drum, New York 13602
ing the SAA!
[email protected]
Office: 315-772-4165

References and Resources

Boccardi, G.
2003 World Heritage Center Report Site Reports for Libya. UNESCO.
NATO Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre
2012 Cultural Property Protection in the Operations Planning Process.
Electronic document,
http://www.jallc.nato.int/newsmedia/docs/factsheet_cpp.pdf
Modernized Integrated Database (MIDB): courses offered by
http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/midb.htm the University of Colorado
No-Strike List:
http://www.aclu.org/files/dronefoia/dod/drone_dod_3160_01.pdf
Center for Cognitive Archaeology
United States National Register of Historic Places, criteria for inclusion: Fall 2013 (August 26 ² December 21)
http://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/pdfs/ ‡ Evolution of Ritual and Religion with Prof.
NRBroch.pdf Matthew Rossano, Southeastern Louisiana
C-CHAG University, USA
The COCOM Cultural Heritage Action Group (CCHAG) pro- ‡ Paleoneurology with Prof. Emiliano Bruner, Centro
vides global operations, planning, training, and reach back Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución
support that promotes Cultural Property Protection (CPP) for Humana, Burgos, Spain
Combatant Commands and Joint Force Planners and Engi-
‡ Cognitive Evolution with Profs. Thomas Wynn and
neers worldwide. CPP is more than a legal requirement; it
Frederick L. Coolidge, University of Colorado, USA
serves as a force multiplier that enhances battlefield aware-
ness and contributes to mission success. ‡ Rock Art and Modern Cognition with Prof. Iain
http://www.cchag.org Davidson, Emeritus Professor, University of New
AIA-CHAMP England, New South Wales, Australia
The Cultural Heritage by AIA-Military Panel (CHAMP) is ‡ Language Typology and Universals in Relation
dedicated to improving awareness among deploying military to Language Origins, Cognition, & Social
personnel regarding the culture and history of local commu- Discourse with Prof. Linda Watts, University of
nities in host countries and war zones. Education and train- Colorado, USA
ing of military personnel is a critical step in preserving and
These fully accredited 3-credit courses are available online
safeguarding historical sites and cultural artifacts and will
at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. All may be
promote greater understanding and improved relations with
applied toward our Certificate in Cognitive Archaeology.
local communities. http://aiamilitarypanel.org
Sign up through the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the
Extended Studies. Enroll now or ask questions:
Event of Armed Conflict and its protocols:
Contact: [email protected] or [email protected]
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=
35744&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Web: www.uccs.edu/~lases or www.uccs.edu/~cca/

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 13

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FROM SOURCE TO CENTER

RAW MATERIAL ACQUISITION AND TOOLSTONE DISTRIBUTIONS

Anne S. Dowd

Anne Dowd is Chair of the SAA Prehistoric Quarries and Early Mines Interest Group and Principal Archaeologist at ArchæoLOGIC USA, LLC
([email protected]). Dowd has published on Flint Mine Hill, a major North American chert quarry complex.

I
t saddened all of us to learn of George Hamley Odell’s ested in the behavioral context of material use, specifically how
(1942–2011) untimely passing in October 2011 (Figure 1). At technology was organized. Odell (1996) was one of the early pro-
age 69, he was much too young. This article honors Dr. ponents for modeling lithic procurement systems (Dowd
Odell, who was formerly a professor of anthropology at the Uni- 1998:209), and this symposium points to his legacy, as each par-
versity of Oklahoma, Tulsa, and brings together the themes and ticipant advanced Odell’s efforts by collecting and interpreting
issues from a recent Society of American Archaeology (SAA) information about raw materials and the context for their use.
symposium that I organized for the 2012 meetings
in Memphis (Figure 2). The Prehistoric Quarries
and Early Mines Interest Group sponsored the sym- From Source to Center
posium, in which George was to have been a dis- Quarry locales are often separate from where peo-
cussant. A number of the papers from the session ple lived. In such cases, toolstone procurement
will be the topic of a forthcoming thematic issue in may require organized task groups to obtain the
North American Archaeologist as well. Dr. Odell’s raw material and bring it to reduction areas or ulti-
work greatly influenced each of the session partici- mately to use and then discard zones, rather than
pants (Figure 3) and their own work on archaeolog- ad hoc opportunism. Now that material sourcing
ical lithics. and identification are more common techniques,
archaeologists can discuss the pathways toolstone
All of the archaeologists participating in the 2012 Figure 1. George Hamley takes from source to center, making distinctions
session shared Dr. Odell’s interests in quarries and Odell. Photograph by Frieda between down-the-line and direct exchange, for
raw material sources and the ways that acquiring Vereecken-Odell. example. Water transported materials may take
raw material can vary from one cultural situation to unusual or distant trajectories from the source to
the next. In this essay, I describe the broader value population centers. A related question is how
that these themes and issues have not only for lithic experts, but diverse or restricted are toolstone material types? An experi-
also for archaeologists with other specialties. Experimental mental archaeology approach shows that certain material prop-
archaeology, optimal foraging, regional or local procurement, erties, such as holding a durable edge, make a material attrac-
mobility and sedentism, and ethnic identity were among the tive to one group, while a different property, such as flakability,
presentation themes in the session that connect lithic specialists may be more attractive to another.
to a broader audience.
In the 2012 symposium, Daron Duke used data from Nevada to
One important issue that concerned George Odell (1996:11) was illustrate one example in the technology organization spectrum
the question of how people organized their trips to collect raw evident among hunting and gathering groups. Fine-grained vol-
materials. Were such trips planned as part of their seasonal canic stone, which lithic technologists consider coarse and hard
round to hunt or gather a variety of foods and other resources, to flake, was distributed at a greater distance away from the
or did they go to a toolstone source area as a separate visit, source area than archaeologists expected. People selected mate-
expressly for the purpose of reprovisioning? Many different sys- rials like dacite, andesite, or trachyte because the stone’s dura-
tems of procurement existed within this continuum. A second bility was prized for holding a sharp edge and required little
issue that George Odell (1984) found important was the careful resharpening. This quality made the stone particularly useful
examination of material sources: a problem that is of growing for certain cutting and scraping tasks related to hunting or
importance in archaeology today. Third, Dr. Odell was also inter- game processing in Nevada’s Great Basin pluvial lakes and wet-

14 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

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Warren explored the ramifications of stone procurement in

island settings. They described stone (phophyry or porphyritic
andesite, porcellanite, and felsite) quarried for axe production in
Ireland’s Shetland and other islands, e.g., Lambay and Rathlin.
These highly sought-after materials were ethnic markers, part of
a cosmological complex that signified what it meant to be a
Neolithic farmer. The materials were transported long distances
without the loss of mass associated with down-the-line
exchange, indicating purposeful trips by boat to the islands
where the quarries were located. Cooney and his colleagues
related stone quarrying to ethnic identity. For certain materials
like felsite, the color and luster of the stone itself was prized, in
addition to the tie with a particular island or quarry locale and
the meaning ascribed to these special places.
Figure 2. Anne S. Dowd photographing raw material concentrations on top
of Obsidian Cliff, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (National Register Meeks Etcheison and Mary Beth D. Trubitt’s paper discussed
Number: 96000973). Photograph by Mary Beth D. Trubitt. Spanish Diggings, an important Arkansas quarry complex,
which produced Novaculite-type chert during the Middle and
lands during the Paleoindian Period. The stone’s distribution Late Archaic (and other) periods. Situated between two major
also was tied to extensive hunting and gathering ranges in an river drainages (the Saline and the Ouachita), its location eased
area that had a dearth of lithic raw materials, making this downstream transport. In contrast to stone for Neolithic axes
“undesirable” toolstone a frequently used resource. The cobble from Ireland, discussed in the paragraph above, artifact size and
quarries for these stones were over 60 km away from Great Salt weight classes steadily decreased at distances away from the
Lake Desert, but they were closer and more accessible than the quarry complex. Similar to the quarry examples from Ireland,
nearest obsidian sources located up to 200-400 km away. Pro- the high quality Novaculite material traveled long distances
curement may have been embedded in seasonal rounds that from the source in Arkansas. Etcheison and Trubitt looked care-
made returning to source areas infrequent. Duke used experi- fully at regional procurement practices to better understand
mental archaeology approaches to establish the stone’s durabil- down-the-line exchange. Their Novaculite cherts were in
ity over its flakability, which enabled an assessment of how the demand for the predictable flaking characteristics that made
stone’s physical properties fostered raw material conservation. them one of the region’s more valuable raw materials.

David C. Harvey, who presented another 2012 session paper,

described how obsidian distributions in the Wyoming and
Upper Green River Basin regions conform to optimal foraging
models. Glassy obsidian is fine and easy to flake with precision,
contrasting with local raw materials that may not fracture as eas-
ily. A spatial caloric model of the energy needed to make a round
trip visit was applied to the source areas under study. The
sources that could be accessed with the least distance and eleva-
tion, such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming, or Malad, Idaho, were
used before sources that were farther away or uphill, like Obsid-
ian Cliff in Yellowstone National Park or Idaho’s Bear Gulch.
Harvey employed an optimal foraging model to understand pro-
curement choices among a time-averaged sample of the region’s
archaeological sites. The results were consistent through the
time periods represented in the sample; that is, the inhabitants
of southwestern Wyoming more consistently chose Jackson
Hole and eastern Snake River Plain obsidian sources, which
were both lower in elevation and a shorter distance away. Figure 3. April 19, 2012 SAA Symposium participants in Memphis, Ten-
nessee. Shown from left to right: David C. Harvey, Daron Duke, Robert G.
Why transport rock on foot if you can go by boat? In another Elston, Anne S. Dowd, Mary Beth D. Trubitt, Meeks Etchieson, Karen B.
paper, co-authors Gabriel Cooney, Torben Ballin, and Graeme Supak. Photograph by Thomas Green.

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 15

ARTICLE

An even more pragmatic procurement strategy is to have your I see artifacts of some materials, like the felsite used for Neolith-
own material source right on site. Then, getting the raw material ic axes from Ireland, as a prestige good, similar to Mesoameri-
is a breeze. Karen B. Supak’s paper explored local river cobble pro- can jade celts. Prestige goods, which are used as wealth or sta-
curement from streams running across the Fort Campbell Mili- tus markers in exchanges that define and maintain social ties,
tary Reservation in Kentucky and Tennessee. An exception was frequently are found far from their original source and may be
found at the Noahs Springs Cave Site, which is a quarry, habita- traded long distances. The Neolithic axes may also be imbued
tion, and burial site occupied between the Early Archaic and Mis- with special significance attached to the quarry locations, simi-
sissippian periods. A stream runs through several sinkholes lar to the stones aborigines in Australia carried away from
formed of limestone containing chert cobbles at the site. Each sacred areas on the landscape (Gould and Saggers 1985:122).
sinkhole contained bedrock quarries that the site occupants had Besides pragmatic considerations, social or ideational ones are
used to obtain chert for the manufacture of bifaces and other tools. important to evaluate in understanding the reasons that people
Secondary chert deposits were not available at the site, resulting in go to great lengths to obtain and use a certain raw material.
the use of these primary bedrock sources. Relatively sedentary
groups had access to local materials for a long time period, and lit- Archaeologists are benefiting from techniques that exist for
tle targeted or disembedded procurement was required. In this characterizing raw materials and aiding in tracking them from
case then, Supak investigated procurement that was exclusively quarries to living areas or other special activity areas and using
local, without any long distance transport. optimal foraging or procurement system models to assess
choices. The participants in this symposium examined pattern-
As the session chair and discussant, Robert G. Elston suggested ing and cases that diverge from the expected to understand bet-
that specific cultural boundaries might be evaluated based upon ter the relationship between places where populations use their
raw material use as traced though time. Elston’s long experience tools and the locations where raw materials are found. In turn,
with the Tosawihi Quarry Complex in Nevada is a point of depar- by looking closely at these relationships, archaeologists have
ture for ideas that each of the presenters in this symposium may come to new conclusions about the technological systems with-
use for refining their work. According to Elston, stone tool pro- in which tool making plays a key role.
curement has a role in discussions of human evolution, as pro-
curement strategies have very long cultural histories.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
While mobile hunting and gathering populations occupied both Quarry research is timely because techniques for identifying
the Nevada and Wyoming regions under analysis in two of the material types have become more sophisticated, and such meth-
papers, distinct procurement strategies emerged, which were ods, particularly chemical characterization, are being used more
based upon fairly straightforward considerations of stone dura- routinely by a variety of archaeological researchers. Stone sourc-
bility and raw material proximity in the first example, or flaka- ing methods are gradually becoming more precise, and new
bility and ease of access over longer distances in the second. In data are available for comparing quarries and the tool produc-
each of these cases, ways to reduce resharpening or retooling tion sites associated with them. Information on raw material
played a role in the choice of material. distributions is becoming more complete as geologists and
archaeologists recognize important distinctions among sources.
The two papers on quarries from Ireland and Arkansas showed
the contrast in the range of procurement practices between set- Chemically characterizing stone tools using methods such as
tled farmers and hunting and gathering groups. In the Ireland Macroscopic or Microscopic Petrology, Electron-Spin Reso-
example, the visits to island quarries by boat were a separate nance (ESR) Spectroscopy, Instrumental Neutron Activation
activity from farming (unless trading farm produce was in some Analysis (INAA), Isotropic Composition Analysis (ICA), X-ray
way related to the trip). In the example from Arkansas, visits to Diffraction (XRD), X-ray Flourescence (XRF), and Laser Abla-
a major upstream quarry site may also have been disembedded tion Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-
from hunter-fisher-gatherer subsistence activities, although MS) are used to separate raw materials and hone our interpre-
fishing along river drainages has been seen to structure chert tations of their use and distribution. For this reason, the Pre-
procurement in other regions (Dowd 1998:176). In both exam- historic Quarries and Early Mines Interest Group is gaining a
ples, trips to the quarry for reprovisioning or importing raw greater following, as information exchange among lithic spe-
material to more distant settlements were planned, and water cialists is becoming more critical.
transport permitted organized quarry extraction activities by
larger groups of people over longer distances. We have greater Besides characterization techniques, archaeologists who are
insight into embedded versus detached economic production recording and analyzing raw material distributions are benefit-
based on each of the papers presented in the symposium. ing from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) programs

16 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

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available for producing regional maps of Archaeology,” which emphasized scientif-

raw material sources and areas where the ic approaches and testable hypotheses to
materials were used. Regional databases develop models of past social systems. His
are more commonly shared on the Inter- work in procurement is rooted in the
net, so that people interested in certain organization of technology approach. With
stone raw materials can compare or con- remarkable tenacity, George built on his
tribute information about types and strengths in lithic studies for his entire
sources (http://arkarcheology.uark.edu/ archaeological career, creating an impres-
novaculite/index.html). Type collections sive body of work on the subject. We are
are being digitized for accessibility to a fortunate to have the publications that Dr.
larger group of interested lithic specialists. Odell left behind to stimulate future work
in the field. Nevertheless, we will miss
As is shown in an early study, Odell such a tireless and energetic scholar,
(1984:45–67) did not shy away from col- whose work will continue to inspire
lecting new field data on chert distribu- archaeologists for many years to come. We
tions to supplement background informa- will use Odell’s life’s work as a compass for
tion on regional geology and for evaluating reminding us that patience and precision
the available raw materials. To correctly are necessary components of quality stone
identify raw materials, Odell (1996:16) sug- tool analysis. Like George Hamley Odell,
gested developing a “key” for correctly we all hope to one day speak “lithics” flu-
characterizing stone categories. Both for ently.
identifying materials and for ranking them
qualitatively, such an approach is useful.
Another early example of this trend was Figure 4. Anne S. Dowd and Thomas Stöllner Acknowledgments
studying tunnels in the Hallein Salt Mine in Aus-
Luedke and Myers’ (in Henry and Odell The author would like to thank Thomas
1989:238) trace element analysis on tria. Photograph by Jutta Korsmeier. Green, Jutta Korsmeier, Mary Beth D. Tru-
Burlington chert in and around the bitt, and Frieda Vereecken-Odell for the
Macoupin Site on the Illinois River. Luedke and Myers (in Henry use of their photographs. Robert G. Elston read and comment-
and Odell 1989:237–44) suggested that interplay between ed on a draft of this article.
method and application helped to create the ideal scenario for
developing new techniques for lithic analysis. In this year’s 2013
Prehistoric Quarries and Early Mines Interest Group-sponsored References Cited
symposium, Sarah D. Stuckey and Juliet E. Morrow have Dowd, Anne S.
expanded on this research direction by reporting on recent 1998 Lithic Procurement and Social Complexity in New York’s Hudson
efforts to chemically characterize Burlington chert. River Valley. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology,
Brown University, Providence. University Microfilms Interna-
Held in Honolulu, Hawaii, the morning of April 5, 2013, the ses- tional/ProQuest, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
sion was titled “Quarries and Early Mines: Settlement Context Gould, Richard A., and Sherry Saggers
and Transportation Network Relationships.” Dr. Adrian L. Burke 1985 Lithic Procurement in Central Australia: A Closer Look at
of Département d’anthropologie, Université de Montréal, was the Binford’s Idea of Embeddedness in Archaeology. American
Antiquity 50(1):117–136.
discussant; Juliet E. Morrow and Peter R. Mills were co-chairs. A
Henry, Donald O. and George H. Odell (editors)
Prehistoric Quarries and Early Mines Interest Group business
1989 Alternative Approaches to Lithic Analysis. Archeological Papers
and social meeting was held from 6:00 to 7:00 on the evening of
of the American Anthropological Association, No. 1.
April 4, 2013, during the SAA 78th Annual Meeting, and details
Odell, George H.
about what transpired are available in The Quarry. The group 1984 Chert Resource Availability in the Lower Illinois Valley: A
sends out the newsletter The Quarry to over 700 members, meets Transect Sample, In Prehistoric Chert Exploitation: Studies from
annually at the SAA, sponsors symposia, field trips or workshops, the Midcontinent, ed. by B. Butler, and E. May, pp. 45–67.
and coordinates with international colleagues interested in quar- Occasional Paper 2, Center for Archaeological Investigations,
ry and mine research, among other activities (Figure 4). Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
1996 Stone Tools and Mobility in the Illinois Valley: From Hunter-
To summarize, George Odell came from the processualist Gatherer Camps to Agricultural Villages. International Mono-
school of archaeological thought, commonly known as “New graphs in Prehistory 10, Ann Arbor Michigan.

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 17

ARTICLE

iTROWEL
MOBILE DEVICES AS TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGY IN
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD RESEARCH

Nathan Goodale, David G. Bailey, Theodore Fondak, and Alissa Nauman

All of the authors are affiliated with Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Nathan Goodale is Assistant Professor in the Anthropology Department.
David G. Bailey is Associate Professor in the Geosciences Department. Theodore Fondak is Educational Technologist in Information Technology Services.
Alissa Nauman is a Visiting Instructor in the Anthropology Department.

M
obile devices can be transformative in the way we technology—especially cost-effective, easily deployable
approach archaeological field research. During the technology—needs to work for us, giving us more time to do
summer of 2012, we incorporated iPad instruments what we are there to do (in this case, reliably collecting archaeo-
and GIS applications in a geochemical rock-sourcing project in logically related data/samples).
the Upper Columbia River system of the interior Pacific North-
west. In this paper, we detail the functionality of the instru- In our first field endeavor with iPads, we geospatially docu-
ments, how they were used to collect and share archaeological mented volcanic rock outcrops in a 20,000 km2 survey area over
data during survey, articulate an integrative software approach, a period of four weeks. Our goal in this paper is to demonstrate
and at the same time try not to sound like a commercial. how we incorporated iPad mobile devices into the field survey,
recording our pursuit of outcrops of fine-grained volcanic rocks
It is no doubt that perhaps the most iconic tool in the discipline in the Upper Columbia River system that could have been used
of archaeology is a pointed metal trowel with a wooden handle. for stone tool production in the past. The survey was associated
Historically, archaeological methods have been taught predomi- with the Slocan Narrows Archaeological Project (SNAP) co-
nantly with either a WHS or a Marshalltown trowel as the guid- directed by two of the authors (Goodale and Nauman) and part
ing blade for students to learn techniques for making straight of the Digital Humanities initiative at Hamilton College. SNAP
walls and flat floors. In every sense, the trowel was a transfor- also functions as the Hamilton College archaeology field school
mative technology, and it quickly became a standard tool in where students from Hamilton College and Selkirk College are
archaeological practice. It was cost effective, so every dig kit had trained in archaeological methods during a six-week intensive
a trowel. A trowel was easy to use in repetition, results were eas- field course. Colleagues in the Hamilton College Geosciences
ily replicated, and students were easily trained. From our expe- Department introduced us to using mobile devices in the field.
rience, the iPad has every possibility of influencing the way we
approach fieldwork, just as much as our favorite trowel.
Digital Methods in Field Archaeology
The suggestion here is that computational transformative tech- Field computing is not a new endeavor in archaeology. Harold
nology will be adopted in the field when it intelligently Dibble, a pioneering archaeologist in the development of com-
enhances, rather than hinders, workflow. Most of us were (and puter software for use in archaeological research, has decades of
are) trained in paper and pencil archaeology: drawing field maps experience writing geospatial applications, and much of the
with compass, protractor, and ruler, carrying bulky topographic software is freely available online (Dibble 2011). In the Archaeo-
maps on survey, and essentially having one instrument for every logical Record, Steward and Johnson (2011) demonstrate using
task. Digital tools widely adopted for use in archaeological field- laptops and tablet PCs in excavation to train students in field
work include digital cameras, handheld GPS technology, and methods. Recent projects that are using iPad mobile devices for
total stations. In general, technology is useful when it works, is field recording are at Pompeii (Archaeological Research Project
cost effective, and is easy to use. However, in many instances “Porta Stabia” [Ellis and Wallrodt 2011]) and PIARA in Peru
technology is more a hindrance than a help. For example, tech- (Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológico Regional Ancash
nology is not useful when an instructor has to be a full-time cus- [DeTore and Bria 2012]). These examples demonstrate the need
tomer service representative in the field. Rather, useful for computation in the field, but what archaeology has yet to see

18 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

ARTICLE

is a true transformative digital technology, like the trowel for

excavation, that can be easily adopted as part of regular field
practice.

Traditional laptops have limitations that make them difficult to

use in the field: delicate screens; exposed ports susceptible to
invasions of detritus; and moving parts such as platter-based
hard drives that be can be easily damaged, potentially leading to
catastrophic data loss. Solutions that ameliorate some of these
shortcomings exist, but are still plagued by short battery life
(typically less than four hours), especially if peripherals like
GPS modules are activated. In addition, complicated operating
systems often require significant, expensive, and distracting
maintenance and training. Rugged solutions, like the brand
Toughbooks, compound these problems by adding an exponen-
tial price tag.

But the real transformative agent for our efforts was the iPad,
which has robust features to support field research: rich con-
nectivity (WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular data, and GPS); 10-hour bat-
tery life; different interaction modalities; a high-resolution,
high-fidelity IPS (In-Plane Switching) screen; a user-facing cam-
era (enabling high-definition video conferencing, bandwidth
permitting, even in the field) and an outward-facing, five-
megapixel camera; a digital compass; an accelerometer; and a
gyroscope. An important addition to the instrument came in the
form of a hardened case, (e.g. Otterbox), that permitted our
iPads to be tossed into backpacks with rock hammers and other
tools without suffering damage; it also protected them from
intermittent rain. The cost for each field-ready iPad, including
hardware (iPad 3rd Gen with rich connectivity), application soft- Figure 1. Locations of geologic units of volcanic origin across the field survey
ware (GISPro), and peripherals (rugged Otterbox case), totaled region overlain on Google Street map in GISPro. (Map data © 2013 Google.)
approximately $1,200.

logical Survey website) and Washington State (downloaded

Pre-field Preparations from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources
Before venturing into the field, our preparation involved getting Geologic Information Portal).
our iPads outfitted to be the most useful tools possible. First, we
decided on the software application GISPro by Garafa LLC, Another approach that optimized our field time was a virtual
which makes several versions of the application scaled by sup- survey of our project area in Google Earth and Google Street
ported file types and cost. We utilized GISPro because it would View prior to going out in the field. This was a wholly unique
handle most of the file types we planned to use, and it had the effort independent of the iPad, conducted on a desktop com-
most flexible data export capabilities (compared to the less capa- puter in a research lab. Most roads in the survey area, including
ble and also less expensive GISKit). GISPro allows for the direct all major north-south running highways, were available in
and easy import of digitized satellite, topographic, terrain, and Google Street View. Because we were interested in sampling as
geologic maps (with metadata) from map servers (e.g. Google many rock outcrops as possible in search of fine-grained vol-
and Bing). As a result, in the field we had every map needed to canic rocks that would be good for stone tool making, we decid-
cover our survey area of ~20,000 km2 on our iPad. We were also ed that vehicle survey would be mostly adequate for this initial
able to import .kmz, .shp, WMS and raster files from ArcGIS to exploration for rock sources. Catherine Prescott, at the time a
GISPro (Figure 1). Exposures of volcanic rocks in the survey recent graduate of Hamilton College who had been trained in
area were located using digital geological maps of southeastern GIS, virtually “drove” on all the highways in our study area in
British Columbia (downloaded from the British Columbia Geo- Google Street View with an overlay (exported from ArcGIS) of

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 19

ARTICLE

Figure 2. Results of virtual survey using Google Earth and Google Street Figure 3. Sampled locations on Google Satellite map. (Map data ©2013 Google.)
View. Locations of exposed volcanic rock outcrops denoted by place marks
on Microsoft Bing Shaded Relief map in GIS Pro. Screen capture from
Google Street View of Kaslo Group 09 sample location. (Image © 2013 tographs and descriptions, and other specific data we were inter-
Google and Map data © 2013 Microsoft Bing.) ested in collecting from each outcrop. Although we have yet to
test it, we imagine a similar approach could be used in excava-
all the previously mapped geological units of volcanic origin. tion. Once the attribute table is built in GISPro, it can be used
She added map place marks for roadside rock outcrops for us to as a template for each observation, which streamlines and pro-
inspect and sample and then exported the file to GISPro for us vides consistency of data collection in the field.
to take into the field on our iPads (Figure 2). Having the anno-
tated map of rock outcrops, paired with the iPad, allowed us to
streamline the field survey process, permitting us to survey the In-field Survey
area more efficiently (Figure 3). Thakuria et al. (2013) provide Our field camp (equipped with reliable electricity) was centrally
another example of the usefulness of Google Earth in effective- located within the project study area, approximately a five-hour
ly and efficiently conducting field survey. drive to both the northern and southern extents of the survey
area. Field conditions included heavy tree canopy over much of
GISPro also required us to set up attribute tables in advance of the study area, so dense it actually limited use of far superior
field survey (Figure 4). This required us to know something (and way more expensive) handheld GPS units. There were lim-
about the area we were going to survey and to carefully consid- ited cellular towers and none near the base camp. We had access
er and plan what data we wanted to collect in the field. The to WiFi at camp with good bandwidth, and there were several
attribute tables consisted of geographic locations we would visit, public hotspots where we could access data and download addi-
pull-down menus with rock types we were likely to encounter, tional maps, if needed. The iPads functioned for up to 10 hours
text boxes for outcrop descriptions, an attribute box to link pho- with a single battery charge; although we did bring extra power

20 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

ARTICLE

Future Developments/Modifications
One current limitation of this approach is a weak facility for
true, effective collaboration. Transferring field data between
iPads is not straightforward: data, viz. photos and custom views,
are disassociated from records, requiring some post-survey
cleanup work. However, most types of data can be exported and
shared in a completely intact state.

Amelioration of this shortcoming is easily within grasp: true

multi-user collaboration can be built with the addition of a cen-
tral repository (i.e. an inexpensive, field-grade server) and a proj-
ect management/versioning system that permits data sets to be
“checked out,” forked, and resubmitted with clear provenance.
(A similar solution—GitHub—is already extant.) Further
improvements would include applications that permit desktop
computers to directly access and make slight modifications to
pre- and post-survey data structures.

Garafa LLC has been responsive to feedback; we hope that artic-

ulating a concrete vision for future development and providing
evidence of broad need will convince them to integrate features
that further facilitate this approach. Another issue is that GIS-
Pro is slow to read raster files, which otherwise display effi-
ciently in Google Earth or other similar platforms.

Conclusion
The approach outlined here is integrative rather than fragment-
ed: instead of utilizing four or five apps, each of which contains
quanta of the data set instead of the complete data set (Ellis and
Figure 4. Source locations shown on Google Terrain map with associated Wallrodt 2011 and DeTore and Bria 2012), the GISPro approach
attribute table and linked photograph. (Map data ©2013 Google attribute permits virtually all of the data to be stored in one relational
table displayed in GIS Pro.) database that can be shared with other researchers through sev-
eral different formats. For example, the metadata can be export-
ed as a .csv file that can be read by most spreadsheet software
supplies (e.g. Mophie), we never needed them. Despite the programs, or geographic data as well as the metadata and pho-
rugged terrain and dense forest canopy, the internal GPS always tographs can be exported as .kmz files and viewed in Google
functioned and provided accurate locations to approximately Earth (Figure 5). The data can even be exported and used in
<10 m. more sophisticated geospatial and analytical software such as
ArcGIS.
With consistent WiFi connectivity at camp, we cached all of the
maps we needed in GISPro the night before we visited a Relying on multiple apps creates other potential problems:
planned location. Other than making sure the iPads were updates to individual apps can create incompatibilities, the rec-
charged, caching maps was our only requirement for the ensu- tification of which can take valuable time that could otherwise
ing day of work. Over the course of four weeks, we visited 115 be spent doing archaeology. Also, training collaborators on mul-
rock outcrops, sampling 66 of them for further laboratory study. tiple apps, each of which has a different interface, different ways
We successfully recorded everything with our iPads and rou- of storing data, and requires a unique configuration to fit the
tinely backed up the data in Dropbox. We were able to export needs of the project, can be labor-intensive, time-intensive, and
and open the entire survey in Google Earth (Figure 5), on both might be a daunting system for any neophyte to master. An inte-
an iPad and desktop computer, which permitted the team to grated solution means fewer incompatibilities, less time spent
share the results with pretty much anyone, anywhere, on the on training, more time in the field, and the ability to scale the
day data were collected. approach to fit many different archaeological projects.

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 21

ARTICLE

Figure 5. .kmz export from GISPro viewed in Google Earth with linked metadata and photographs. (Map data ©2013 Google Earth.)

Indeed, GISPro and the iPad permit scalability on many axes: it who originally introduced us to using iPads for field research
can be used in a virtually identical fashion by undergraduate and aided in our field preparations.
students and professional archaeologists; for small projects and
for multi-week, 20,000 km2 projects; and for one-day projects or
for months at a time. References Cited
DeTore, Kathryn and Rebecca Bria
Of course, mobile technology continues to evolve and new solu- 2012 Digital Archaeology at PIARA. Electronic document,
tions may be forthcoming. However, we suggest that the com- http://www.piaraperu.org/iarchaeology.php, accessed March
bination of extensive flexibility, formidable battery life, easily 19, 2013.
operable interfaces, integrated tools, and rapid recovery in a Dibble, Harold
durable and cost effective solution could make mobile devices 2011 OldStoneAge.Com—Technology. Electronic Document,
the next transformative technology in archaeological field http://www.oldstoneage.com/software/default.shtml, accessed
research. While there are hurdles to overcome, at the moment March 19, 2013.
Ellis, Steven and John Wallrodt
there is perhaps no better candidate for a transformative digital
2011 iPads at Pompeii. Electronic document,
technology in field archaeology than the iPad.
http://classics.uc.edu/pompeii/index.php/news/1-latest/142-
ipads2010.html, accessed March 19, 2013.
Acknowledgments Stewart, Meg E. and Lucille L. Johnson
2011 Excavation is the Classroom. The SAA Archaeological Record
The Slocan Narrows Archaeological Project and SEARCH are 11:22–27.
funded through the Dean of Faculty and the Digital Humanities Thakuria, Tilok, Tosabanta Padhan, Rabindra Kuman, Mohanty, and
initiative (DHi) at Hamilton College. Thank you to Angel Nieves Monica L. Smith
and Janet Simons (DHi) for all of their support. Thank you also 2013 Google Earth as an Archaeological Tool in the Developing
to the 2012 field crew, Catherine Prescott, Lyman Munschauer, World: An Example from India. The SAA Archaeological
Adrien Hilmy, and Max Lopez, for all their efforts in the field Record 13: 20–24.
and laboratory. Thank you to Barbara and David Tewksbury, col-
leagues in the Geosciences Department at Hamilton College,

22 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

drinking). And yet, this act maintained meaning for my recon-
struction of the past, my contemporary moment with the
object, and my recognition of the paradoxical situation. I can
only think back to that one beveled-rim bowl of the thousands
Uzma Z. Rizvi that are out there still in circulation 6,000 years after produc-
tion, albeit in different contexts, as an interaction I had with an
Uzma Z. Rizvi is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and other that made me think about the world in a different way...
Urban Studies at the Pratt Institute of Art and Design, and I am sure I was just another student with whom BRB 3849
spent a few moments. Would we recognize each other if we
Brooklyn, New York.
met again?

I
love archaeology because it inspires me to understand the
It is precisely because I love archaeology that I define, decon-
world around me with nuance. I do not just have tea in
struct, and decolonize it. If I had no affection for this prac-
my favorite mug: I know that in choosing each other, the
tice and thought process I would have left archaeology a long
mug and I have developed an intimate relationship rooted in
time ago. This discipline has proven to be expansive and gen-
the everyday. In that choice, we have reinstated certain cul-
erous in its ability to take on other disciplines to critique it,
tural and economic choices and changed others. I know that
to help move it into new directions, and to embrace new
in the creation of that habitus we have or will let those choic-
methodologies. But we cannot be fooled into thinking it is
es merge into nothingness, into the visible affects of the ver-
infinitely malleable—it too changes the practitioners: we are
nacular, into just something we do every day—and not every
disciplined into our subjectivity, into ways and modes of
thing in the everyday can always have meaning. In making
thinking and interacting with the world that shape us as
that decision about the meaning (or lack thereof) of the
archaeologists. It was through the practice of archaeology—
everyday, there is a new plane of understanding between the
a practice steeped in teamwork, that I learnt the value of col-
mug and myself—one in which we can take each other for
laborative action. It is through the process of decolonizing
granted, one that indexes a more intimate relationship.
methodologies that I learnt how to work, dialogue, and
organize with communities and publics on meanings relat-
My passion for archaeology is not all cerebral—in a very vis-
ed to heritage and the politics of the past. And it was through
ceral way, when I touch, hold, examine, and sort the materials
these processes that I realized that regardless of its colonial
from excavations or collections, I feel a certain amount of affec-
pasts, archaeology has the potential for a reflexive and criti-
tion for the things themselves. It has been this way since my
cal future—a future that I could be a part of, help shape, and,
first encounter with an ancient object in my first archaeology
in turn, be shaped by. Falling in love with a discipline is not
class in my first year as an undergraduate. Even after all these
entirely difficult to imagine. However, as with other relation-
years, I vividly recall holding
ships, it is staying in love with it that has its own intimacy.
on to a Mesopotamian
beveled-rim bowl that was
being passed around. My
thumb landed in the same
place where a rushed potter
6,000 years prior had quick-
ly scooped up the bowl off
Mitch Allen
the wheel to start the next. It
was an uncanny moment— Mitch Allen is the publisher at Left Coast Press, Inc., and
being taught the value of Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Mills College.
antiquity in a monetary and

I
cultural form, but realizing love archaeology. But, unlike most participants in this
and recognizing it as the forum, I had a choice. Like many, I discovered a love of
everyday act of an individual archaeology on a dig while in college and became enam-
from the past, an act whose ored with exciting finds, mud-caked boots, tall tales of the
meaning that individual field by grizzled veterans sitting around a crackling campfire,
Uzma Rizvi’s first pottery reconstruc- may have already erased and the reliance on mind-altering substances. I did get a
tion, Harappa, Pakistan. Photograph because it was an intimate Ph.D. (it took 24 years), worked on a couple of field projects,
by Richard Meadow, February 1997. practice (much like my tea and secured an adjunct teaching position. But my career tra-

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 23

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

jectory into Shovelbum Hell, field that archaeology touches. There are just too many mov-
Grad School Blues, Adjunct ing parts for anyone to play puppet master.
Wasteland, then a position as an
academic, CRM professional, or Sociability. As a result of its vastness, archaeologists have to
heritage manager got stunted. play well with others. Given the long-standing acrimony
Why? Well, I got a job. between various moieties in the archaeological tribe, that
statement will cause a snort or two. But, for example, one of
This job was as an editor with an my contacts in nursing research describes her field as, “they
academic publishing house, one eat their young.” Archaeologists are sociable animals in com-
that publishes widely across the parison. And how could we not be? Anyone who has been on
social sciences. My passion for a field project knows who snores, who puts ketchup in their
archaeology was overtaken by ice cream, and who needs to shower more. We have the dirt
the need to become an ethnogra- on each other. We need each other and those many outsiders
pher of other academic tribes— too much to be snarky. It’s the ultimate group endeavor.
learning the jargon, kinship sys-
tem, structural hierarchy, values, Finally, it’s magical. We invent entire social worlds out of bits
warring theoretical camps, and of old broken dishes, scraps of discarded bone, microscopic
drinking patterns of sociologists, Mitch during his days as a starch molecules embedded in ancient hearths, stone walls
education researchers, gerontol- practicing archaeologist in the robbed of every stone. The archaeologist’s skill at recon-
ogists, and museum profession- field. structing the past out of almost nothing is nothing short of
als, among others. I became a magic. Even when we’re wrong, it’s still a pretty decent parlor
participant observer in hopes that it would give me an edge trick. No wonder snake oil salesmen, charlatans, and reli-
in deciding who and what to publish. gious fanatics mishandle our methods and twist our data
attempting to prove their outlandish theories. It’s too remark-
I learned to talk the talk and walk the walk well enough to able to pass up and sounds too convincing to disprove.
appreciate the contributions of each field and really like
many of its members. Some would welcome me into their It’s surprising, vast, sociable, magical. That’s why I love
tribe. But my heart still belongs to archaeology. Here are four archaeology.
reasons why:

Surprise. Archaeologists never know if our conventional wis-

dom about the past is stable. I’ve seen more universally
accepted theories overturned in the past three decades than
one would find in any other field. The first archaeology book Rick Butler
I published confidently demonstrated the primacy of the
Clovis theory. Today, it’s laughably wrong. I’ve helped deflesh Rick Butler is a graduate of DePaul University
a few sacred cattle in publishing—Steve Lekson’s Chaco (B.A. in Anthropology, 2011) who is currently preparing
Meridian theory and Terry Jones’s Polynesians in California to apply for graduate study in archaeology.
hypothesis among others. When I teach undergraduates, I

I
always discuss newly published findings that upend long- love archaeology because the tangible evidence of our his-
established theories about the past with surprising new data. tory fascinates me. The ability to sift through layers of
There’s a different one each week. I can’t think of any other time in the form of soil and discover pieces of our past
discipline in which The Canon is so fragile and transitory. long since forgotten is a unique experience that greatly
expands our knowledge of human culture and history. When
Vastness. Archaeology is about everything. To be a good I was seven years old, I began digging up my family’s back-
archaeologist, you need to be equally conversant in physics yard, marveling at the small treasures I would find. Every old
and public policy, materials and mythology, history and toy, every bottle, every shard of dishware was an amazing
hermeneutics, oral tradition and organic chemistry. I haven’t new discovery. This childhood pastime was not like digging
played in any academic sandbox where the need for trans- for gold or some monetarily valuable treasure; it was the
disciplinary work across sciences, social sciences, and delight of holding these items and feeling a connection to
humanities has been so acute. No one can be expert in every the past of that place—a connection to the people who had

24 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

lived there before me. It was in never be mentioned in the annals of history, but we will all
these moments that I first real- leave some material goods behind. The archaeologists of the
ized my childhood home was not future may one day discover some object that we possessed.
merely the place I lived, but a This long buried item will tell them things about our lives
structure that had been there and the times we lived in, and through that we will be con-
long before me. My house had nected to those people and their time. All of these are rea-
housed numerous families who sons why I love archaeology, but it is important to mention
filled their lives with countless one more reason: it’s fun. Whether working in the field con-
moments both routine and ducting an excavation, cleaning artifacts in the lab, or spend-
meaningful. The remnants of ing time in the library researching documented sources, I
some of those moments fell to cannot think of an academic pursuit or profession I would
the ground and were lost to time, find more fulfilling. That is why I love archaeology.
waiting until I came along and
Rick Butler excavating during
uncovered them.
his field school experience in
Chicago.
That tangible connection is one
of archaeology’s great strengths.
It takes the physical evidence and Julia Carvajal
uses it to answer questions about the way people used
objects, utilized their environment, and lived their daily Julia Carvajal received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology
lives. While the historical record is a truly valuable resource (CRM) from California State Polytechnic University of Pomona in
in understanding humanity’s past, it relies on witness testi- 2010. She works as a field technician for a variety of CRM firms,
mony, information that is acquired through first- or second- mostly in California and Nevada.
hand sources and then transmitted by an author who may or

I
may not apply their own perceptions and biases. Just as his- love archaeology because it is a combination of all things I
torical documents can enhance archaeological research, enjoy: culture, the past, traveling, new experiences, and
archaeology enriches the historical record. It can verify and hard work. I have been a professional archaeologist for two
expand upon the accounts of historians and shed light on years, but it’s been my passion since my first field class as an
how events of the past occurred. undergraduate at California State Polytechnic University,
Pomona, in 2007. I have always been fascinated by culture and
But where historical texts often recount major events such as the past because they open doors to the unfamiliar, shedding
wars, political intrigue, and the rise and fall of empires, light on how people once lived. Traveling to changing land-
archaeology can examine how ordinary people lived during scapes allows me to meet new people and have experiences
these times. The day-to-day existence of people—how they that help me grow personally. Hard
lived, what they ate, the tools they used, and how they expe- work has been an important compo-
rienced their culture—are all in the scope of archaeology. I nent of archaeology for me; I want to
love that in archaeology a garbage pit is as valuable as a treas- deserve the privilege of learning the
ure chamber because a garbage pit can tell you a myriad of fascinating aspects the past has to
details about the people who used it. The “how” is something offer. The work is definitely not for the
I love. It is one thing to understand the “what” of history, to faint of heart. Long hours, extreme
know significant events and their dates. But I find myself weather conditions, and chaotic sched-
more compelled by the culture of a place and time—all of the ules can be a real challenge some-
little details of life left in the footprints of material things times, but I wouldn’t change my career
waiting to tell a story about their former owner’s experiences. for the world.
The objects that play a role in our lives, however seemingly
mundane, tell a story about us. I love archaeology because it exists
everywhere and I get to travel all over
Archaeology looks at the things we leave behind and recon- the country to be part of recording the
structs who we were; it can revive some aspect of our lives past. In my experiences, I have
after we have been gone for generations. This is possibly one explored California to a great extent, Julia Carvajal in the
of the things I love most about archaeology. Most of us will allowing me to learn firsthand how field.

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 25

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

archaeology differs throughout the state. I have worked in

other western states as well, each opportunity allowing me to
see how archaeology is conducted and analyzed differently
based on the environment, the available natural resources,
and the other challenges for different people who occupied Meg Conkey
those areas. Traveling to be a part of unfamiliar archaeology
helps me to appreciate the differences and similarities in cul- Meg Conkey is Class of 1960 Professor Emerita of Anthropology
tures and the true ingenuity the people of the past had to sur- at the University of California, Berkeley.
vive in varying environments.

I
love archaeology because it is always changing. Of course,
I love archaeology because it brings people together from all I also love it because it means being outdoors a good deal
walks of life. I love to come together with people of all ages of the time, it means travel, it means collaboration, and it
with shared interests, whom you can bond with over similar means puzzle solving. My first archaeological experience
experiences and who can teach you new things about your was basically something of a lark, an adventure put together
field. Not only do I get to spend time with other archaeolo- with some college classmates to do something one summer
gists, but I also get to work with other professionals I never that might link my then-interests in ancient history and
would have expected, like construction workers, biologists, ancient art history and to appease my parents who really
and geologists. The privilege to work with native communities wanted me to get a paying summer job. Fortunately for me,
also reminds me why protecting the archaeological record is both my undergraduate institution (Mount Holyoke College)
so important. Interacting with these professionals helps to and a family friend stepped up and paid my way to Jordan,
form a better plan for the work we are trying to accomplish. via England, Greece, and Beirut. It was from the start an
adventure, a novelty, involving travel and new cultures; it was
I love archaeology because there is always something new to an opportunity to try something new. It has been that way
learn. Whether it’s how to keep your sidewalls looking great ever since.
or a new colleague sharing their specific archaeological inter-
ests, there is so much depth to archaeology that continuous- But, when I say that I mostly love archaeology because it
ly fascinates me. From the people and places to the methods changes, because it has changed, and because I feel con-
and theories, archaeology is a continuously evolving field nected to many of the changes, this is more complicated
that keeps my mind open and always moving. The different than all of the fun parts. The timing for my time as an
professions we work with help us to incorporate varying fac- archaeologist could not have been better. It started with my
tors in our attempt to recreate the past, and in return archae- becoming a graduate student at one of the “hot beds” of the
ologists can teach others appreciation for what we are trying New Archaeology (University of Chicago) in the late 1960s,
to do. with exciting and impassioned graduate student colleagues.
We not only envisioned our-
I love archaeology because it’s hard work. I get asked a lot selves as agents of hopefully rad-
why I chose to become an archaeologist. My answer is that I ical change, but also bonded
always knew I wanted to be part of the process that preserves both there and with other
the past from being lost. That process happens to be hiking archaeologists (students and
up to 12 miles a day in the middle of nowhere to find and young professionals) in “making
record sites, monitoring for hours around heavy machinery, waves.” The circle of friends and
digging in difficult terrain, and taking extensive notes and colleagues that emerged from
doing a lot of research. But at the end of it all, I have walked this—and from subsequent
through forests and deserts with views that bring peace to intellectual adventures in
the weary surveyor and where history has been hidden for archaeology—is one of my most
countless years. I have heard stories and songs of people’s cherished features of being an
ancestors and have been to sacred places where people once anthropological archaeologist.
carved the images of things that meant the most to them. I As the eldest of five daughters, I
have read the documents of miners who have claimed their guess I always had a special
land and have seen structures long abandoned. We can all interest in “the social”—both in
relate to people who are long gone through archaeology. I being social and in studying Meg Conkey taking a break
love archaeology because it connects us all. what “the social” might have from survey in France.

26 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

been all about in the human past. With a strong emphasis on ranger, when working in con-
collaborating, on connecting with others in the field, in struction with my uncles I
scholarly activities and events, and with an awareness and wanted to build houses, and
commitment to “group,” I have long found archaeology to be when I joined the Navy I
such an engaging world, unlike many of the fields that are thought perhaps I would
more individualistic and even more “I centered.” It’s hard to make a career of it. Going to
be a single researcher in archaeology, and it has gotten even college I found myself inter-
more collaborative over the past decades. I love team-teach- ested in so many disciplines
ing and I love collaborative writing projects from which I it was hard to choose a major.
learn so much. I have been fortunate to have colleagues with I was fascinated by history
whom to do such things! but not by being a high
school history teacher.
But I was also fortunate to participate in the early stages of Almost by default I ended up
what became post-processualism, to once again be engaged with a double major in politi-
with a rethinking of what we do as archaeologists, with what cal science and sociology
kinds of visions of the human past we are creating and what (emphasis in criminology). Thomas Emerson in the field.
the impacts of our narratives are and have been. Some of my Graduating in the immediate
previously relatively untapped concerns with social issues, aftermath of the Tet Offen-
with inequalities, and with gender justice seemed to “fit” sive, I found myself in Viet-
with the changing landscape of archaeological practice and nam. It was only after returning to civilian life that I dis-
archaeological theory. And these were all collaborative proj- covered anthropology. But I was attracted to ethnography,
ects and engagements. At the same time, I was able to not archaeology. It was a rude awakening when I arrived at
embark on a field project that was so off the mark and also the University of Wisconsin to find that ethnography (at
somewhat marginal that I loved it—it was different, it might least as I envisioned it from reading the classics of the late
not succeed, but it was an adventure that I could share with 19th and early 20th centuries) was distinctly out of fashion.
family, with an excellent cadre of graduate students, and with To suggest I was naive about the discipline is an under-
the support (if not of a somewhat quizzical nature) of col- statement. But it did not take long at UW for me to become
leagues in France: our Between the Caves open air survey immersed (given my interests in history and human soci-
project in the French Pyrénées. eties) in archaeology and ethnohistory.

In the end, what I have loved most has been the increasing Why archaeology? Who isn’t drawn by the allure of making
expansion of archaeology’s conscience: our evolving ethics, new discoveries, the desire to create histories of unknown
our engagement with more and more stakeholders and our people, to be tested daily by perhaps unsolvable mysteries, to
attempts to democratize archaeology while maintaining its face ever-changing challenges and obstacles, to work as part
rigor. We study change; I embrace the changes that have of a collaborative team, to contribute to our understanding of
fueled my archaeological passions. past human societies, or even to help today’s world better
cope with change? As I write, I realize these reasons sound
highly ambitious! Few of us will discover the unlooted tomb
of an Egyptian pharaoh or a lost Mayan city. But we still, in
our everyday work, have the ability to rewrite history albeit
on a less grandiose scale. You think not? Perhaps it is
Thomas Emerson perspective—let me provide some examples from my own
experience.
Thomas Emerson is Director of the
Illinois State Archaeological Survey and Adjunct Professor When I was in graduate school, my colleague Larry Conrad
at the University of Illinois. became aware of a large Mississippian town about to be
destroyed by strip mining. With no laws to protect the site,

A
rchaeology is a passion that only came slowly into we created a not-for-profit organization and used its field
my life. I am always amazed at people who tell me schools to salvage hundreds of houses and pits. Later, I was
that they always wanted to be archaeologists. Grow- surveying along the Missouri River when we noted human
ing up in northern Wisconsin I wanted to be a forest bones at Crow Creek. Ultimately we excavated over 500 men,

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 27

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

women, and children who had been massacred around A.D. I read countless histori-
1300. It changed the way we think about the scale of violence cal novels and loved
among precolumbian peoples. Digging in the American Bot- nothing more than get-
tom, we excavated rare examples of 12th-century female stat- ting lost in an ancient,
ues. Using mineralogical sourcing, we demonstrated that forgotten world. By the
these stone statues were made at Cahokia rather than in time I got to high
Oklahoma as previously thought. Using the same technique, school, history was still
our team recently demonstrated that many Ohio Hopewell my forte, yet I don’t
pipes were made in Illinois rather than in Ohio. These stud- think I knew much
ies totally reversed models of exchange. While at the Illinois about archaeology
Jessica Goodwin in the field.
SHPO, I had the opportunity to initiate the writing of new beyond what I’d seen
state laws providing protection for burials and archaeological on TV. Suddenly, in
sites for the first time. Back in the field, we have just com- 2008, high school was over and I had to go off to college.
pleted five years of excavation at the East St. Louis Mound Without hesitation, I chose anthropology as my major and
complex, revealing over 1,400 houses and demonstrating archaeology as my minor. There was never one moment of
conclusively the urban nature of Cahokia. And the list of doubt or uncertainty in this, and unlike many of my peers, I
examples could continue—some the results of individual never changed majors. Every year, I was able to explore more,
effort, some serendipity, but mostly the results of hard work take more specific, advanced classes, and work or volunteer
by many collaborating individuals. in areas where I received hands-on experience. When I did
my archaeology field school the summer before my junior
Archaeology provides opportunities for an individual’s year, I was ecstatic because I knew I had chosen the right
actions to make a difference, whether it is adding a bit of thing—this was my path. In that sense, I was fortunate; there
knowledge, saving an important piece of history, or changing are enough problems, fears, and uncertainties to deal with at
peoples’ perceptions about the past for the better, and in the that age without adding on the big decision—what should I
long run isn’t that what we all want to do—to contribute, to do for the rest of my life?
make a difference?
Now, still in my early twenties and having hardly dipped my
toes into the pool of my future, I am starting to experience a
deeper meaning in my career. Sure, I absolutely love getting
paid to hike, explore places that most people don’t know
exist, and put my knowledge of tin cans to use in a (some-
Jessica Goodwin what) meaningful way. I am also still an academic, pursuing
my own scholarly interests for most of the year and spending
Jessica Goodwin is a master’s student in the Department of the summers in the field. I am one of a small and privileged
Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Idaho. group of people in this world who get to discover history in
a deeply personal, direct way. Every time I hold an old object

I
love archaeology because, mainly, it allows me to live out in my hand, I can close my eyes and try to connect with those
my selfish childhood dreams while (hopefully) making people who last touched it. These moments have led me to
enough to live happily and still contribute to society in an discover even more significance in my profound love of
important way. By selfish childhood dreams I mean, of archaeology.
course, going on adventures, finding amazing things, and,
most importantly, getting dirty. At this point in my career, I can justify my career choice in many ways, but most sin-
the fact that archaeology contributes to the greater good has cerely in one respect. By doing archaeology, I am in fact deal-
been beaten into my head by every mentor and teacher to the ing with the impending confrontation with my own
point that I dare not question it; yet its true value is not lost inevitable mortality. It is not death that I confront, but the
on me. thought that one day I will die, and eventually every thought
and everything I ever did will fade away as well. All the pain
I cannot pinpoint the exact moment I decided I wanted to be and all the joy will die with me, and so what was it all for?
an archaeologist, but I was young ... too young to really know What was the point of pulling my hair out to write a thesis
what archaeology was. Sometime after learning about that only a handful of people will ever read? And please, tell
ancient Egypt in 6th grade, I became enchanted with history. me how recording this non-diagnostic flake will make any

28 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

impact on my, let alone anybody else’s, life? Eventually, the

existential crisis gives way to acceptance (crossing my fin-
gers!). Yet I am comforted by the thought that someone may,
in the future, find meaning in my life, try to see the world
the way I saw it—for this is what I do when I do archaeology.
I love archaeology, and with it I embrace the forgotten and
the lost, the sorrow and the joy of the past.

Kathleen Kawelu
Kathleen Kawelu with colleague Dr. Peter Mills and students attending
Kathleen Kawelu is Assistant Professor of Anthropology the local Society for Hawaiian Archaeology conference, October 21, 2012.
at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

I
love archaeology because it enables me to give back to my other activities, we act to protect these sites, but more impor-
community through advocacy and mentoring. However, tantly we protect a means of connecting to our ancestors. In
that’s not why I got into archaeology to begin with. Like this way, archaeology can contribute to contemporary Hawai-
so many archaeologists, I was drawn to the discipline ian communities because the discipline’s preservation ethic
because I enjoy learning about cultures and the fascinating overlaps with Hawaiian cultural values of aloha ‘aina, love
ways that people make sense of the world around them and and respect for the land. In caring for these places, we nur-
act upon those understandings. Trying to comprehend the ture not only today’s Hawaiian people, but future genera-
hints of past lives left on the landscape is incredibly chal- tions as well.
lenging. The fieldwork necessary to locate these past activi-
ties is physically demanding as well. These aspects of archae- I currently teach at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, in my
ology combine to create a perfect amalgamation which exer- hometown. I’m incredibly grateful, and lucky, to have
cises your mind and body, and I love that. secured a teaching position in the very community that
helped me to get where I am today. When I entered the field,
I went into archaeology as an undergraduate looking to “doing” archaeology meant summer fieldwork and getting
understand other cultures, and it never occurred to me that I dirt under my fingernails; it was for my own benefit. Cur-
could look at my own culture, Hawaiian culture, anthro- rently, “doing” archaeology entails teaching about the disci-
pologically— that is, until the later years of my college stud- pline, trying to instill an excitement for archaeology in my
ies, when I began to look more critically at the discipline and students, and stressing the need for more Hawaiian and
its relationship with native peoples. It was then that I decided local students in our field. My passion for the discipline is
that my participation in archaeology would focus on Hawai- now focused on mentoring a new generation of practitioners
ian culture, which turns out to be a pivotal step in the path and on the potential benefits to Hawaiian communities that
that got me to where I am today. can come from archaeology.

Remembering where you come from and giving back to I find great joy in working with other institutions and indi-
those communities that nurtured you is a value held by viduals to encourage students to take up the kuleana, respon-
many cultures, and in Hawaiian culture this message is sibility, of doing archaeology. Seeing students literally skip
emphasized. Growing up in Hawai‘i I learned early on that down the hall in excitement, after getting word they were
this includes not only the community of family and friends accepted into a graduate program in archaeology, reminds
who care for me, but also the land, ocean, biota, and ances- me of my own passion for the discipline. My colleague Dr.
tors as well. Therefore, the teachings gained from past gen- Peter Mills and I were thrilled about the interest shown by
erations through various means such as stories, crafts, our students in attending the local Society for Hawaiian
chants, genealogies, dance, and cultural sites serve to nur- Archaeology conference last fall. That so many students,
ture us. Enter archaeology. By protecting cultural sites from only half of whom are pictured here, would dedicate their
indiscriminate destruction due to land development and free time to attend a professional conference was very

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 29

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

encouraging. My support for the field also comes from an doors and slow steady troweling. Richard Woodbury was my
appreciation of its ability to critically reflect on itself and to principal teacher, a modest, kind man who understood sci-
work to make positive changes in the practice of archaeolo- ence well, along with Nathalie Woodbury, his wife, who
gy. Really, there are many reasons why I love archaeology, taught at Barnard—a role model of a fine critical intelligence
and it’s this enthusiasm for the discipline that I hope to literally wedded to an excellent field man. Nat wrote a rec-
instill in the next generation of archaeologists. ommendation for me for my first job, assistant at the Muse-
um of the Plains Indian in Browning, Montana, on the
Blackfeet Reservation. Mentioning that I could cook, she
guessed correctly that the director behind the job ad might
be a young man lonely for a wife. Tom Kehoe fulfilled my
hope of emulating the Woodburies by partnering a good field
Alice Beck Kehoe man. Besides our projects at bison drives, tipi rings, and
boulder effigies, and my excavation of a fur trade post, we did
Alice Beck Kehoe is Honorary Fellow in Anthropology some ethnography, and Tom got us to Europe volunteering
at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. one summer at Solutré (horse drive), and later with col-
leagues he met through museum groups.

I
love archaeology because it is out-
doors, down and dirty. Growing Meanwhile, the intellectual side of archaeology became
up a “nice girl” in the 1950s, I increasingly interesting. To put it bluntly, why in my genera-
wanted to slip out, feel free, uncon- tion were so many archaeologists declaiming theory instead
strained. My parents saw I did well in of working inductively from field data? Why were statistics
school, was polite and obedient, and privileged over logical argument? This was Binford’s heyday;
so when I rolled off on the heavy I began reading history/philosophy of science to assess his
Schwinn they bought me, they never claims. From that standpoint, I did ethnography on SAA, as
asked where I went. We lived just did Nat Woodbury. Sociology of science, especially the Edin-
north of the Bronx in Westchester— burgh School (Barnes, Bloor, Shapin) let me continue loving
still full of marshes and woods, and I archaeology in spite of seeing rampant ego trips at SAA. My
Alice at Tamtok in the explored them, found ruined cabins, 1989 sabbatical at Edinburgh, researching Daniel Wilson
Huasteca (San Luis Poto- walked along dunes and estuary. Then and prehistoric archaeology in its societal context, encour-
sí, near Tamuín, Mexi- when I was fourteen, my ninth-grade aged by Barnes and Bloor, yielded my 1998 Land of Prehisto-
co), August 2012, during science teacher suggested I go to a ry and validated this turn to studying the discipline.
a week-long trip with film- Saturday science career lecture on
makers doing a film on archaeology at the American Museum I love archaeology because the archaeological record is, as
Cahokia for Mexican TV. in New York (for a class assignment Derek Turner observes, not manipulable, a major difference
Photo by Miguel Gue- on “my science career,” I focused on from most other sciences (Turner 2007:24). I value my inde-
vara. archaeology). My first trip to the City pendence; I love that the past sits there, partially retrievable
alone! Junius Bird lectured, with but independent. I love that we can never know the whole
slides of his wife Peggy and little sons at Huaca Prieta, the past; seldom can we definitively reach an unassailable inter-
boys in the backdirt with their toy trucks. A revelation: I could pretation, yet we can work out chains of signification from
be an archaeologist; wives could go into the field! data to conclusions compatible with richer ethnographic and
historical knowledge. I love that there’s no limit to how wide-
My first field experience was at eighteen—Angel Mounds, ly we may search natural sciences and humanities for rele-
that year devoted to an eroding Yankeetown burial site upriv- vant information. Thinkers without borders, that’s us.
er. Wonderful view. Slow steady troweling. The field assis-
tant, a medical student, telling us not to worry about eating For me personally, growing up when gender set powerful
sandwiches with unwashed hands—it was clean dirt. No boundaries, archaeology liberated me. It let me be physical
crowds, no pollution, no parents. Fried baby catfish on rye at instead of ladylike, think like a scholar instead of living as
the roadhouse. Archaeology—I’m loving it. Mrs. Consumer. And I could take my kids into the field.

Back at school—Barnard—the intellectual excitement of

archaeology complemented the physical pleasures of out-

30 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

nessed the city of Fredericksburg grow just across the water,

not knowing that he would one day become the Father of
Our Country. Nearly a century later, in the cold winter of
1862, Union soldiers would stand on that same hilltop and
Ashley McCuistion prepare for a battle that would devastate the city and cost
many of them their lives. Echoes of these individuals remain
Ashley McCuistion is an undergraduate at Virginia in the earth, waiting to be uncovered and interpreted by
Commonwealth University and writes a great blog those who discover them. I love archaeology because it
“Digging Anthropology: Tales from the Sandbox” allows me to hear those echoes and share their stories.
(http://diganthro.wordpress.com).
It is difficult for me to define in words what I love about this
field. It is simply a feeling–an emotion that stirs deep in my

I
love archaeology because it reveals the footsteps of those
who came before us and allows us to tell their stories. I core every time I hold an artifact or pick up my trowel. I have
began my journey as an archaeologist only a year ago, always had an insatiable desire to understand the past and a
when I applied for my first field school at George Washing- longing to be a part of it. Archaeology offers a unique glimpse
ton’s Ferry Farm in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I was uncertain into a world that existed long before any of us were born and
of what the future held for me at the time, and knew only allows us to follow the movements of past peoples by exam-
that I wanted to pursue some kind of career in anthropology. ining the impressions that they unknowingly left in each
I took a few archaeology classes that year and was captivated layer of the earth. By following these movements and study-
by the indiscriminate honesty of the field and the excitement ing the artifacts that are recovered through excavation, I feel
of uncovering the many secrets of the past that lie just connected to those people, and by sharing what I’ve learned I
beneath our feet. I expected that field school would be a good feel I can give them a voice.
learning experience for me, but I could never have imagined
that it would have such a profound and lasting effect on my Another reason I love archaeology is that it is an honest sci-
life as a whole. ence, dedicated to finding the truth as it is written in the soil.
History is often biased and most accurately reflects the views
I learned to like archaeology in the classroom, but I fell in of those who wrote it, not necessarily what actually happened.
love the moment my shovel first hit the soil. Ferry Farm is a Archaeology reveals the true history of the world and speaks
fantastic place to begin a career in archaeology. With the out for all individuals, not just those worthy of being men-
helpful guidance of my wonderful field directors, I learned tioned in the history books. I love archaeology because it
everything I could possibly hope to know about excavation, reveals the footsteps of those came before us and allows us to
and the more I learned the more I wanted to learn. One of tell their stories. Archaeologists are time travelers, detectives,
the things I was most moved by in terms of where I was dig- scholars, and advocates for truth, and I feel so incredibly for-
ging was the fact that Ferry Farm, while being best known as tunate to have found my niche in this world alongside them.
the boyhood home of George Washington, has a history that
dates back over 10,000 years. As I stood on the hilltop that
overlooks the Rappa-
hannock River, I could
imagine what the world
must have looked like to
Bernard K. Means
the countless individu-
als who had stood there Bernard Means is Instructor, Anthropology,
before me. Prehistoric at Virginia Commonwealth University.
groups frequently

I
inhabited this land, love archaeology because I get to share my passion for
which had yet to be exploring the past with my students and colleagues. I’ve
modified by the brick been long fascinated with the idea of traveling into the
and concrete that domi- past, and I grew up avidly reading H. G. Well’s Time Machine
nates the world today. (and many, many works of much more dubious value) and
George Washington watching Kirk, Spock, and McCoy from Star Trek journeying
Ashley in the field at Ferry Farm. played there and wit- to Depression-era New York city or shooting it out with gun-

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 31

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

slingers in a faux Tombstone, and present it at many of the wonderful local, regional, or
Arizona. Archaeology allows national venues available to archaeologists, young and old.
me to indulge my passion for
journeying to past times and Today I teach archaeology at Virginia Commonwealth Uni-
places in a multi-layered fash- versity (VCU). As was true for myself, many of my students
ion. I can study American come from the lower end of the economic spectrum and are
Indian village sites from six or often the first members of their families to attend college. I
seven centuries ago in south- find it immensely satisfying to help guide them into their
western Pennsylvania and chosen profession. Currently I am also director of the Virtu-
reconstruct the nature of the al Curation Laboratory at VCU, which was established with
villagers’ social organizations funding from the Department of Defense’s Legacy Program.
as they changed over the My dedicated team of VCU students has created 3D digital
Scanning artifacts at George years. Or, I can move back models of artifacts, ranging in age from a million-year old
Washington’s Ferry Farm in closer to the present day and Acheulian handaxe found in South Africa to a fragment of a
Fredericksburg, Virginia. uncover the rich history World War II German bomb collected in London, England.
behind the work relief archae- My students and I are using our “futuristic” laser-scanning
ologists who excavated these villages during the Great technology to bring the past alive to a wider audience in the
Depression. The history of archaeology is itself something classroom, at archaeological conferences, and across the
that fascinates me—not just the great names we all know, but endless realms of cyberspace.
the “ordinary” men and women who followed their dreams to
record and excavate sites large and small. It is this interest In short, I love archaeology because I am able to bring the
that led me to join (and now chair) the Society for American past to the students who will explore that past in the future.
Archaeology’s History of Archaeology Interest Group.

Although it is a shop-worn and tired cliché, I became aware

of archaeology’s very existence by watching Raiders of the Lost
Ark—the thrills and chills of that movie were safely enjoyed
from the back of my parent’s car at a Tacoma, Washington, Robert W. Park
drive-in theater. My own archaeology adventures have been
slightly more mundane—no Nazis or melting faces—but Robert Park is Professor of Archaeology and Associate Dean
there have been boulders! I’ve climbed boulder-strewn hills in of Arts at the University of Waterloo.
southern India, looking for traces of the so-called “Forgotten

I
Empire” around its capital city of Vijayanagara. I’ve also been love archaeology because it has allowed me to have a
lost in the humid swamps north of Richmond, Virginia, and career that has required thinking about and doing some
traipsed through the scorching desert outside of Gila Bend, of the most interesting things I can imagine. In fact,
Arizona. What other profession allows one to get paid to walk archaeology has allowed me to continue pursuing some of
across varied landscapes rich in history and culture? the interests that first intrigued me from a young age and, in
thinking about what I’d say in this essay, I came to the con-
My current archaeology adventures focus on collections of clusion that an awful lot of the things that still appeal to me
records and things stored in museums and places of her- about archaeology resonate with things that I first liked as a
itage. These items derive from the sweat and labor of others child and as a young adult.
working on active, ongoing investigations, and excavations
that are decades old—with New Deal-generated collections For example, most of my archaeological fieldwork has been
being central to my own research. I am a strong proponent done in Canada’s High Arctic, and the logistics of doing
of researching existing archaeological collections and try to research there are both complicated and highly technologi-
pass this perspective on to my students. Collections-based cal. But that’s one of the childhood-related reasons why I’ve
research has also been a great way for me to introduce my loved doing archaeology: the inner adolescent in me still rel-
students to the kinds of questions archaeologists can ask— ishes the adventure of traveling in small planes and helicop-
and in a way that is accessible to me and to them from a ters, camping in remote locations on the tundra, and watch-
financial and time-management perspective. In an afford- ing polar bears in their natural habitat watch us while we’re
able fashion, my students can do their own original research doing our excavations.

32 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

Further, like a lot of kids, when I

was young I loved taking complex
things apart and then putting
them back together, attempting to
get all the parts back in the cor- Anna Marie Prentiss
rect place and order. It occurs to
me that the experience of archae- Anna Prentiss is Professor of Anthropology at the
ological excavation and analysis is University of Montana and the incoming Editor
a lot like that. Excavation is defi- of The SAA Archaeological Record.
nitely a process of taking apart
something complex—an archaeo-

I
love archaeology because it is
Robert Park traveling in a logical site—and analysis the one discipline that can per-
helicopter during fieldwork. involves taking all the bits and mit me to study ancient cul-
pieces learned through excavation tures and evolutionary processes
and attempting to put them back together, in a virtual way, into while also having a positive impact
a functioning representation of some aspect of an ancient on contemporary society. But I also
society. Alas, I still often end up at the end of the putting- love archaeology because of a
together part of the process with some extra parts that don’t range of intangibles that are more
seem to fit, which means, just as it did when I was a child, that difficult to convey. In order to help
I have made some mistake in the putting-together process. get there, I begin with a short story.
But that’s both frustrating and challenging—if doing it were
easy, it wouldn’t be as appealing. Anna Prentiss working We were in the field at Bridge
with students in the field. River, British Columbia, in 2004. It
Finally, my specific interest in archaeology itself dates back was early July and roasting hot.
to when I was around eight years old, when I was forced to The forests on the nearby mountainsides were literally on
stay home from school with some mild but contagious child- fire and waves of smoke drifted across the site. There was
hood illness. My mother went to the public library to find discussion among some locals that climate change and its
some books to keep me amused and one of them was about resulting droughts, beetle infestations, and fires could elim-
Howard Carter and the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb. I inate much of the region’s lower elevation forests. Our exca-
found it fascinating and then proceeded to devour every book vation strategy that year was to excavate narrow test units (50
I could find on ancient Egypt and other archaeological x 50 cm) into deposits thought to contain hearth features
topics—there was simply something amazingly compelling with dateable material as indicated by magnetic susceptibili-
about learning about ancient and very different ways of life. ty testing. Some of these units were quite deep, requiring
I mention this because my love affair with archaeology is field school students to stretch downward from the surface
constantly being renewed by interacting with students who into the site’s strata to collect the desired sediments. One stu-
clearly feel the same way about archaeology that I did at their dent, who had been consigned to a particularly deep and
age—their enthusiasm for the topic renews my own and challenging unit, raised himself from his small window on
makes teaching archaeology incredibly rewarding. the ancient past, sat up in the grass and gazed at the sur-
rounding landscape. Trees were exploding on a nearby
Thus, I’m still having fun doing something that excites and mountain. Wiping sweat and dirt from his face, he grinned
fascinates me on a personal level and that also contributes in and said, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”
a concrete way to improving our understanding of some-
thing that is valuable to humanity as a whole: the long-term My student’s experience at Bridge River encapsulates some
history of our cultural diversity. of the best aspects of our discipline. The Bridge River project
was designed as collaboration with the local indigenous peo-
ple, descendants of the original site occupants. The Bridge
River or Xwisten people were interested in learning about
their past from archaeology, and they had a variety of needs
for archaeological information. They, along with the greater
St’át’imc Nation were at the time locked in a legal negotiation
with BC Hydro over compensation for impacts of past

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 33

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

damming of the Bridge River. Like many First Nations Atlantic coastal forests thick
groups, they were also desperate to impart appreciation and with oak trees, vines, and
knowledge of their traditional culture and language to the wriggling creatures; in the
younger generation. Finally, Xwisten leadership sought sus- still-brisk winds of early
tainable employment opportunities for their members. spring in Michigan. And if
Archaeology was one way to help them get there. Drawing the immersion in nature was
from the efforts of my students, we were able to develop a not enough, there was the
new chronology for village establishment and growth that draw of experiencing history
tied critical developments to regional cultural and ecological in new ways. Since my first
factors. Our research outcomes were used in the BC Hydro survey through the Rio
negotiations and they helped provide a foundation for Xwis- Grande Gorge, I have enjoyed
ten’s award winning heritage education and tourism pro- exploring the places once
gram. Probably the best part for me was simply witnessing inhabited by those past peo-
the wonder in the faces of the young children as they saw for ples I wanted to study. When
the first time the long-lost house floors of their ancestors. these adventures were also
filled with the unique, vibrant Christina Perry Sampson in the
Archaeological research spans the ancient past to the pres- joy of camaraderie in the field.
ent, and research has significant impacts on a range of con- field, it was easy for me to
temporary discussions, whether adaptation to climate love archaeology.
change or indigenous histories and land rights. We are
encouraged to think creatively about the past, to propose new Fieldwork was rewarding even in its challenges. After years of
ideas about life experiences of the ancestors, to examine heading the wrong direction on city streets and highways,
complex ecological processes in human adaptation, and to archaeology gave me a new motivation to orient myself in
model the grand cultural transitions of human history in the space and to grasp the contours of the landscape in ways that
longue durée. Archaeology has its own long history of had not been intuitive for me. Trying to keep multiple tran-
debates over appropriate theory, and these on occasion have sects straight as I set locations for test pits in an old growth
been more than a little vitriolic. And yet archaeology has forest winding along a marsh, I learned how to utilize a com-
always been about a very real empirical present, the archaeo- pass, GPS, maps, and a walkie-talkie all at once, and soon
logical record. The archaeological record is a place we can enough I was comfortable finding my way. Chasing tumbled
visit, record, excavate, describe, measure, and ponder. It is a layers of ditch fill and post molds down a test pit in
place where we engage with evidence for past realities in a Appalachian North Carolina, I found myself imagining the
physical way that other disciplines can rarely even approxi- sequences that created those two-dimensional profiles, and I
mate. And so, for me to truly answer why I love archaeology, realized how much archaeology had compelled me to think
I must return to that hot smoky day in British Columbia differently.
where all of these linkages between human past, archaeolog-
ical present, and visions of the future suddenly clicked for an These experiences also impressed on me the potentially
undergraduate field school student. diverse educational benefits of archaeology. As a student who
had once been drawn primarily to narratives of human
behavior, I can see now how exposure to a field that inte-
grates science, history, and social theory could have broad-
ened my perspective early on. When I introduce lithic reduc-
tion and principles of mortuary analysis to visiting middle
Christina Perry Sampson school students, I try to emphasize these connections
between method and knowledge, an aspect of archaeology
that made my love for it both immediate and lasting.
Christina Perry Sampson is a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology
at the University of Michigan. Sound and innovative methodologies have allowed archaeol-
ogists to press beyond the aesthetic appeal of artifacts and

I
first loved archaeology in the field. It was a simple the sensory experiences of exploring ancient sites. There are
enough attraction because I love to work outside: in the infinite links to be made between material traces and their
blazing hot desert valley and hills of California; in implications for the past, and I now love the diversity and

34 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

ingenuity of these approaches, too. We emphasize the diffi- our own things, they
culties inherent in archaeology from the first introductory would probably not be
course: our fragmentary record, the disruptions wrought by the most economically
rivers and rodents, the inability of sherds and bones to sim- valuable, but those with
ply speak to us. Some strategies for working around these the most emotional
limitations have become standard, from extrapolating rim meaning. And even if
circumferences to sourcing lithic artifacts to stone outcrops we cannot attribute our
via chemical composition. Then there are even more novel modern ideas about
methodologies that are ever emerging, attesting to the skills emotions to past soci-
and creativity of researchers in our field. eties, at least we can
guess that many of the
Often these approaches have introduced me to disciplines things that come to us
and techniques beyond what I once expected to encounter, as from the past, whether Marga Sánchez Romero discusses
when I am driven to comprehend the principles of geophys- from domestic or funer- archaeology at a conference in Granada.
ical prospection or to grasp the ecology of oysters. When I ary contexts, were
was in high school, I decided to become an anthropologist imbued with emotions, feelings, and/or creativity from those
because I wanted to study culture, which I first understood as who made, used, or maintained them.
comprising all the beautiful, peculiar, and remarkable things
people do. Through archaeology, not only did I come to real- Through objects, we show who we are, the different faces of
ize the great depth of our behavior and its traces, I also our identity, how we see ourselves, and how we want other
learned how I could marshal evidence from fields like geolo- people to see us. An ornament that shows the transition
gy, zoology, physics, and chemistry along the way. from childhood to adulthood, a dress with gender connota-
tions, a figurine that symbolizes beliefs, a bone in the context
Like the field itself, my love for archaeology goes in many of a ritual, a tool that made work possible—all these remains
directions. I am animated by fieldwork, intrigued by complex give us a much richer and more nuanced understanding of
inferences, gratified by the idea of piecing together unwrit- the past than socioeconomics alone.
ten histories. I love that I can do this work in the company of
so many intelligent, convivial, and dedicated fellow archaeol- I am convinced that archaeology has a distinctive social
ogists. And as the weather here in Michigan slowly begins to nature; archaeologists work in order to produce knowledge
brighten, I am looking forward to another summer out in the about past societies, and that knowledge also has broad and
dirt and sun. deep connections to our present reality. In my case, I work
with those groups usually forgotten in archaeological
research: women and children. If we do not include them in
our archaeological discourse, we are not only faking our his-
tory, but also denying these people their history and genealo-
gies. In such an important task, to try to reach understand-
Margarita Sánchez Romero ings that go beyond the material facts, we need to have a
strong theoretical and methodological framework; we need
Margarita Sánchez Romero is Senior Lecturer to be honest and explicit in how we make links between our
in the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology theoretical premises and the material culture we work with.
at the University of Granada, Spain.
During the last few years, I have been exploring the multiple

I
love archaeology because I have always been fascinated dimensions of the discipline; from fieldwork to political
by the relationship between people and objects; material administration, I have been able to explore the possibilities of
culture is a unique way to understand the lives of men, a science attempting to remove and transform the status quo.
women, and children, and the a means to connect with peo- In an excavation, you can check the adequacy of methodology
ple not only as members of a group, but also as particular and create new ways to observe material culture—it is excit-
individuals living in particular circumstances. ing and intriguing, as you only get a single opportunity in this
destructive process. On the other hand, work in the lab and
Objects have not only an economic value, but also significant the office allows you the time to think about the objects, bod-
emotional meanings. If we were forced to save only a few of ies, and places you have been working on.

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 35

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

And then dissemination, either in academic publications, in the gift to say something extraordinary about humankind
lecturing with your students, or in other spheres with the through the analysis of ordinary objects. We take the most
general public—all our work must be directed at this major ordinary things that at one time or another might have been
and big responsibility: to spread knowledge. And, finally, incidental or stupendous and look at them as if they were
political administration: taking care of the relations between tiny treasures, or messengers, linking us to our enigmatic
cultural heritage and society. From this position, you can past.
understand how important it is not only to create an ade-
quate legal framework for the preservation of archaeological Let’s not forget the adventure tied to our grand scheme. No
remains, but also to explore the ways in which we help peo- one gets into archaeology because they have a low need for
ple to identify with landscapes, monuments, or sites—and novelty, or a lack of questions. Herein lies the conundrum:
the ways we use archaeology to construct present and past once you start down the dark path of asking questions, for-
identities, and therefore relationships. ever will your destiny be dominated by larger and more com-
plicated problems. Thus, you become entrapped by the lure
of solving small mysteries of what it means to be human
prehistorically—what things or ideals are present during the
time and how they were being utilized. Although we are
entangled (I’m picking up what you’re putting down, Hod-
Laura W. Steele der), I have never heard anyone complain about finding a
Folsom point or a Mayan tomb, for that matter. They are,
Laura Steele has honed her interest in archaeology working as respectively, residual materials of different but equally fasci-
a field technician and is currently in the M.A. Program nating systems. Archaeology allows us to reconstruct a pic-
in Anthropology at Eastern New Mexico University. ture of one small aspect that reflects one facet of life. I can
take comfort in knowing that the processes in which I par-
ticipate are never lost, long after I have gone the way of the

I
love archaeology because it takes me to sequestered
spaces and gives great rise to the imagination. As one of Dodo, someone will be finding my material footprints to
my professors once said in an introduction to archaeolo- reconstruct my life and saying, “She must have been a bel-
gy course when I was an undergraduate, “You can’t be one of ligerent alcoholic, look at all of these beer bottles.”
those people who needs to look in the back of the book to
check your answers.” I have always been in favor of the imag- We all love archaeology for the adventure. No one ever criti-
ination and jigsaw puzzles. As I see it, by doing archaeology cized Harrison Ford for trekking across a barren wasteland
I am given the liberty to let my imagination run wild (the on a hunch of finding the key to our civilization, or for being
Solutrean Hypothesis) to try to solve one of the greatest puz- a whip-toting, revolver-wielding, fedora-wearing badass who
zles of all time: human existence. fights to keep rare antiquities out of the hands of villains and
in museums for the world to share. I love archaeology
Archaeology is romantic; it is the ruthless swashbuckling because it lets me be that whip-toting, revolver-wielding
pirate of disciplines that badass fighting to preserve culture and reconstruct past life-
unabashedly steals scientific ways from bits of retrospective data, if only in my mind.
means to achieve its ends. I
love being able to apply the Science, and archaeology included, can never explain every-
phenomena of physics, theo- thing, and I will never presume to comprehend how things
ries of biology, and laws of have come to be, but I can try to elucidate the process. I love
chemistry to validate broad archaeology because it allows me to do just this in good com-
overarching ideas concerning pany or solitude wherever I am. Very little else brings me the
the development and processes same kind of joy as finding an arrowhead, bone awl, or
of man. As Boris Pasternak ancient hearth and letting my mind plummet into the depths
stated about literature, it is “the of time. What I’m saying is that I love archaeology because I
art of discovering something am a hopeless romantic who is also a scientist, captivated by
Laura in the field in New Mexi- extraordinary about ordinary the past.
co. Photo by Michael B. Merritt, people, and saying with ordi-
who also served as editor and nary words something extraor-
confidant for this essay. dinary.” Archaeology gives us

36 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

hard not to enjoy working alongside others who share com-

mon interests and research goals, even when the corn is pol-
linating ... plus, they are archaeologists because they love
their work, too.
Clare Tolmie
Probably the most important aspect to me is the opportunity
Clare Tolmie is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of to connect to people in the past and people in the present.
Anthropology at the University of Iowa and Senior Archaeologist After all, archaeology seeks to reconstruct how people lived in
at Midwest Archaeological Research Services, Inc. the past, how they organized their lives and interacted with
each other on a large and small scale. As an archaeologist, I
am in direct and indirect contact with people in the past, as I

I
love being an archaeologist
because of the constant opportu- collect the remains of their past behavior in the form of lithic
nity to learn something new. Peo- debris or blue shell-edge whiteware. The fun of analyzing a
ple past and present always surprise site to understand the way people interacted with each other
us—every archaeologist has their and their environment is one of the most fascinating ways to
“what the heck” moment in the field earn a living. Archaeology gives us a direct link to people’s
or laboratory. As a CRM archaeolo- lives in the past, albeit filtered through taphonomic processes.
gist, the variety in sites and time I also love to talk about archaeology to living people—teaching
periods results in the opportunity to students, talking to passers-by at a project site, or giving site
learn about various facets of the pre- tours at more formal excavations. I’ve learned a lot from talk-
historic past, be it subsistence, land ing with people about the local landscape and history.
use, or shifts in settlement focus. For
Clare enjoying being in the historic period in North America, Since I was a young child in the UK, I’ve never thought of
the field at Arcy-sur- I can examine nineteenth-century being anything but an archaeologist. I was always interested
Cure, the Grotte du landscape reorganization, the devel- in history, and archaeology is a career that combines an
Bison. Photo by Cerisa opment of transportation networks, interest in history with a more “hands-on” or perhaps “shov-
Sheridan Reynolds. and the wide array of data on the el-ready” approach. It is also an avenue to explore the lives of
abundant material culture. As a non- a far broader range of social strata or cultures than the pur-
traditional graduate student, I have suit of history itself. Ground-truthing, if you will, but giving
to master the latest information on Paleolithic subsistence a voice to those outside the history books.
and the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition (and I get to
participate in excavations in France!). Archaeology provides I count myself extremely fortunate to be able to follow a
me with a means to grow intellectually as new data and new career in archaeology. I intend to continue to enjoy direct
theoretical approaches to the past emerge. In addition, I contact with the past in the field until my knees give out. But
value the opportunity, in a small way, to add to that knowl- I’ll never stop enjoying it all.
edge and to our understanding of how people lived their lives

I love archaeology because it is fun. Fieldwork is the oppor-

tunity to spend time outdoors, to watch the change in sea-
sons, and, perhaps, to find something interesting. It is a
chance to explore parts of the country that I would otherwise Davina Two Bears
never see and become familiar with the histories and prehis-
tories of different parts of the world. Sometimes I have to Davina Two Bears is a Ph.D student
remind myself of this, usually on days in the field when the at Indiana University, Bloomington.
weather is bad and the survey area barren of any debris less

I
than 50 years old. Or when counting small bone fragments love archaeology because it is another way to learn about
for weeks on end (a recent project) or avoiding areas of the history of my tribe, the Diné or Navajo, and other
“quicksand-like acid material” on one project. Working with Native Americans and to share that history. As a child
my fellow Martians (as we employees of Midwest Archaeo- born and raised in northern Arizona, I realized that my
logical Research Services call ourselves) always involves ancestors had lived in America for a very long time, and that
much discussion, banter, or wild theorizing about finds. It is made me proud.

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 37

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

I often daydreamed about how tion, who I never would have known had I not worked for my
life was for Navajos and Hopis, tribe as an archaeologist. Another happy memory was teach-
before Anglo-Americans came ing curious and vivacious middle school students in Tuba
into our homelands. I thought City, Arizona, about the Archaic people who once lived in
how my life was so easy com- their community 6,000 years ago. Public outreach and teach-
pared to my ancestors because I ing about Native American history is something that I truly
could turn on the faucet for enjoy and feel strongly about, and being an archaeologist
water or hop into a car and trav- allows me the opportunity to do so—not only with Navajos
el quickly to wherever I needed but even with students here in Indiana, where I currently
to go. But what about my reside. Connecting what I find on the ground with oral his-
ancestors—how did they live? I tory, documenting and analyzing archaeological sites and
recall literally feeling sad that I artifacts, and writing about what I learned is a process that
was born in the twentieth cen- brings me joy. I desire to do more of that on the Navajo
Davina Two Bears tury because I knew that if I Reservation and to continue with public outreach and teach-
were born just a couple of gen- ing about archaeology and Native American history.
erations earlier, I’d be able to
speak Navajo and live off the land like my ancestors did. I Archaeology is a challenging field for Navajos to participate
often felt robbed of that opportunity. I listened attentively to in because of our taboos against disturbing places where
my mother’s stories of how she used to cook an entire meal people once lived; but I think that by becoming an archeolo-
and frybread on a woodstove by the time she was ten. She gist, my research, combined with teaching, will help me to
told me of my great-grandfather Ashiihi and how it would contribute to the longevity of my tribe and to Native Ameri-
take one week on a horse drawn wagon to get to Flagstaff, can history for all to appreciate.
Arizona, from Birdsprings on the Navajo Reservation.

As a child, my mother attended the Flagstaff Indian Pow

Wow with her grandfather Ashiihi, a major event for many
tribes and tourists throughout the Southwest in the
1940s_1970s. Since my great-grandfather was a medicine John C. Whittaker
man, the Flagstaff Indian Pow Wow was the place to trade
with other tribes for all his medicinal herbs and animal John Whittaker is Professor of Anthropology at Grinnell College.
parts. I often fantasized about doing some archaeological

I
testing in the former Flagstaff Indian Pow Wow grounds to have always loved archaeology, which creates and shares
find the place where my mother and great-grandfather understanding of the past. As a kid finding fossils and
camped and to reveal other stories buried in the ground. The 19th-century bottles in our woods, archaeology was about
stories of my mother’s childhood fascinate me, and she expe- adventure and discovery. These are still important themes,
rienced many historic moments that I never will, but with especially to the non-academic public, although the profes-
archaeology and oral history, a more intricate history of my sion’s narratives of discovery are strangely muted, as if hav-
people appears—breathing life into the hundreds of historic ing fun was slightly disreputable in a scholar. As I pursued
archaeological sites across the Navajo Reservation. an anthropological education and eventual career, I realized
that what I loved discovering was different ways of life, the
Navajo history is embedded in the landscape, and in working almost infinitely varied but sensibly patterned ways we
with the Navajo Nation Archaeology Department for 14 humans put our lives together. Growing up as an awkward
years, I experienced firsthand that history within the majes- youth at the end of the civil rights and anti-war era left me
tic country that comprises Dine Bikeyah, or Navajo land. My aware that there was much wrong with the society I lived in.
happiest memories of working in archaeology include travel- Exposure to other societies offered not so much answers as
ing all over the western Navajo Reservation and walking the recognition that there were other ways worth learning from,
land, identifying and recording archaeological sites prior to and that most societies struggled with the same issues and
development projects; seeing how the ancient people, as well generally made life work for most members most of the
as my Navajo ancestors, used the land; and interacting with time. A deeper tolerance for other people within each culture
local Navajos on a personal, daily basis. I traveled to many and appreciation of the diversity of cultural solutions to
places and met many Navajo people on the Navajo Reserva- human problems seemed not only a basically good path, but

38 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

also one that anthropology was the past, understand something of an alien way of life. We
uniquely suited to promote. archaeologists have a privileged position—we get to see
things and go places that most people do not and share what
Adventure remains. Even stu- we learn in a field that has enough glamour and excitement
dent jobs excavating in dusty and general interest that it can support ludicrous movies and
deserts and sweaty cornfields the History Channel.
beat pushing a mop or shuf-
fling papers indoors. Now I get I still love archaeology because I see in us a mission. Archae-
my share of dull grading and ology has been a tool of colonial appropriation, but a modern
useless committee work, but archaeology, properly used, turns that around. We have the
not all of my career is behind a unique skills to interpret the evidence, actively creating a
John Whittaker introducing desk. Field science is a source shared past that all of us can use in many ways, from pride-
visitors from the SAA annual of anticipation and social ful identity, to scientific contemplation, to reverent awe, even
meetings to atlatls at Cahokia, connection— my friends in for fantasy and entertainment. The very existence of a field of
2010. chemistry and physics don’t tell archaeology, researching, teaching, says that those around us
exciting stories about their are in fact interested in the past and want to know what we
research, but almost everyone is can tell them. Archaeology says that there is yet much we can
amused by the biologists’ and anthropologists’ experiences learn from those broken pots, that those dry bones lived lives
with snakes, odd foods, and unfamiliar people. Then there that were both humanly like us and fascinatingly different.
are the unusual skills you acquire. I work with prehistoric We speak for the value of diverse cultures, for remembrance
technologies. Some of my best friends are non-academics of the ancient messages, for the voice of those who can no
who share odd passions for flintknapping and spearthrow- longer speak themselves. American archaeology says that
ing, and these skills enhance my value as a classroom per- America did not begin with Columbus, that those who dwelt
former, as well as my research. Taking students into the field here earlier are also a part of us, as important and worthy of
involves teaching them many skills. Only some are archaeo- understanding as the ancient Greeks, the Pilgrims, and
logical. The curiosity to wonder what is beneath the grass, George Washington. This is the archaeology I love to share.
coupled with thoughtful excavation procedures and the abil-
ity to think through hypotheses and findings to interpret
what you see, applies beyond the site. So do the ethical obli-
gations of being part of a team working and living together,
seeing the work through even when it is tedious and condi-
tions are far from pleasant. Knowing how to change a tire, Justin Woods
cook an enchilada, swing an axe, take a clear photo, disdain
scorpions, and talk pleasantly with suspicious landowners Justin Woods is a junior at Harold L. Richards High School in
does not handicap you in other pursuits either. The field is
Oak Lawn, Illinois. Justin met with Jane Baxter to discuss careers
where you teach students that there is a world beyond class-
rooms and electronic screens, if they want to find it.
in archaeology and left the meeting with some advice and an
assignment to write this essay for The SAA Archaeological
Archaeological research is interesting to others, too. I freely Record. He happily obliged!
admit that my obsessive analyses of small bits of stone are

I
beyond tedious, but again I have the advantage over most love archaeology because the rare opportunity it provides
academics when I talk about my work in the right way. The is unlike any other profession out there, and it offers a
old lady who works the garden next door in Iowa actually chance to uncover history. To see something at an exhib-
wants to hear where her squash came from and how people it in a museum is an experience most of us have had at least
in the southwest grew corn without the rains of the Midwest. once, but what many people fail to realize is that many of
My hunting friend found me because he wanted to learn to those items were found by archaeologists all around the
make arrowheads and asked for some fairly technical articles world.
after I explained recent work with genetic information from
prehistoric turkeys. It is no coincidence that thousands of The most amazing part about the whole field is that it’s not
people pick up arrowheads from fields, or that millions visit just finding the past; it’s also the journey to uncovering the
Stonehenge and Mesa Verde. They all want to connect with artifact and finding out where it came from, who owned it,

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 39

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

and how it got where it had been Finally, another reason I love archaeology is the people you
lying for so many years. The ability meet along the way. So many people you work with share
to recover and restore these lost common goals, and in a field like this, you can’t do it unless
and forgotten artifacts is unique in you love it.
that very few jobs in the world
allow for such an experience. How-
ever, finding the items is a long and
arduous process. I love that! Some
see it as a daunting task, but I look
at it as a challenge: strive to finish a Norman Yoffee
dig successfully, but, if not, go back
the next day and keep working. Norm Yoffee is Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies
Justin visiting archaeological
at the University of Michigan.
sites in Sedona, Arizona.
I love to enter a place that has long

A
been abandoned and forgotten and s the cast member playing Pete Rose put it on Saturday
try to imagine what life could have been like back then. To Night Live a few decades ago (in a comic book Spanish
have a career in a field like that is something I dream of accent), “Baseball been bery bery good to Petey Rose.”
doing. There are thousands of years of history just waiting to The actor playing me might well say, “Archaeology’s been very
be uncovered, and as we grow into the technological age, it good to Norman Yoffee.” Let the actor continue: Yoffee was
helps lead us in the search and discovery of many artifacts. As lucky to have gotten his first job as lecturer in the Department
in King Richard III’s case, the person might be buried of Anthropology, University of Arizona, in 1972, joining a dis-
beneath us. That is why I love archaeology. tinguished, hard-working, and extraordinarily collegial sub-
disciplinary band (no neo-evolutionary taxonomy intended)
Many items found have given us an idea of what type of of archaeologists. Thanks to a generous reduction in teaching
methods and machinery ancient people had. What tools load his first year, he managed to finish his dissertation and
might an artisan have used back then? What weapons did a ascend to the rank of assistant professor.
warrior have for hunting? I find that fascinating. We think of
archaeology as looking to the past, but I find myself wonder- His first lecture in Mesopotamian Archaeology was a catas-
ing what future generations might think of us. trophe. He had never taught anything, having had a variety of
fellowships, not teaching assistantships—since the Depart-
From Rome to ancient Greece to Lucy in Africa, history is ment of Near Eastern Studies at Yale, which had its own cap-
just sitting there in the dust and dirt of the world, waiting to tive NE archaeologist, taught only one undergraduate course
be uncovered. For me, I see this as a challenge: to try to find in Egyptian archaeology. For his first real class, Yoffee pre-
out what items, people, and creations have been lost to time. pared meticulously for a week, eventually typing up his notes,
To find out how our species came to be what it is today is which he assumed would carry him through two or three lec-
something I strive to look for in the past. It’s not just the tures. Unfortunately, he basi-
physical part of archaeology either; it’s the anthropology that cally read his notes, which last-
is the most intriguing. What made some of the ancient peo- ed about 20 minutes. In a
ple, our ancestors, build what they built and travel how they panic, he announced that he
traveled. The small questions like these make me want to had forgotten the rest of his
search for the answers. notes in his office two floors
above the lecture room in the
The opportunity to travel and visit places you may have never Anthropology building. He
gone—whether across the globe or in a different part of our then left the room to get the
country—is another reason why I love archaeology. Very few scribbled outline he was going
professions allow for such, and with archaeology, I find that to use to prepare his next week
it offers the best deal, doing what you love, and being able to of lectures. He took two steps
see different cultures and people that you may have never into the hall when he remem-
seen before in your life. Archaeology is around us every- bered that the scribbled notes
where. Who knows what else we might find in the future? Or were at home. He re-entered
where it might be. It is all the unknown questions that float the lecture room and Norm Yoffee digging in the Aus-
around in my mind that pull me towards this career. announced that class was dis- tralian Outback.

40 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE . . .

missed for the day, so see you next time. He then went up to Archaeological Association) on “trends towards social com-
his office to wait for the expected visit from the department plexity in prehistoric Australia and Papua New Guinea.”
head telling him that his contract was voided and that he
should find something else to do with his life. Now it is common in archaeology for organizers of panels at
the SAA and advanced seminars (such as at the SAR) to enlist
Among the students in his first year of teaching at Arizona are a discussant from outside the region being explored to com-
now two “Distinguished Professors,” one museum curator ment on the (hoped for) importance of the research to those
and professor (now retired!), a head of a region in the Nation- not inculcated in the region’s mysteries and therefore rela-
al Park Service (also now retired!), and other successful pro- tively unbiased/ unmired in intra-regional debates. Apparent-
fessional archaeologists. In his career, Yoffee was fortunate to ly, Yoffee was solicited to come to Australia because he was
have learned from brilliant, energetic, irreverent, and congen- perfectly unbiased: he knew almost nothing about prehistoric
ial students at Arizona and Michigan (and some other places, Australia or PNG. Further lack of knowledge afforded him
too). He is proud to think that his teaching has led, in some trips to Brazil, Taiwan, China, India, Israel; Yoffee has also
smaller and larger ways, to their career development and in gained bonus miles by lecturing in distant universities on
less tangible ways, to a sense of curiosity about their world. subjects on which he actually professes knowledge (or at least
on subjects for which he has a lot of slides).
As a Fulbright professor in Sydney, Australia, in 1985, Yoffee
was asked in an interview what was the most unexpected Because of all the great archaeological students and
thing that happened to him in his career. The answer was, of amenable colleagues (and omitting the dysfunctional ones),
course, that he never expected that an academic life could Yoffee blushes to confess his love of archaeology. And for
result in so many bonus miles. He was invited to Australia to those students at UNLV, UNM, and ISAW/NYU who now
teach and also to comment on a panel at the AAA (Australian work with him after his retreat from Michigan, excelsior!

SAR
School for Advanced Research

Nominations Sought
for $10,000 J. I. Staley Prize
This award recognizes innovative books in
anthropology that add new dimensions to our
understanding of the human species.

r #PPLNVTUCFDVSSFOUMZJOQSJOU
r $PBVUIPSFEWPMVNFTBSFFMJHJCMF CVU
FEJUFEWPMVNFTBOEUFYUCPPLTBSFOPU

Deadline for the 2014 prize is Oct. 1, 2013

Send letters or inquiries to:
J. I. Staley Prize
School for Advanced Research
PO Box 2188, Santa Fe, NM 87504

rGBY
rTUBMFZ!TBSTGPSH

staley.sarweb.org

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 41

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

REPORT FROM THE SAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Christina B. Rieth

Christina B. Rieth is the Secretary for the Society for American Archaeology

T
he SAA Board of Directors met on April 3 and 6, 2013, at In 2012, the SAA launched a new Annual Meetings submission
the Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. The April 3rd system. The new systemwill assist the Program Committee in
meeting was chaired by SAA President Fred Limp and organizing the annual program, and it has the added benefit of
attended by President-Elect Jeffrey Altschul, Treasurer Alex Bark- increasing the size of submitted abstracts.
er, Secretary Janet Levy, Secretary-Elect Christina Rieth, and
Directors Sarah Herr, Eduardo Neves, Kelley Hays-Gilpin, and The Board has also eliminated the Thursday evening sessions
Suzanne Fish. Guests included Treasurer-Elect James Bruseth and expanded the poster sessions, beginning with the 2018
and Directors S. Terry Childs and Rodrigo Liendo Stuardo. SAA Annual Meeting. Student Day, an event designed to expose high
Executive Director Tobi Brimsek attended ex officio. Directors school and undergraduate students to the Annual Meeting and
Melinda Zeder and Alston Thoms were absent. The April 6th archaeology, in general, debuted with a series of learning labs
meeting was chaired by SAA President-Elect Jeffrey Altschul. lead by noted professionals.
Secretary-Elect Rieth, Treasurer Barker, Treasurer-Elect Bruseth,
Executive Director Brimsek, and Directors Herr, Neves, Hays- Building on the success of the 2012 Conferencia Intercontinental,
Gilpin, Fish, Childs, and Liendo Stuardo were in attendance. the 2014 meeting will be held in Lima, Peru. The Government
Affairs Committee has continued to represent archaeology in state
President Limp provided a brief summary of his written report and federal settings, advocating for the preservation of cultural
to the Board, highlighting the accomplishments of the past year. remains and providing expertise when needed. Among the com-
The SAA has had a particularly active year, especially in the mittee’s notable accomplishments was continued advocacy for the
areas of Publications, Annual Meetings, Government Affairs, creation of Chimney Rock National Monument in Colorado.
and Member Services.
A new committee, International Government Affairs (IGAC),
In the area of Publications, the current and past two years of Amer- was formed in 2012 to address similar issues occurring beyond
ican Antiquity and Latin American Antiquity are now available the Americas, and it has written letters in support of the protec-
online on the Member section of the SAA website. The editors of tion of archaeological resources in Egypt, Syria, Libya, and Mali.
both journals have also significantly reduced the turnaround time
between submission and publication of manuscripts. In the area of Member Services, the Board approved the creation
of an online and workshop-based professional development pro-
The Society has launched a new online journal, titled Advances gram, developed recommendations for Data Management Plan
in Archaeological Practice. This online, peer-reviewed journal will content for NSF Proposal Submission, and oversaw the devel-
publish short articles on all areas of archaeological practice. The opment of a new Historically Underrepresented Groups Schol-
articles will be of interest to all archaeologists, especially those arship (HUGS). Finally, in 1996, the SAA Board set a new fiscal
in the consulting and government sectors. goal that the Society would have reserves that equal 100 percent
of the current operating budget in the event of a major fiscal cri-
Current Research Online (CRO) will return in 2013 and will pro- sis. President Limp announced that the society has achieved
vide a forum for archaeologists to share their research with this goal and thanked past Boards—and especially past
entries that are searchable by geographic location. Although Treasurers—for their careful stewardship of the Society’s
only SAA members will be able to post their research, the post- resources.
ings will be accessible to everyone.
Executive Director Tobi Brimsek provided a summary of her
The SAA Press is expanding the range of monographs and edit- written report to the Board. She began by reviewing staff
ed volumes that it publishes, with a new volume on Hawaiian changes, including the addition of an editorial specialist, a new
archaeology released in time for the Annual Meeting in Hon- manager, Publications, and new manager, Memberships and
olulu. Marketing. The coordinator of Memberships and Marketing has

42 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

The SAA Board of Directors. (Front row, left to right) Alex W. Barker, Rodrigo Liendro Stuando, Eduardo G. Neves, Jeffrey H. Altschul, Jim Bruseth. (Second
row, left to right) Christina B. Rieth, Sarah A. Herr, S. Terry Childs, Tobi A. Brimsek, Suzanne K. Fish, Kelley A. Hays-Gilpin.

been changed to coordinator of Membership and Meetings to and will probably not rebound. The Executive Director provided
align the position more closely with tasks related to the Annual a summary of other activities carried out by her and her staff,
Meeting. The Executive Director provided an update on devel- including the process of registering the society in all states to
opments in government affairs, especially those relating to allow it to carry out fundraising activities, marketing of the new
budget cuts and the protection of cultural resources both with- online journal, the development of the online seminar series,
in and outside of the Americas. and public education and outreach efforts aimed at developing
a new brochure for middle and high-school audiences on
In the area of information management, the new submissions careers in archaeology.
system was successfully launched in the fall of 2012. Enhance-
ments for the system are being considered and will be discussed Secretary Janet Levy reported the results of the election. James
by the Board in the future. Feedback from the membership indi- Bruseth was elected as Treasurer. S. Terry Childs and Rodrigo
cates that the electronic election continues to be well received. Liendo Stuardo were elected as Board members. Stephen Silli-
Membership continues to remain strong, with membership in man and Maria Nieves Zedeno were elected to the Nominating
the Society at 7,182 for 2012. Of these, 26.5 percent were stu- Committee. A total of 8,190 ballots were distributed, with 1,570
dent members. Membership renewals for 2013 are currently (19.6%) returned. This percentage is down from last year’s.
below renewals this time last year.
Treasurer Alex Barker reported on the SAAs current fiscal posi-
SAA continues to have a presence on social media, including tion. For 2012, the Society had an annual operating budget of
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Registration for the Annual approximately $1.5 million. Overall, the Society enjoyed a
Meeting in Honolulu is expected to be on budget with advance healthy year, with SAA investment accounts up and growth seen
registration at 3,119. All of the scheduled field trips were full in several funds. Despite growth, costs continue to rise and
and the luau at the Bishop Museum sold out quickly. some sources of revenue (i.e., institutional subscriptions to
journals) continue to decrease. Several committees and task
The Publications program continues to be strong, although forces, including the Investment and Finance Committee, the
institutional subscriptions to journals have continued to decline Endowment Planning Task Force, and the Fundraising Com-

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 43

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

mittee, continue to work hard to develop new investment strate- purposes of NAGPRA and the new federal regulations/process-
gies and priorities for the Society. Treasurer Barker recom- es regarding Culturally Unidentified Human Remains (CUHR)
mended that surplus be allocated to the SAA Reserves Fund and under NAGPRA. President Altschul thanked the committee for
to the Special Projects Fund to support several technology-relat- their informative report on the subject, and drew the Board’s
ed initiatives. attention to the complexities of the issue. The board also met
with Julie Stein, chair of the Fundraising Committee. Priorities
The Board considered several agenda items, including the allo- and options for future fundraising were discussed. Susan Chan-
cation of endowment interest to technology, Native American dler, SAAs representative to the Register of Professional Archae-
Scholarships Temporarily Restricted Fund, and the General ologists (RPA) provided the Board with an update on the activi-
Endowment Preservation Fund. The Board also allocated funds ties of RPA, including changes in the way the RPA Field School
from the 2012 surplus to the Reserves Fund. The Board Scholarship is administered.
approved a dues increase of $5 (excluding student and dis-
counted rates) beginning in 2014, filled vacancies in board liai- Christian Wells, coordinator of Current Research On-line (CRO),
son assignments, and set the normal terms of members of SAA provided the board with a very informative presentation on
committees at 3 years, beginning with appointments made in CRO. CRO will have the member benefit of bringing informa-
2014. The Board established the SAA Award Status Task Force tion about research to a wide audience in relatively short order.
to add SAA awards to the National Research Council list of high- Current Research On-line will be available to the membership
ly prestigious academic awards and to recognize books and during the summer of 2013.
monographs in assessments of scholarly productivity.
The board discussed plans for its fall meeting, when it will dis-
The Board was joined by Gordon Rakita, Program Chair for the cuss budget requests for 2014. Finally, the Board thanked out-
Honolulu meeting, who made some useful suggestions that will going committee and task force chairs and SAA representatives
help future program chairs with the organization of the Meet- for their service to the Society: Jeffrey Altschul, Alex Barker, James
ing. President Limp thanked the 2013 Program Committee for Bayman, Wesley Bernardini, Susan Chandler, Jon Czaplicki,
their hard work in organizing this year’s program. William Doelle, Christopher Dore, William Fitzhugh, Diane Gif-
ford-Gonzalez, Patricia Gilman, Paul Goldberg, Kathleen Kawelu,
The Board had breakfast with the chairs of the SAA committees Shereen Lerner, Mary Ann Levine, William Lovis, Jeanne Moe,
and organizers of interest groups on Saturday, April 6. The John Norder, Gordon Rakita, Jo Reese, Christina Rieth, and Laura
Board discussed with the committee chairs the process for sub- Short. President Limp also acknowledged the contributions of
mitting reports and budget requests, the process for recruiting outgoing directors Melinda Zeder and Alston Thoms, as well as
new committee members, the process for nominating members outgoing Secretary Janet Levy, and thanked them for their exem-
for awards, and the posting of committee information and com- plary service and contributions to the society.
mittee activities on the SAA website. During lunch, the Board
met with Ken Sassaman, editor of American Antiquity, Chris
Pool, co-editor of Latin American Antiquity, Ken Ames, editor of
The SAA Press, Anna Prentiss, editor of The SAA Archaeological
Record, Christopher Dore, editor of Advances in Archaeological
Practice, and Deborah Nichols, chair of the Publications Com-
mittee. We had a general discussion of on-going initiatives for
the SAA’s publication program.

The board was joined by Lee Raines Clauss, chair of the Gov-
ernment Affairs Committee; Dan Sandweiss, chair of the Inter-
THE FOLLOWING REPORTS, PRESENTED
national Government Affairs Committee; and David Lindsay,
Manager, Government Affairs. The discussion focused on the AT THE 78TH ANNUAL BUSINESS
society’s efforts to advocate for the protection of cultural MEETING, CAN BE VIEWED ON SAAWEB
remains within the Americas and abroad. IN “ABOUT THE SOCIETY.”
Patrick Lyons and Jennifer Richman of the Committee on Repa-
triation and David Lindsay, Manager, Government Affairs, met • Report of the Treasurer
with the Board on Saturday [April 6] to discuss reconciling • Report of the Executive Director
SAA’s position on the definition of “Native American” for the

44 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

78TH ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING

MINUTES OF THE MEETING extremely fortunate to have a truly exceptional professional

staff.
Janet E. Levy, Secretary (Outgoing)
The President reviewed the success of the publications program
President Fred Limp called the SAA’s 78th Annual Business and thanked the editors of the journals: Kenneth Sassaman, edi-
Meeting to order at 5:10 pm on Friday, April 5, 2013, after a quo- tor of American Antiquity, and Christopher Pool and Gabriela
rum was determined to be present by the Secretary. He asked Uruñuela [Latin American Antiquity]. He reminded the meeting
for the minutes of last year’s business meeting in Memphis to that all issues of the journals are immediately available online to
be approved. The motion was moved, seconded, and approved members. He thanked Kenneth Ames, editor of The SAA Press,
by the members present. and reminded the meeting of the newest monograph available
from the SAA Press, focusing on the prehistory of Hawaii. He
The President thanked the members of the Nominations Com- also reminded the members of the new digital journal, Advances
mittee, chaired by Christopher Dore, for their work on putting in Archaeological Practice, edited by Christopher Dore, whose
together an excellent slate of candidates. He thanked the outgo- first edition will be published in summer 2013. He thanked out-
ing Board members, including Secretary Janet Levy and Board going editor of The SAA-AR, Jane Eva Baxter, and welcomed the
members Melinda Zeder and Alston Thoms. new editor, Anna Prentiss.

The President thanked the many members who participate in Turning to financial matters, the President was happy to tell the
governance of the SAA through volunteer work on committees membership that the SAA is fiscally healthy and has reached a
and task forces. He especially thanked all committee and task Reserves target of 100 percent of annual operating budget. The
force chairs who are cycling off this year: Wesley Bernardini, Chair was able to announce at this point that registration for the
Susan Chandler, Jon Czaplicki, William Doelle, Christopher Honolulu meeting had reached 3,318 individuals. Registration
Dore, William Fitzhugh, Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, Patricia for the meeting as of 12 pm on Friday [April 4] was 3,119.
Gilman, Paul Goldberg, Shereen Lerner, Mary Ann Levine,
William Lovis, Jeanne Moe, John Norder, Jo Reese, Laura Short, Alex Barker, Treasurer, gave his report. The SAA is in robust
and Julie Stein. financial health. SAA’s investments are well managed and grew
by 10.5 percent in the past year. The treasurer explained why
The Society is a volunteer organization that depends signifi- reaching our long-standing goal of 100 percent of one year’s
cantly on the contributions of its members to governance, out- operating budget in the Reserves Fund is an important accom-
reach, meetings, and other projects. plishment. A healthy reserves fund supports the Society’s sus-
tainability, moderates fiscal shocks, and allows the Society to go
The President thanked Gordon Rakita (Program Chair) and Jim forward on new projects with confidence.
Bayman and Kathy Kawelu (Annual Meeting Local Advisory
Committee Co-Chairs), and their respective committees, for Janet Levy, Secretary, gave her report. She announced the results
developing a successful meeting. of the elections: Jim Bruseth, Treasuer-Elect; S. Terry Childs and
Rodrigo Liendo as new members of the Board of Directors.
The President especially noted the excellent work of Executive Steve Silliman and Maria Neves Zedeño were elected to the
Director, Tobi Brimsek, and the SAA staff, including Shelley Nominations Committee. A total of 8,190 electronic ballots were
Adams, Eleanor Umali, David Lindsay, Maureen Malloy, distributed and 1,570 (19.6%) were returned.
Meghan Moran, Alyssa Barnett, and Cheng Zhang, and wel-
comed new staff member Russell Bahorsky. The Society is Executive Director, Tobi Brimsek, gave her report, including

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 45

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

to various IT initiatives to provide new services for members.

The Society will inaugurate a series of online seminars in the
last quarter of this year. There will be updates to the online sub-
mission system for the annual meeting, and Current Research
Online will be initiated. She closed by encouraging members to
attend the 79th Annual Meeting in Austin, TX.

Following the report of the Executive Director, President Limp

presented Presidential Awards to acknowledge special contribu-
tions to the Society and to the field of archaeology. He then
asked the chair of the Awards Committee, Kelly Knudson, to
present the Society’s awards and fellowships. Jon Driver pre-
sented the Arthur C. Parker Scholarship and the other Native
American scholarships. President Limp introduced the Lifetime
Jeffrey H. Altschul, President S. Terry Childs, new board member Achievement Award, and asked Keith Kintigh to make the pres-
entation of the award to Prof. Henry Wright. The President rec-
ognized all members of awards committees who do the essen-
tial work of choosing deserving individuals for each award. The
citations of all Awards and Scholarships follow this report.

After presentation of awards and scholarships, the recipient of

the Lifetime Achievement Award, Prof. Henry Wright, spoke
briefly. He closed by saying to students: “Dig more, survey
more, analyze more, publish more.”

The President then asked for new business. Hearing no new

business, he asked for presentation of ceremonial resolutions.
Ceremonial resolutions were read by chair of the committee,
Dean Snow. The first resolution thanked the retiring members
of the Board of Directors, President Fred Limp, Secretary Janet
Levy, and Board Members Alston Thoms and Melinda Zeder, for
James Bruseth, new board member Rodrigo Liendro Stuando, new their service. The resolution then thanked all of those engaged
board member with the planning of the annual meeting, including the staff,
quotes from Franklin Roosevelt, Buddha, and Henry Kissinger. especially Tobi A. Brimsek, the Executive Director; all the vol-
SAA is a society that is focused, balanced, and nimble. From the unteers who worked at Registration and other tasks; the Pro-
staff’s perspective, this has been a year of challenges. She noted gram Committee, chaired by Gordon Rakita, and including
that reaching the goal of 100 percent in the reserves has taken Keith Ashley, Jane Eva Baxter, Caryn M. Berg, Virginnia Butler,
17 years. Ethan Cochrane, Liam Frink, Brett Hill, Terry L Hunt, Joseph
Lehner, Ernest Lohse, Desiree Martinez, Jerry D. More, Juliet E.
She described transitions in the staff, and thanked the staff for Morrow, Marit Munson, David L. Peterson, Sean Rafferty,
their work, including Meghan Moran, outgoing Manager, Mem- Kathryn Reese-Taylor, John Rissetto, Kari Schleher, Rebecca
bership and Marketing; Cheng Zhang, Manager, Information Schwendler, Miriam Stark, Christina Torres-Rouff, Mary Beth
Services; Alyssa Barnett, Coordinator Membership and Meet- Trubitt, Christian Wells, and David Yesner, and student assis-
ings; John Neikirk, former Manager, Publications; Maureen tant, Shaza Wester Davis; and the Annual Meeting Local Advi-
Malloy, Manager, Public Education; David Lindsay, Manager, sory Committee, chaired by Jim Bayman and Kathy Kawelu. All
Government Affairs; and Shelley Adams, Coordinator, Financial other committee chairs and members completing their service
and Administrative Services. She welcomed our new staff, and other members who have served the Society on its commit-
Eleanor Umali, Manager, Publications, and Russell Bahorsky, tees and in other ways were also thanked. Sincere wishes were
Manager, Membership and Marketing. expressed for the safety of those members of the Society who
are now serving in the armed forces: may they return safely to
The Executive Director continued by describing a number of their homes and families.
initiatives for the coming year, including updates and revisions

46 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

Last, a resolution of sympathy was proposed to the families and of the current operating budget. The idea was (and is) that this
friends of Christopher Peebles, Janet Spector, Lawrence W. would insure that the basic Society functions could continue in
Meier, William Rathje, Elizabeth Ann Morris, Marcia Donald- the event of a major fiscal crisis or other unanticipated external
son, Betty Meggers, James Mellaart, Roderick Sprague, Daniel event. Each Board since then has reaffirmed this objective and
E. Shea, Mark Mack, Gregory Possehl, Robert Sharer, Leslie allocated funds from the operating budget to the reserve. We
Shaw, Bernard Wailes, John Weymouth, Verna L. Cowin, T. have now achieved that objective! Not only does that mean that
Patrick Culbert, Linda Cordell, David Brugge, and Rachel Hor- we have the security that the reserves provides but it means that
lings. The members rose for a moment of silence in honor of revenue from the interest on the reserve, when not required to
our departed colleagues. sustain the balance, can be used to invest in current Society
operations. Achieving this objective has been the result of the
President Limp introduced new President, Jeffrey Altschul, and hard efforts of our past Boards and especially the Treasurers—
passed the gavel to him. President Altschul expressed his who have been careful stewards of the Society’s resources.
thanks to outgoing President Limp.

President Altschul called for a motion to adjourn, which was 2012–2013 Activities
made and seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 pm. Here is a quick summary of some key landmarks. Details for
most follow in the text below.

Publications
REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 1. On-line availability of current and last two years of American
Antiquity and Latin American Antiquity.
Fred Limp (Outgoing President) 2. Addition of supplemental, digital, materials to American
Antiquity and Latin American Antiquity.
I want to share with you news on 3. New on-line journal—SAA Advances in Archaeological Prac-
how the SAA has been focused tice.
on increasing the value of the 4. Return of Current Research—online.
Society to our current members 5. Board and editors of American Antiquity and Latin American
and also identifying ways to pro- Antiquity have substantially reduced the time from submis-
vide value to archaeologists who sion to publication and eliminated the backlog.
are not currently members with- 6. A new release from the Press Hawaii’s Past in a World of
out impacting our current mem- Pacific Islands which will be available for the Honolulu
bers. In these efforts, we have meetings.
been guided by the Society’s 7. Kindle sales of SAA Press books continue to slowly grow.
needs assessment in 2010—
answered by one-half of the Annual Meetings
membership—and by a focused 8. New annual meetings submission system.
analysis of just under 4,600 indi- 9. Childcare at annual meetings.
Fred Limp viduals who are archeologists but 10. Student day at annual meetings.
are not members. The keys to 11. Conferencia Intercontinental in Panama and planning for
membership for our members 2014 in Lima Peru.
(not surprisingly) are the annual meetings and the publications, 12. Presidential sessions on archeology and the media and
but there are other major areas as well. Those who are not mem- descendant communities and the future of archaeology
bers largely requested targeted materials that would help them 13. Based on member input the Board has eliminated the
in their current jobs—an objective they did not think American Thursday evening sessions and substantially expanded the
Antiquity or Latin American Antiquity accomplished effectively, poster sessions—effective in 2018.
though they did feel that the SAA’s Archeological Record did have
much content that was useful. Growing the membership
14. Successful NSF proposal to continue funding of Native
Before I go to the specifics of our activities this last year, I am American Scholarships.
delighted to advise you that we have met a major financial 15. Development of new Historically Under-represented
benchmark. In 1996, the SAA Board set anew a fiscal goal that Groups Scholarship Program.
the Society would have reserves that were equal to 100 percent 16. Funding of a Field School Scholarship annually through RPA.

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 47

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

17. Student days, new journal and CRO—see above. linkages so that the CRO entry can also serve as a gateway for
18. Taskforce on increasing our value to senior and retired the readers to more substantive materials on the work.
members.
19. Creation of an on-line and workshop-based professional Gabriela Uruñuela Y Ladron De Guevara, Christopher Pool
development program. (LAQ), and Ken Sassaman (AQ) have made great progress in
reducing the time between submission, acceptance and publi-
Governmental affairs cation of articles to LAQ and AQ . The Board supported the
20. Formation of International Governmental Affairs Commit- addition of two “mega-issues” of LAQ to eliminate the backlog
tee. and both journals are now able to use of the digital supplemen-
21. Development of taskforce to address implications of cultur- tal on-line materials to increase the number of articles pub-
al resources and hydraulic “fracking.” lished in each number.
22. Supported international efforts to preserve antiquities in
Egypt, Syria and Mali. This spring will also see the first issue of Advances in Archeolog-
23. Monitored and sent letter of support or concern (as matters ical Practice under the editorship of Christopher Dore. This on-
required) to Field Museum, Wal-Mart International, Discov- line, peer-reviewed journal has been developed to provide an
ery International and Discovery Channel España y Portugal outlet for articles of specific relevance to the practice of archae-
and a number of federal and state agencies. ology, typically they will be shorter and released in a timely man-
ner. They’ll cover the entire range of practice: fieldwork, analy-
Other initiatives sis, methods, administrative or legal in nature. While these will
24. Collaboration with SHA, RPS, NCSHPO, NATHPO, metal- be of great interest to everyone we hope that they will be of spe-
detectorists and other to assist National Geographic TV in cial value to archeologists “in the trenches” in consulting and
developing ethical guidelines for metal detecting. government service.
25. Creation of task force to investigate gender differences in
senior proposal submission rates to NSF. The SAA Publications program under the editorship of Ken Ames
26. Development of recommendations for Data Management has been expanding the number and range of monographs and
Plan content for NSF Proposal submission. edited publications. A new book on Hawaiian archaeology will be
27. Registration of the SAA in all 50 states—permitting available in Honolulu and a number of other titles are nearing
requests of support to be placed in the Archeological Record publication. In 2011 selected titles of the SAA Press became avail-
and via other means for national development and other able in a Kindle format. Sales of these grow but remain modest. In
fund raising efforts. addition to their availability a value to the Society is the visibility
that they provide on the Amazon web site. Finally, as I hope every-
Improvements in Publications one now knows, the most recent versions of American Antiquity
Responding to the needs assessment data we have taken major and Latin American Antiquity are now online as are the last two
steps to improve and expand our publications. The most recent years—after that they are accessible via JStor.
publication development has been the creation of the Society for
American Archaeology’s Current Research On-Line. From 1962 to
1994 a valuable part of American Antiquity was the section “Cur- Annual Meetings
rent Research.” It was used to provide rapid reports of recent A number of steps have been taken to increase the value of the
field results—long before they might be accessible through annual meetings. Perhaps the most obvious has been the cre-
standard publications. Due to increasing manuscript submis- ation of a new on-line annual meeting registration system. Not
sions to the journal and publication costs, Current Research was only has the system addressed complications that session
ended in 1994. Now, nearly two decades later, we can take advan- organizers often faced, it has also meant that the paper abstract
tage of the economies of on-line systems to bring it back. Under length can be expanded from 100 to 200 words. This will mean
the guidance of Christian Wells and a group of some 20 region- that the abstract can serve as a more valuable guide to the paper
al coordinators, Society members can now provide rapid but, perhaps more importantly, in time it can serve as a source
updates on their research and fieldwork. While only SAA mem- of information for projects and research that have not yet seen
bers can post information, the results will be accessible to every- publication in other forms. A second new meeting development
one. We are particularly hopeful that this venue will provide a will be the availability of childcare at the next three meetings.
vehicle for consulting archaeologists and those in government This pilot has been set up to provide a real opportunity to assess
agencies to quickly bring the results of their projects to the the demand and value of such a service. Hopefully it will expand
attention of the wider field, especially where access to other pub- the participation of members with children. Another new part
lications outlets may be limited. CRO will support hypertext of the annual meeting is the designation of Saturday as “Stu-

48 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

dent Day.” A special one-day admission price and badging will The needs assessments indicated a strong interest in profes-
be available for students along with special activities to intro- sional development and a task force lead by Sarah Herr and
duce them to the SAA and archaeology. Suzie Fish developed a comprehensive plan for a professional
development. The first steps will be a series of online seminars
A new meeting type was introduced in 2012 and will continue on a range of topics of current interest and expansion of the
to be offered. The first Conferencia Intercontinental was held in workshop format at the annual meetings.
Panama City, Panama. Held completely in Spanish it was an
opportunity for more than 100 SAA members to participate in a A key ongoing effort by the Society of value not only to our mem-
focused meeting with 34 papers presented. The proceedings of bers but to all archaeologists is the work done by the Government
the meeting are now undergoing editorial review as is planning Affairs Committee (GAC)—over the year this group has effec-
for the 2014 meeting in Lima, Peru. The 2012 conference was tively represented archeology in many state and federal settings—
organized under the leadership of Dan Sandeweis and the 2014 supporting initiatives, constructively criticizing when needed and
meeting is being organized by Barbara Ayarro. The meeting providing expertise. TJ Ferguson led the group in 2012 and Lee
participants were very positive, and it will serve as a model for Rains Clauss will serve as chair going forward. GAC has moni-
other focused meetings in the future. We feel these can provide tored activities by state and federal agencies and others and devel-
real value to our current members but can also provide value to oped responses for the Society. It has become clear that archaeo-
archaeologists who are not yet members. logical interests of SAA members go far beyond the geographic
limits of the Americas—we have members in more than 50
Over many years, the membership has repeatedly complained countries—and many archeologists living in the Americas work
about both Sunday and Thursday evening sessions. Over the last in other areas of the world. In order to better represent their inter-
year, a task force examined the options for elimination of these. ests in the last year we have created the International Govern-
Due to hotel booking factors elimination of the Sunday sessions ment Affairs Committee (IGAC). Under the leadership of Dan
is fiscally impossible. Moving the meeting to a week-day only Sandeweiss IGAC has already provide expertise and assistance to
format—or even weekdays and Saturday—would raise the hotel the efforts to protect the heritage of Egypt, Libya, Syria, Mali—
costs dramatically to our members as hotels are willing to dis- and these are examples of just a few of the recent IGAC actions.
count their room prices if weekends days are included. A related The explosive growth of hydraulic fracking for oil and gas explo-
complaint dealt with the undesirability of the Thursday evening ration has presented complex challenges to the protection of cul-
sessions. After looking that the situation the Task Force recom- tural resources. A task force has been investigating the potential
mended, and the Board approved, a plan that eliminates Thurs- impact and legal (state and federal) protections and developing a
day evening session and, in their place, dramatically expands the plan for the Society (and partners) going forward.
poster opportunities. This will require the assignment of addi-
tional space so it won’t begin until the new contracts for conven- We recognize that different categories of members have differ-
tion and hotel space are issued—that will be in 2018. ent need and we have initiated an effort to identify those efforts
that we can take that would be of particular value to our senior
and retired members. This effort is being led by Bill Lipe.
Other Initiatives
While meetings and publications attract the lion’s share of inter- Recently, NSF called to our attention that there was an unex-
est there are many other areas where the Society provides value. plained gender difference in NSF senior award submissions.
Two of these are our efforts to bring new students into the field. Males were submitting proposals almost twice as frequently as
In addition to the new Student Days, key pillars of this effort are females. At the award level, however, rates were essentially iden-
the continuing Native American Scholarship Program and the, tical. The SAA has initiated a task force lead by Barbara Mills
new, Historically Underrepresented Groups Scholarship Pro- and Lynne Goldstein to investigate the situation and provide
gram. A successful NSF proposal for the NASP was submitted recommendations going forward. Another task force, led by
in 2012, coordinated by Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh. Diane Alex Barker and members of the Committees on Museum, Col-
Gifford-Gonzales led the creation of the HUGS effort. As in past lections and Curation and the Digital Data Interest Group, is
years the SAA provided a $1,000 scholarship—awarded to the developing recommendations for data management plans that
Mule Creek Preservation Field School in collaboration with would be part of NSF proposal submissions—plans that recog-
RPA. Our ongoing work with NASA on the joint SAA-NASA- nize the unique needs of archeological research both for physi-
National Geographic FAME Lab Project and our work with cal and digital data management.
many media sources to improve the quality of the exposure and
understanding of archeology by the public are also central. While this is an impressive list it is only a partial one. The Soci-
Mindy Zeder has led many of these efforts. ety is extraordinarily fortunate to have a superb and always

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 49

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

growing community of volunteers who serve on the commit- famous for his “third way”; when sides on an issue seem
tees, task forces and interest groups and who contribute their intractable, he finds a way around the impasse so that everyone
time willingly to advance our Society’s work. My thanks to all of feels that they won. Fred without doubt has been our geekiest
you! president and I can only hope that he has led us far enough into
the future that your current techno Neanderthal president does-
n’t drive us back into the Paleolithic. Most of all Fred has taught
me that service can be fun. People ask what we do locked away
REMARKS FROM THE INCOMING PRESIDENT for two days. Mostly we laugh. Fred did his job in a way that had
us work hard without even knowing that we were working hard.
Jeffrey H. Altschul I can only hope to do half as well. And, so please join me in
acknowledging a job well done. Fred, from everyone at the SAA:
In my service to SAA, I have always been following Fred, he was Thank you!
a treasurer of the Society before me and now I succeed him as
President. I can tell you: he’s a tough act to follow. Fred is

SOCIETY for
HISTORICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
QUESTIONS THAT COUNT:
A critical evaluation of historical
archaeology in the 21st Century

SHA Québec 2014

LES ENJEUX PRIORITAIRES :
Une évaluation critique de l’archéologie
historique au XXIe siècle

January 7-12, 2014, Québec City, Québec, Canada

47th Conference on Historical and Underwater Archæology

7 au 12 janvier 2014, Québec (Québec) Canada

47e Colloque sur l’archéologie historique et subaquatique
SHA2014.com

50 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

2013 AWARDS
SAA award recipients are selected by individual committees of SAA members—one for each award. The Board of Directors wishes to thank
the award committees for their hard work and excellent selections, and to encourage any member who has an interest in a particular award
to volunteer to serve on a future committee.

Presidential Recognition Award Cori Wegener was the first serving Monuments Officer since
World War II. Her tireless efforts in forming the US Committee
DIANE GIFFORD-GONZALES of the Blue Shield and in encouraging ratification of the 1954
Hague Convention by the US Senate made possible the network
The President of the Society for American of professionals used to insure that the information provided by
archaeology has presented this presiden- the archaeologists made it to the organizations at Defense and
tial award to Diane Gifford Gonzalez in State who could use the information wisely.
recognition of her outstanding contribu-
tions to the Historically Underrepresented Tim Melancon made sure that the cultural property data made
Groups Scholarship (HUGS) program it to the critical offices both at US DoD and NATO for opera-
and for her leadership in the development tional planning and implementation.
of a high quality proposal from the SAA to
NSAF to obtain funding for the program. Serena Bellew’s work on behalf of cultural property protection
in her role as the Deputy Preservation Officer at the US Depart-
ment of Defense has contributed to a climate where the issue is
Presidential Recognition Award recognized as a critical component for responsible operations in
SUSAN KANE, CORI WEGENER, TIM host nation settings. Thank you all for your extraordinary efforts
MELANCON, AND SERENA BELLEW in preserving such a key part of our world’s heritage.

During the multinational Operation Uni-

fied Protector, Libya, there was almost no Presidential Recognition Award
damage to the country’s extraordinary MELINDA A. ZEDER
archeological sites. The preservation of
these irreplaceable resources was the The President of the Society for American
direct result of the efforts of a group of archaeology has presented this presiden-
individuals. Working closely together, they located and organ- tial award to Mindy Zeder in recognition
ized information on the sites and provided these to the opera- of her outstanding contributions in organ-
tions planners. Individuals who played key roles were: izing and leading the Society’s and other
archaeological organizations’ positive
Susan Kane, as an archaeologist with detailed knowledge of response to the National Geographic tele-
Libya, recognized her information could be valuable for military vision show “Diggers” and for her efforts
planning in terms of site protection. Prof. Kane took the initia- in organizing the 2012 national meetings presidential forum on
tive to work with colleagues around the world to put together archaeology and the press.
and provide a high quality, comprehensive data set.

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 51

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

Gene Stuart Award Student Paper Award

JULIAN SMITH BRYN LETHAM AND DAVID BILTON

Julian Smith, an award-winning author This year’s SAA Student Paper Award has
and writer for American Archaeology, has been presented to Bryn Letham of the
earned the 2013 Gene S. Stuart Award for University of British Columbia and David
his responsible and entertaining writing Bilton of the University of Toronto for
about the fascinating capabilities and their co-authored paper “Settlement and
inherent problems associated with virtual Subsistence among the shíshálh of the
archaeology. “Virtually Recreating the Northern Salish Sea.” Letham and Bilton’s
Past” presents an ethically responsible and engaging view on the thoughtful examination of traditions of
new methods being utilized in archaeology and the diverse ways practice among the shíshálh First Nation
by which both professionals and the public can use and benefit on the southwest coast of British Colum-
from the technology. His article describes many different virtu- bia suggest that there is notable continuity
al methods, including the use of 3D modeling on traditional sod with regard to settlement and subsistence
houses in the Canadian arctic, an interactive educational game in the shíshálh landscape. The authors
based on a Russian fur-trading outpost on the Northern Califor- convincingly argue that a combination of
nia coast, and laser scanning of buildings at the Maya site of tradition, practice, human political action,
Copan. Julian Smith has delivered to the public a well-balanced and aspects of the landscape and its
article detailing the possibilities and benefits of virtual archae- resources contributed to long-term stabili-
ology that all archaeologists can respect. ty observed in the archaeological record of
the shíshálh territory.

Student Poster Award

G. LOGAN MILLER
Ethics Bowl
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA TEAM, BERKLEY
G. Logan Miller has earned the 2013 SAA Student Poster Award
for his poster submission titled “Lithic Microwear Analysis of
Hopewell Bladelets from Fort Ancient: Implications for Ritual
Economy.” The poster presented a well-conceived research proj-
ect that utilized microwear analysis on bladelets from various
contexts, including domestic and ceremonial structure as well
as other features. Wear patterns were compared to experimental
tools in order to evaluate the potential materials that were
worked at each locality. Within a ritual economy framework, he
evaluated models of organization of production and exchange.
From his microwear and contextual analysis, he concludes that
ritual craft items were produced at earthworks. In addition, he
suggests that different materials were worked at different group
locations, which could reflect reciprocal exchange. This innova-
tive research project provides a platform for future studies and
contributes greatly to our understanding of craft production and
exchange in Hopewell society. Dienje Kenyon Fellowship
SHOSHANA ROSENBERG

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78TH ANNUAL MEETING

Fred Plog Memorial Fellowship Archaeology Month Poster Award

KATHERINE DUNGAN FIRST PRIZE: WYOMING

SECOND PRIZE: OHIO

THIRD PRIZE: CALIFORNIA

Dissertation Award
Douglas Kellogg Fellowship AMANDA LOGAN

CRAIG FERTELMES Dr. Amanda Logan is the 2013 recipient of

the Dissertation Award. Her clearly writ-
ten dissertation incorporates archaeologi-
cal, ethnobotanical, ethnographic, and his-
Arthur C. Parker Scholarship for Archaeological torical evidence to address change in food-
Training for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians ways over the past 1,000 years in Banda,
REBECCA HEIDENREICH (THE NAVAJO NATION) west-central Ghana. Countering the fre-
quent claim that African societies are in a permanent condition
of food deficit, Logan illustrates how the culinary process is
indicative of agentive investment at each stage of activity, from
NSF Scholarships for Archaeological Training for farming to cooking to consumption. The “Colombian exchange”
brought many new foods to West Africa in particular, some of
Native Americans and Native Hawaiians which appear to have been quite quickly adopted (e.g., tobacco)
ALYSSA CHRISTINE BADER (ALASKA NATIVE) and others that only became widely used staples under condi-
tions of post-slavery economic stress and British colonial prac-
DYLAN RAY JENNINGS (BAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE tices of labor management and taxation (e.g., maize). Empha-
SUPERIOR OJIBWE) sizing the many stages of decision making in food use, Logan
writes eloquently about food and foodways while incorporating
SUSAN MARYLOUISE PEONE (THE COLVILLE CONFED- theory from a variety of disciplines to discuss the role of mem-
ERATED TRIBE OF INDIANS) ory, gender dynamics, and migrations in creating new culture
complexes.

SAA Native American Undergraduate Book Award: Scholarly Category

Archaeology Scholarship ELIZABETH ARKUSH
CHI R. WOODRICH (BAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE SUPERI-
OR OJIBWE) Elizabeth Arkush’s Hillforts of the Ancient Andes: Colla Warfare,
Society, and Landscape is the ideal combination of new data and
relevant theory with connections and implications for larger
anthropological issues of statecraft and warfare. She reviews
SAA Native American Graduate ethnohistoric evidence on the Colla people of the southern
Andeas and anthropological literature on warfare before pre-
Archaeology Scholarship senting results of her work in data-rich chapters. The use of cut-
DAVINA TWO BEARS (THE NAVAJO NATION) ting-edge technologies in aerial survey and GPS mapping com-
plement traditional archaeological techniques and analyses to
investigate the placement, building, and motivations for build-
ing hillforts. Her comparative chapter on fractured landscapes

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 53

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

and fortification presents a model to explain divergent regional horizons through research on crop domestication in Central
histories and trajectories of ancient complex societies based on Asia. Gayle Fritz’s career embodies the primacy of data, centered
warfare. In short, Dr. Arkush generates significant insights into in high level analyses, to archaeology.
the role of violence in shaping political organization and region-
al landscapes for regional specialists and those working beyond
the Andes. Award for Excellence in
Cultural Resource Management
Book Award: HENRY D. WALLACE
Public Audience Category Henry D. Wallace has earned the SAA
PATRICK KIRCH Excellence in Cultural Resources Manage-
ment Award for his exceptional and piv-
Patrick Kirch’s A Shark Going Inland Is My otal research on the Hohokam of southern
Chief: The Island Civilization of Ancient Arizona. His 32 years of research from
Hawaii is a superbly written book for the directing numerous survey and excavation projects has resulted
layperson and scholar alike. Dr. Kirch in a regional perspective and refinement of temporal and
explores a fundamental archaeological dynamic changes in Hohokam settlement patterns over time.
question—the emergence of divine kings and states—using Some highlights of his research include building a chronology
accessible language and great storytelling. He draws upon half of rock art styles; ceramic research that has allowed the refine-
a century’s worth of archaeological experience in Hawaii and the ment of chronological intervals to a generational scale in the
Pacific to seamlessly weave together archaeological research, Hohokam region; and understanding how village formation
traditional knowledge and stories, and personal anecdotes to tell and community structure change through time and across large
the tales of ancient Hawaii and the Hawaiians, from the initial regional scales. His research in CRM has enabled a broad and
colonization of the island archipelago by Lapita people from insightful view and understanding of the Hohokam world, their
Polynesia through contact with the European world. Perhaps social organization, settlement structure, patterns of political
more important, Dr. Kirch keeps archaeology as the backbone of leadership, and ritual influence, deriving from research that
the narrative while skillfully combining other sources of knowl- goes far beyond a simple view of the archaeological record.
edge about ancient Hawaii in this entertaining and insightful
book.
Crabtree Award
EDWARD AND DIANE STASACK
Award for Excellence in
Archaeological Analysis Edward and Diane Stasack are role models
GAYLE FRITZ for avocational archaeologists dedicated to
serving archaeology and the public. Like
Gayle Fritz has earned the SAA Award for Don Crabtree, they have been drawn to a
Excellence in Archaeological Analysis for particular material aspect of the past, in
her lifetime commitment to furthering this case rock art, and through their
the theoretical frameworks and standards enthusiasm for this class of material, they
of analysis of paleoethnobotany in an have expanded the realm of what we
ongoing effort to understand the origins of crop domestication know. The Stasacks have been recording
in the Americas. Her work is foundational in demonstrating the rock art in Hawai’i and Arizona for several
theoretical interrelationships between paleoethnobotanical decades, producing more than 50 reports,
analyses and anthropological questions of gender, feasting, publications, and presentations on more
migration, and status. She was central to demonstrating that than 80 sites. This massive effort contin-
eastern North America harbored an independent center of ues today. They introduced many new
domestication. Always with an eye on and deep respect for data, methodologies for recording rock art in
Gayle Fritz brings high and innovative standards of method and Hawai’i, and their inventories include not
technique to her work, whether in the field or the laboratory, just images but the microenvironments in
and has influenced multiple generations of paleoethnobotanists which the petroglyphs were placed, rises and depressions,
as both teacher and mentor. She continues to expand her own cracks, and viewscapes for each petroglyph. The Stasacks have

54 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

trained students, volunteers, and staff at various institutions in have transcended political boundaries. His book, Archaeology as
their methods. The enormous database that they have assem- a Social Science, has been one of the most influential writings in
bled informs their own research and will inform that of others Latin America and beyond. He has served to bridge the Andean
in the future. and Andeanist intellectual traditions.

The Fryxell Award for Lifetime Achievement Award

Interdisciplinary Research HENRY WRIGHT
ANTHONY F. AVENI
Henry Wright is the 2013 recipient of the
Anthony F. Aveni has earned the Society SAA Lifetime Achievement Award. In his
for American Archaeology’s Fryxell Award career, he has made transformative contri-
for Interdisciplinary Research (Earth Sci- butions to archaeological theory and
ences) based on his prominent role in method, and has conducted important
developing the interdisciplinary fields of research in North America, Mesopotamia,
archaeoastronomy and cultural astrono- Africa, and China. He exemplifies the highest qualities of
my, as well has his service to the profession through scholar- enduring scholarship, teaching, service, and outreach, both
ship, student training, and public dissemination. Dr. Aveni’s nationally and internationally. His fieldwork has focused on the
extraordinary contributions to archaeology have included the emergence of the world’s earliest states, although he has also
integration of the scientific and humanistic studies of astro- investigated a wide range of other topics. Dr. Wright’s contribu-
nomical principles in ancient calendars, record keeping, urban tions to scholarship have been acknowledged by a MacArthur
planning, architectural design, and cosmologies. He has under- Fellowship in 1993, election to the National Academy of Sci-
taken fieldwork in Mesoamerica, the Andes, the American ences in 1994, and a Gold Medal for Distinguished Archaeolog-
Southwest, Italy, Israel, and other parts of the globe, often incor- ical Achievement from the Archaeological Institute of America
porating student training through study groups run through his in 2009. At the University of Michigan, he was awarded a Colle-
long-standing home institution, Colgate University. The giate Professorship in 2001 and the Albert C. Spaulding Distin-
methodologies that Anthony Aveni has developed and taught to guished University Professorship in 2006. Congratulations to
generations of students, for rigorously testing astronomical Dr. Wright.
assertions within the cultural framework of anthropological
archaeology, represent a most laudable contribution to the field.

CEREMONIAL RESOLUTIONS
Award for Excellence in Latin American
and Carribean Archaeology The Resolutions Committee offers the following resolutions:

LUIS GUILLERMO LUMBRERAS SALCEDO Be it resolved that the appreciation and congratulations on a job
well done be tendered to the
Luis Guillermo Lumbreras Salcedo has earned the Award for
Excellence in Latin American and Caribbean Archaeology 2013 Retiring OFFICERS
for his contributions to the practice and institutional develop-
ment of Latin American archaeology and to the construction President Fred Limp
and dissemination of archaeological knowledge. His outstand- Secretary Janet Levy
ing research in Peru has provided an important model for theo- and the retiring BOARD MEMBERS
retical and methodological approaches elsewhere and has
inspired many generations of colleagues and students in the Melinda Zeder
Americas. It is clear that he has been a highly influential and Alston Thoms
visionary leader of Andean archaeology. The breadth and depth
of the impacts stemming out of his theoretical and substantive To the Staff, and especially Tobi A. Brimsek, the Executive Direc-
works are historic and without comparison among his Andean tor, who planned the meeting, and to all the volunteers who
and Andeanist contemporaries. He is one of the few archaeolo- worked at Registration and other tasks;
gists who have developed theoretical views that challenge and
offer viable alternatives to the traditional paradigms. His ideas

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 55

78TH ANNUAL MEETING

To the Program Committee, chaired by And to other committee chairs and members completing their
service and to the many members who have served the Society
Gordon Rakita
on its committees and in other ways;
assisted by Shaza Wester Davis
And sincere wishes that those members of the society who are
and to the Committee Members of the Program Committee
now serving in the armed forces return safely.
Keith Ashley Marit K. Munson
Will the membership please signal approval of these motions by
Jane Eva Baxter David L. Peterson
a general round of applause.
Caryn M. Berg Sean Rafferty
Virginia L. Butler Kathryn Reese-Taylor And be it further resolved that thanks again be given to those
Ethan E. Cochrane John D. Rissetto who inform us of the deaths of colleagues, and, finally,
Liam Frink Kari L. Schleher
A resolution of sympathy to the families and friends of
Brett Hill Rebecca H. Schwendler
Terry L. Hunt Miriam T. Starks
David Brugge Christopher Peebles
Joseph W. Lehner Christina Torres-Rouff
Linda Cordell Gregory Possehl
Ernest S. Lohse Mary Beth D. Trubitt
Verna L. Cowin William Rathje
Desiree R. Martinez Christian Wells
T. Patrick Culbert Robert Sharer
Jerry D. Moore David R. Yesner
Marcia Donaldson Leslie Shaw
Juliet E. Morrow
Elizabeth Ann Morris Gell Daniel E. Shea
AND Rachel Horlings Janet Specter
Mark Mack Roderick Sprague
To the Annual Meeting Local Advisory Committee, chaired by
Betty Meggers Bernard Wailes
James M. Bayman Lawrence W. Meier John Weymouth
Kathleen L. Kawelu James Mellaart

NEWS AND NOTES be very different from one sector to anoth- Québec City is a place to rejoice in the
er, surprising some or confounding oth- old and explore the new. One of the oldest
ers. More importantly, it is crucial to allow cities in North America and a UNESCO

T
he Society for Historical Archaeolo-
each segment of our community to World Heritage Site, it is also a hub for
gy and the Advisory Council on
express its own views on the current and exploring new media and technology. Cut-
Underwater Archaeology will hold
future situation of the discipline. ting-edge analytical methods available in
their 47th Conference on Historical and
Historical archaeology has evolved both local laboratories have permitted experi-
Underwater Archaeology in Québec City,
globally and locally. There has been a mentation in local archaeology, and new
Canada, from January 8–12, 2014, under
diverse integration of new technologies, technologies have been incorporated into
the theme Questions that count, a critical
forms of media, analytical methods, and the public presentation of some of our
evaluation of historical archaeology in the
participants. Community-based programs, most significant sites. The city is also at
21st century. Call for papers opened May 1,
public and descendant archaeology, and the the boundary of land and sea, wedged
2013 (http://www. SHA2014.com/callfor-
experience of archaeological practice have between Cap-aux-Diamants and the majes-
papers.html).
all evolved over the last quarter century. To tic St. Lawrence River, where an immi-
The SHA first asked eminent archaeol-
use antiquated parlance, dirt archaeologists grant European population met with First
ogists to identify questions that count at
are faced with a dizzying array of possibili- Nations peoples during the 16th century.
the plenary session of the 20th Conference
ties while still challenged with maintaining We propose themes that explore these
on Historical and Underwater Archaeolo-
quality practice in an age of an explosion of boundaries, while posing questions that
gy in Savannah, Georgia in 1987. We now
sources and media. Other archaeologists count or that continue to count, and invite
pose this question to the broader archaeo-
are focused almost exclusively on analytical archaeologists from all communities to
logical community. The diverse sectors of
methods. How can we encourage best prac- present new research in their archaeologi-
the SHA and ACUA communities are
tices for all amidst a new array of questions cal practices.
invited to assess their progress, orienta-
which all seem to count? We hope to see you there!
tions, and priorities. The responses may

56 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

IN MEMORIAM

JOHN WALTER WEYMOUTH

1922–2012

J ohn Walter Weymouth died at his home in Lincoln,

Nebraska, on December 20, 2012. He is widely recognized
for his work in the development of geophysical methods in
archaeology, for which he received numerous awards, includ-
strated the importance of geophysical methods for mapping
and relocating prehistoric earthwork sites that have been
severely degraded by two centuries of agriculture.

ing the A.T. Hill Award from the Nebraska State Historical John’s work paved the way for geophysical applications in
Society in 1995, the Fryxell Award from the Society for Amer- archaeology, transforming the use of these methods in North
ican Archaeology in 1997, an Honorary Membership from the America from a type of special analysis to an invaluable and
International Society for Archaeological Prospection in 2004, standard component of contemporary archaeology. He served
and the Rip Rapp Award for archaeological geology from the as an important bridge between the geophysical community
Geological Society of America in 2012. and archaeologists, establishing and encouraging connec-
tions with archaeological practitioners on a national
John was born January 14, 1922, in Palo Alto, Califor- and international level. John presented his findings
nia, on the campus of Stanford University, where his at archaeological, geological, and geophysical con-
father and grandfather were professors. He studied ferences, and through publications and technical
physics at Stanford and the University of California- reports produced an unparalleled body of work
Berkeley (Ph.D. 1951). John taught and conducted spanning four decades. His meticulous and prolific
research in physics at the University of California, research has inspired several generations of scholars
Clarkson University, and Vassar College before join- to follow in his footsteps. His collaboration with the
ing the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) in National Park Service helped establish their critical
1956. While conducting research on X-ray diffraction, role in research, development, and training in the
he became acquainted with archaeology and explored use of geophysical methods in archaeology.
the application of this technique to the study of
ceramic composition. John was both a scholar and a teacher. One the stu-
dents in his first Physics in Archaeology class (1971)
As John’s interest in archaeology grew, he began recalls that to assist the more science-challenged
investigating the use of magnetometers and other students, John provided mimeographed notes at all
geophysical instruments as survey tools for the subsurface of his lectures and encouraged them to listen rather than
mapping of archaeological features. In the 1970s he evaluated write notes themselves. He was a frequent participant in
the use of magnetometers at earth-lodge village sites along National Park Service sponsored training workshops on
the Missouri River, and his success in this early work precip- archaeological prospection, and he mentored and assisted
itated projects throughout North America and Europe. Much numerous students and colleagues who sought to include
of his work was conducted in assistance to the National Park geophysics in their research.
Service at nearly 20 parks, ranging from Fort Clatsop and
Chaco Canyon to Abraham Lincoln’s Home and Hopewell His family, friends, and colleagues knew John as a humble,
Culture National Historical Park. His research interests also thoughtful, and caring man with a great love of music. John
led him to St. Catherine’s Island in South Carolina, Cahokia was thoroughly devoted to the dogs in his life, who occasion-
and Fort des Chartes in Illinois, Spiro, Deer Creek, and ally accompanied him on field trips. He was a strong-minded
Edwards in Oklahoma, and the Cowen site in Iowa. John and disciplined scholar and a great colleague and mentor who
worked on historic forts, pioneer farmsteads, and a pony loved the intellectual exchange associated with interdiscipli-
express station and conducted NATO-sponsored work in nary science. John helped lead archaeology into the future,
Greece. and those of us who had the privilege to know him and work
with him understand how much he will be missed.
Although John officially retired from UNL in 1989, that by no
means put an end to his professional contributions. His most —Mark Lynott and Rinita Dalan
recent work has been the mapping of a major Hopewell earth-
work site in Ohio using a cesium gradiometer. John was
actively involved in fieldwork at the Hopeton Earthworks until
1995. After that time he continued research and writing, with
his latest publication in 2009. His work at Hopeton demon-

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 57

IN MEMORIAM

DAVID M. BRUGGE
1927–2013

avid M. Brugge, 85, died March 15, 2013, of COPD com- Information and Visitor Services, Santa Fe, in 1977. He opted

D plications at the Rehabilitation Center of Albuquerque.

He was born and raised in Jamestown, NY; his father
wanted him to be an engineer, and his mother hoped he would
for a daily commute instead of another family move and
retired in 1989.

be an artist. However, Dave preferred anthropology, and his In 1994, Dave published a major work: The Navajo-Hopi Land
service in the U.S. Army at the end of World War II enabled him Dispute: An American Tragedy (University of New Mexico
to attend the University of New Mexico on the GI Bill, where he Press), reflecting his and others’ dissatisfaction with the Heal-
earned a BA in anthropology (1950). Following graduation, he ing v. Jones decision and the disastrous relocation that
was involved in seasonal ranger work, archaeological surveys, ensued. Throughout his professional career, he focused on
and excavations, as well as establishing with a friend the Ayani Navajo cultural history and ethnohistory, as revealed by
Trading Company in Old Town. numerous publications, and he co-
However, this endeavor was short- founded the Navajo Studies Con-
lived, and Dave moved to Gallup, ference with Charlotte J. Frisbie in
where he drove trucks for the Gallup 1986. He was also deeply interested
Field Office delivering food for the in a number of other issues—
Navajo Commodity Program. In among them, championing envi-
1953, he secured work at the newly ronmental and human rights. He
established Unitarian Service Com- was a member of numerous
mittee’s Gallup Indian Community anthropological and other organi-
Center. He led the English Language zations and an avid reader of their
Recreation Program, which provided publications and other printed mat-
Dave with increased Navajo contacts ter. His knowledge and editorial
while he traveled with railroad work- skills resulted in a number of
ers. During this period, he met Ruth presses and journals requesting his
Sherlog, a social worker, who also services as a manuscript
worked at the Center; they married in reader/reviewer. Many of us con-
Mexico in 1959 and were inseparable sidered him to be a “walking ency-
until her death in 1990. clopedia!” His willingness to share
information and provide assistance
Dave’s earlier close associations to colleagues and students was
with and interest in the Navajos led noteworthy; even his interests in
to an important decade of intensive botany and entomology, which
work with the Navajo Land Claims and Tribal Research Sec- were frequently photographically captured and shared, some-
tion, including archaeology, ethnohistory, ethnographic work, times became the subject matter for his watercolor Christmas
legal work on tribal rights, and more. His anthropology cards. Dave transcended being the consummate scholar in
degree, inquiring mind, and former experiences essentially many ways; he was honored by a festschrift by the Archaeo-
took flight; Brugge was well on his way to becoming an icon logical Society of New Mexico (1998), as well as an honorary
within Athapaskan studies! An early result was a co-edited doctorate from the University of New Mexico in 2005. His
Navajo Bibliography (1967) with J. Lee Correll and Editha Wat- passing leaves a major void in the lives of his children, Doug,
son; this was updated and republished in 1969, as well as in Steve, and Janet, their spouses, three grandchildren, and
1973. Another landmark publication was Dave’s Navajos in the numerous colleagues and friends.
Catholic Church Records 1694–1875 (1968); it was reprinted in
1985, and again in 2010. His employment with the National Note: Dave’s biography and complete bibliography containing
Park service began in 1958 with five years as curator of around 300 publications will become available online in the
Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Monument; it contin- future.
ued with the Chaco Project (1973), which involved returning
to Albuquerque with his wife and children. Two more major —Prepared by Theodore R. Frisbie, Professor of Anthropology
works resulted: History of the Chaco Navajos (1980) and Tsegai Emeritus at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.
(1986) after he became NPS Regional Curator, Division of

58 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013

CALENDAR this year’s EAA Meeting, with support POSITIONS OPEN
from the City of Pilsen, the governor of
2012–2013 the Pilsen region, the Pilsen 2015 Euro- Curator of Anthropology
pean Capital of Culture, the Institute of The Department of Anthropology at the
Archaeology in Prague, and the Nation- Denver Museum of Nature & Science
MAY 1 al Heritage Institute. Already, 1,347 seeks an Anthropologist, with an active
Abstract submissions for the 79th papers and poster proposals to 97 ses- research program, expertise in one of its
Annual Meeting of the Society for Amer- sions are lined up for the Meeting, sug- collection areas, a passion for public out-
ican Archaeology starts May 1, 2013. gesting a record number of participants. reach, and strong administrative skills.
Deadline for submissions is September All are welcome! The successful candidate is expected to
12, 2013, 3 p.m. EST. Submit abstracts to
conduct and publish original grant-
SAA’s Online Abstract Portal at
funded research, to curate at least one
SAAweb. For more information, contact SEPTEMBER 7 component of the Museum’s anthropol-
[email protected] or 1-202-559-7382.
The Pre-Columbian Society of Washing- ogy collections, and to develop educa-
ton, D.C. will hold its 20th annual tion and exhibition initiatives in collabo-
symposium—The World of the First ration with Museum staff.
JULY–SEPTEMBER Ahaus—on Saturday, September 7, 2013, A Ph.D. is required at the time of
The Kalat project will be holding its inter- at the U.S. Navy Memorial and Naval appointment. All geographic foci and
national summer camps, HAPPENING Heritage Center in Washington, D.C. subdisciplines of anthropology will be
(Sicily), between July and September The overall focus will be on the Maya considered so long as the applicant’s
2013. The program includes archaeologi- Preclassic. Among the speakers will be research complements the work of the
cal research and other activities, such as Richard Hansen (moderator), David Museum’s current curators, can be tied
Sicilian gastronomy, excursions, arts, and Anderson, Jaime Awe, and Francisco to current collections and exhibitions,
music. It is open to youngsters from Estrada-Belli. See www.pcswdc.org for and will provide opportunities for the
around the world, who are between 18 further information. participation of the Museum’s myriad
and 35 years old. For more information, citizen scientists.
please see http:// happening.kalat.org or NOVEMBER 6–9 Please submit cover letter, CV, and
contact the Kalat project: [email protected] names and contact information via our
or +39092288350. The 2013 Southeastern Archaeological website www.dmns.org. Initial applicant
Conference 70th Annual Meeting will review will begin on May 15, 2013. No
take place on November 6 to 9 November, phone calls please.
SEPTEMBER 4–8 2013 in Tampa, Florida. Please see The Denver Museum of Nature &
http://www.southeasternarchaeology.org/ Science is an equal opportunity employ-
The European Association of Archaeolo- er. The Museum is dedicated to the goal
annualmeeting.html. Meeting organizers
gists (EAA) will hold its Annual Meeting of building a culturally diverse staff com-
are Nancy White ([email protected]) and
on September 4 to 8, 2013 in the City of mitted to serving the needs of all our vis-
Lee Hutchinson (blackfrog63@ yahoo.com).
Pilsen, Czech Republic. The University itors and we encourage applications
of West Bohemia in Pilsen is organizing from individuals of all backgrounds.

WE WANT YOU! VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING!

For the 79th Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, SAA is seeking enthusiastic volunteers who are not only interested in archaeology but also looking
to save money and have fun.
For volunteers to have more meeting flexibility, SAA will again only require 8 hours of volunteers’ time! The complimentary meeting registration
is the exclusive benefit for your time.
Training for the April 23–27, 2014 meeting will be provided from detailed manuals sent to you electronically prior to the meeting, as well as through
on-the-job training. As always, SAA staff will be on hand to assist you with any questions or problems that may arise.
For additional information and a volunteer application, please go to SAAweb (www.saa.org) or contact Alyssa Barnett at SAA: 1111 14th Street,
Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005, Phone +1 (202) 559-7382, Fax +1 (202) 789-0284, or e-mail [email protected].
Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis starting on July 3, 2013 until February 3, 2014.
See you in Austin!

May 2013 • The SAA Archaeological Record 59

60 The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2013
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Washington, DC 20005
1111 14th Street, NW, Suite 800
SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY
HANOVER, PA 17331
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PERMIT NO 4
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
The 2014 Call for Submissions is now
available on SAAweb: www.saa.org/call
79th ANNUAL Visit this page to find a letter from SAA’s President,
information on submission policies and guidelines,
and directions on how you can access the user-

MEETING friendly, web-based submission system. View,

download, and/or print the Call for Submissions
today. We hope you consider participating in

A u s t i n , Te x a s
SAA’s 79th Annual Meeting!

Questions?
April 23–27, 2014 Email us at [email protected]
or call us at +1 (202) 789-8200 x109.