As I complete my PhD studies at the University of Arizona, I’ve been offered a position in a much larger Western city (not Phoenix, thank god). My wife, kids, and I are contemplating taking the job and moving but, as with every move where there’s kids involved, we’re doing what […]
As cultural resource management archaeologists, we live in a bubble. We are college educated. Our work is rooted in science and we believe in objective proof. This contrasts with a large segment of the rest of the citizenry. Most Americans do not have a college degree. They do not make […]
Change is the only constant. Archaeologists also know history has a tendency to repeat itself. It’s happening right now as we speak. In case you did not know, some scholars, economists, and historians believe we are currently in the midst of a new Gilded Age. There are several lines of […]
When I was a child, my mother always told my brother, sister, and I that we would never take care of anything we didn’t have to pay for ourselves. It was true. The G.I. Joes I got for Christmas? They got broken and discarded within months of Santa’s sleigh landing. […]
I had no idea that my discussion of drinking culture among archaeologists would lead me to write over 5,000 words of blog posts. This is the third post in a series on how binge drinking among archaeologists is both a benefit and a shortcoming. In Part I, I talked about […]
Continuing last week’s blog post about archaeology fieldwork, conferences, and binge drinking, I just want to make a confession: This last weekend, I was a binge drinker. It’s NFL playoffs season. The Seahawks played poorly and I had an archaeologist friend come in from out of town. I ended up […]
This year’s Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) Conference in Fort Worth, Texas was just as amazing as ever. Texas is a fine place but, wherever there’s archaeology, there’s wholesome, intellectual entertainment. This is the 14th SHA conference I’ve attended and it never disappoints. I saw a lot, learned a lot, […]
Tis the season for presents. Cultural resource management archaeologists are no different than others when it comes to the joy of opening new stuff brought to you courtesy the big guy with a flying sleigh. Each year I make gear recommendations for folks looking for a few items to make […]
I’m not a fortune teller but I’m pretty sure the recent unpleasantness associated with the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) will spawn a number of books and articles about cultural resource management archaeology, historic preservation, and environmental justice. It’s likely a few individuals will generate whole careers based […]
Okay. I just watched the video of the “CRM in the Age of Trump” webinar hosted by the American Cultural Resources Association (ACRA) and hearing what I already know was shocking (HINT: Conservatives are probably going to do their best to roll back cultural resource management [CRM] regulations). Since I’ve […]
