On November 21, 1968, an enormous explosion at a coal mine in West Virginia killed 78 miners. Only 21 of the 99 men working that shift at the Farmington No. 9 mine escaped with their lives. The others could not be rescued immediately because of fires that raged following the […]
If you have a cultural resource management, heritage conservation, or historic preservation job, you’re probably used to doing work on cultural resources that have reached significance because of their antiquity or a special circumstance. It’s easy to forget that cultural resources are being created all the time, all around us. […]
Last month, I was informed that I’d be running a crew that was going to excavate an archaeological feature that was believed to have been a historical forge at a mining site. This was a surprise, but, initially, I wasn’t worried. That was, until I asked about the safety plan […]
One rainy November morning, my office mate strolled into our office with a bold exclamation. “I found a historical trash pile.” She was beaming with happiness. “And I did it using those old maps from that website you found on the internet. Thanks.” “Which old maps website?” Now, I was […]
It’s been a long time since I did my first Level of Effort estimate. In case you don’t know, a Level of Effort estimate is an educated guess on how long it will take for your co-workers or employees to accomplish a given project. It’s important for scoping a proposal […]
Throughout our careers, we all come in contact with people that really change our lives. I remember when I landed my first job as a project archaeology crew chief. College was a recent memory and I had a long way to go. All of my skills were pathetic. I couldn’t […]
There are a number of people that would tell you resumes are dead. Especially for those of us looking for cultural resource, heritage conservation, or historic preservation employment. Your networking, skills, experience, and personality play a huge role in getting hired and impressing your future boss in an interview. But […]
Last week, I read an informational article on archaeologyfieldwork.com that pretty much blew my mind. For those of you that don’t know archaeologyfieldwork.com is one of two online job repositories where most cultural resource management and heritage conservation companies post job openings (the other excellent website is shovelbums.org). I tend […]
I had an incident this summer that reminded me of my days before I landed my first cultural resources job. I’m sure any of you out there with heritage conservation jobs or historic preservation employment can relate. My 16-year-old sister is entering her junior year in high school and we […]
