The week leading up to this memorable Day of Archaeology 2013 (#dayofarch) saw me running all across southern Arizona doing a bunch of “emergency” cultural resource management archaeology projects. I spent some time during my breaks and travel in between projects shooting a video that I put together into a short video chronicling my week of archaeology. As you can tell, most of it was spent driving.
(DISCLAIMER: I said some things wrong in the video. First, I spent the actual Day of Archaeology in an 8-hour MSHA refresher course, not writing a technical report on the surveys and monitoring I did. Second, I called a Mason jar rim a canning jar lid. [You’d think a historical archaeologist would know the difference]. Third, I was unable to show you actual project areas during work hours because I didn’t want my company, or myself, to get into trouble. All of the footage was shot off the clock).
This was an unusually busy week that couldn’t be covered in this video. Here’s what I did:
Monday and Tuesday– Monitored excavations for a transmission pole foundation in Nogales, Arizona. The 6-foot-diameter hole was adjacent to a Hohokam site
Wednesday and Thursday-– Did a cultural resources survey near Kearney, Arizona where I found an enormous multi-component prehistoric and historical site. The site had mining features, an airstrip, building foundations, and numerous prehistoric features
Friday– MSHA refresher course conducted by the best safety teacher I’ve ever had. I’m legit for another year.
It was a balmy 100–105 outside every day this week with 60–75% humidity. It rained every day too and I had to traverse some washes that may have been swollen (luckily they weren’t). While the weather was pretty bad (not as bad as the 120+-degree days a couple weeks ago), I found stuff which makes me happy and maintains my dedication to CRM.
My story was similar to the thousands of other field archaeologists around the world. You can follow the rest of the Day of Archaeology by going to http://www.dayofarchaeology.com/ or following #dayofarch on Twitter.
If you have any questions or comments, write below or send me an email.
“Resume-Writing for Archaeologists” is now available on Amazon.com. Click Here and get detailed instructions on how you can land a job in CRM archaeology today!
Small Archaeology Project Management is now on the Kindle Store. Over 300 copies were sold in the first month! Click Here and see what the buzz is all about.
Join the Succinct Research email list and receive additional information on the CRM and heritage conservation field.