2015
25
Jun
Contrasts
Connor Walsh, University of Notre Dame
Several months ago, when I was considering my options for an archaeological field school, I hoped to choose a school which would broaden my experience; all of my previous work was in Ireland, and I knew that my base of knowledge was therefore limited to the id...
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2015
25
Jun
Welcome to the Grand Ballroom
By Will Russell, Ceramics Lab Director, Preservation Archaeology Field School
From what I gather, blog posts are supposed to be insightful, so I’ll apologize up front. This isn’t going to solve any of life’s riddles. Rather, it’s more an expression of interpretive frustration. You see, we s...
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2015
23
Jun
Survey equals fun; sort of.
Diana Trevizo, Eastern New Mexico University
The first time I heard that we were going to have the opportunity to participate in archaeological survey in addition to excavation, I was ecstatic! Before attending this field school, I had participated in mock excavations at Eastern New Mexico Universi...
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2015
22
Jun
New Normal
Alexandra Norwood, Arizona State University
To me, field school has been all about new experiences. New isn’t always better and adjustment has been, in large part, learning to love some part of any situation. There have been struggles: frustration when the excavators in other units find artifacts...
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2015
21
Jun
Ideologies of Inclusion
Alexander Ballesteros, Northern Arizona University
The Southwest United States has a long history of cultural coalescence, and as a fourth-generation Arizonan, I have a firsthand glimpse at the history of group aggregations in the region. Some historic instances of cultural coalescence in Arizona i...
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2015
19
Jun
The Spark
Monica Veale, University of Texas at Arlington
As a child, my first experience with archaeology was a long road trip to Portland, Oregon, for a family reunion. The trip involved stops in Mesa Verde National Park, Bandelier National Monument, and Gila Cliff Dwellings. I was only eight years old at t...
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2015
16
Jun
New Skills
Joe Hall, Cochise College
Part of our field school experimental archaeology work includes a hike to the San Francisco River to work on flinknapping and atlatl carving. On our recent hike with instructor Allen Denoyer, fellow student Lindsay Shepard and I were lucky to be accompanied by visiting g...
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2015
10
Jun
Construction of Ancient Weapons
Devinne Fackelman, Grand Valley State University
A few days ago, I was given the opportunity to construct two common and well-used ancient weapons: a dart point (kind of like an arrowhead, but not used with an arrow) and an atlatl. I had flintknapped and thrown an atlatl dart in the past, but not t...
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2015
09
Jun
Tent Life
Alexandra Flores, Beloit College
Growing up in a big city has its pros and cons, one of the latter being that I have not had a lot of outdoor camping experience. I have slept in a tent a couple times in the past, but not for 5 weeks straight. Before this field school I had some expectations about l...
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2015
01
Jun
Preparations
Leslie Aragon, Excavation Director and University of Arizona Doctoral Program
The beginning of the summer field school season is always an exciting time of year. Every year, the staff of the Upper Gila Preservation Archaeology (UGPA) field school (a partnership between Archaeology Southwest and ...
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2015
27
Apr
Reporting Archaeology: Lost and Found (UPDATE)
Dr. Christopher Fisher, one of the researchers involved with the project Mr. Castillo discussed in his guest post of March 17, 2015, contacted us with comments. First, we share Dr. Fisher's comments, followed by Mr. Castillo's response. Mr. Castillo's original post follows these updates.
Christophe...
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2015
09
Feb
What Does Protection Really Mean?
Josh Ewing, Executive Director, Friends of Cedar Mesa
Cedar Mesa and the landscape surrounding it are full of sacred places. Around almost every bend is another site where even the most detached type-A personality, like me, can connect with people and events far in the past. It’s places like this...
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