Next week I will be heading up the cultural resources survey of what will probably become the first Commercial Spaceport in the United States. There are some private entities, such as the one near Van Horn Texas, run by Jeff Bezos, the Amazon guy.
This place in New Mexico holds some promise because of its geographical location. It is situated in the middle of nowhere, in an area of up planet rotation from White Sands Missile Range. Thus, if crashed occur, they would fall on an equally barren piece of desert.
The work is being done for an Environmental Impact statement or EIS. Already the project is drawing fire from a couple of groups, including those who don't want a tax levied on them to support right guys going into space at their expense. Another group is irritated because the Camino Real (the Spanish Royal Road extending from Mexico to Santa Fe) will be somehow be harmed by the presence of the rockets. I see their point, though much of the Camino Real is under houses and towns already. The ruts of the old Spanish Carretas can still be clearly seen in places with Yahoo maps. The Google Earth picture of the area is pretty poor.
To me, there are a lot better sites in the areas they want to build launch pads and landing strips on than that old road anyways. Previous surveys have shown that the site density is pretty high out there already, and we're getting prepped for a lot more sites this time.
Whether the thing actually happens is still up in the air. Public comment could always bring the whole scenario to a crashing halt. Either way I get paid, and we get to learn a lot of interesting stuff about the local archaeology. What we know now is that there are sites dating to 9,000 - 10,000 years old, Archaic sites, Cermaic period sites, Spanish Colonial period sites, Historic American Ranches, and now the future: rockets.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Pinewood Derby
We went to the Pinewood Derby yesterday. Zachary took 2nd place in his den. He got the award for most artistic car.
Shadows on the wall
I got to thinking about those who call themselves "Goth" a little more today, and what that term really means. I think as we grow, we go through some really tought times as kids. We tend to repress a lot of anger and hostility to the world, our parents, and our peers. We get some choices on how we cope with those extreme stressors. One way to cope is through spirituality, and the seeking of the light path. Another is to fully embrace our darker selves.
I believe both paths can be somewhat dangerous, for the one tempers the other. Too much white light, and there is a path of righteousness, but no true understanding of who we really are. To much darkness, and we succumb to our baser selves, never knowing a full path either.
This path we walk on is a hero's journey, much like has been described in movies and legend, and by Joseph Cambell. The reason movies like Tarzan, Star Wars, and others are so popular throughout time, is that both light and dark paths are shown, giving the characters more depth as we follow their choices, for good or bad. Horror movies, too, show us the darker side of our being. Zombies, werevolves, vampires, and other monsters all represent the shadow places in us all.
In our society, we are always told to seek the light, mostly through religion and morality, without ever being able to understand that which we repress, deny, or otherwise do not come to grips. We also don't have a much of a mechanism to cross over from being children to adults, which in my opinion, allows us to take in to us that darker part of our existence. This change comes when we must leave our mother's ams show our parents we can stand on our own as adults. These rites of passage exist in many primitive cultures even now, and they are working their way back into our society as well. Much of the piercing and tattoos I see on our teens these days is clearly their manner of a rite of passage. These rituals are played out every day, but are not always a good crossover to adulthood, because the parents must also recognize the change.
The lack of some sort of rite of passage for our children often leads to a lifetime of anger at the parents and society in general.
I believe both paths can be somewhat dangerous, for the one tempers the other. Too much white light, and there is a path of righteousness, but no true understanding of who we really are. To much darkness, and we succumb to our baser selves, never knowing a full path either.
This path we walk on is a hero's journey, much like has been described in movies and legend, and by Joseph Cambell. The reason movies like Tarzan, Star Wars, and others are so popular throughout time, is that both light and dark paths are shown, giving the characters more depth as we follow their choices, for good or bad. Horror movies, too, show us the darker side of our being. Zombies, werevolves, vampires, and other monsters all represent the shadow places in us all.
In our society, we are always told to seek the light, mostly through religion and morality, without ever being able to understand that which we repress, deny, or otherwise do not come to grips. We also don't have a much of a mechanism to cross over from being children to adults, which in my opinion, allows us to take in to us that darker part of our existence. This change comes when we must leave our mother's ams show our parents we can stand on our own as adults. These rites of passage exist in many primitive cultures even now, and they are working their way back into our society as well. Much of the piercing and tattoos I see on our teens these days is clearly their manner of a rite of passage. These rituals are played out every day, but are not always a good crossover to adulthood, because the parents must also recognize the change.
The lack of some sort of rite of passage for our children often leads to a lifetime of anger at the parents and society in general.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Welcome Goth Chicks!
A friend of mine over at the Gospel of the Living Dead blog indicated to me that through his linking here, I would be inundated with the Goth community. Hopefully they are having a good read of his book, as it is well worth the price.
I am not sure how Goth relates to zombies, other than zombies are related in some measure to our darker nature, vampires and other undead. To make sure, I typed in "What is Goth?" into Google, and came up with some interesting results. One of the interesting things I found out is that I like a lot of the same things as the Goth crowd.
I love red lipstick on women, especially with pale skin and dark hair.
I consider myself a student of the pagan and witchy arts.
I do wear black quite a bit.
I own a black cloak and several other pieces of vampire-like costumery.
I guess music may be a differing thing these days. I like groups like Enigma, Evanescence, Dead Can Dance, Lorenna McKennitt, Hildegaard Von Bingen, but my tastes also run to the classical and The Ramones, Deep Forest, U2, The Greatful Dead, and Pink Floyd.
At any rate, if the Goth crowd comes to the blog, I want them to feel welcome!
I am not sure how Goth relates to zombies, other than zombies are related in some measure to our darker nature, vampires and other undead. To make sure, I typed in "What is Goth?" into Google, and came up with some interesting results. One of the interesting things I found out is that I like a lot of the same things as the Goth crowd.
I love red lipstick on women, especially with pale skin and dark hair.
I consider myself a student of the pagan and witchy arts.
I do wear black quite a bit.
I own a black cloak and several other pieces of vampire-like costumery.
I guess music may be a differing thing these days. I like groups like Enigma, Evanescence, Dead Can Dance, Lorenna McKennitt, Hildegaard Von Bingen, but my tastes also run to the classical and The Ramones, Deep Forest, U2, The Greatful Dead, and Pink Floyd.
At any rate, if the Goth crowd comes to the blog, I want them to feel welcome!
Surveying in the cold
I walked about 7 miles today. I feel that is a good effort, given the cold temperatures and the 40 mile an hour winds. Not much in terms of archaeology over most of it, but the final hours of the day were given to documenting a site. This finishes off the powerline right-of-way we started last week. We did find one late Paleoindian point, which may relate to a Meserve style.
The site was a lithic scatter of some note, given its size and content. The flaked stone material was almost solely comprised of a black basalt. Specific cobbles local to the ridge they were found one were broken down, and the useful parts hauled away. Tomorrow, we will take the gathered data and make a map with it.
The site was a lithic scatter of some note, given its size and content. The flaked stone material was almost solely comprised of a black basalt. Specific cobbles local to the ridge they were found one were broken down, and the useful parts hauled away. Tomorrow, we will take the gathered data and make a map with it.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
300
After the lackluster movie season over Christmas, I am looking forward to seeing a movie: 300. This one happens to be one of the best battles in the history of battles, that of Thermopolae Pass. It is like the Alamo of the ancient world. It is being directed by Zack Snyder, who put together the great recent remake of Dawn of the Dead, bringing alive Frank Miller's (Sin City)comic book version of the story. The preview looked simply amazing, with its sepia tones and rich red contrasts.
In reality noone really knows how many people were at the battle, and it was probably more then 300. The 300 figure comes from the movie "The 300 Spartans", which came out in the 1960's. See: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0055719/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae for more information about the fight.
From Wikipedia:
Herodotus wrote that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows would be so numerous as to blot out the sun, he remarked with characteristically laconic prose, "So much the better, we shall fight in the shade." Today Dienekes's phrase is the motto of the Greek 20th Armored Division.
I can't wait!
In reality noone really knows how many people were at the battle, and it was probably more then 300. The 300 figure comes from the movie "The 300 Spartans", which came out in the 1960's. See: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0055719/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae for more information about the fight.
From Wikipedia:
Herodotus wrote that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows would be so numerous as to blot out the sun, he remarked with characteristically laconic prose, "So much the better, we shall fight in the shade." Today Dienekes's phrase is the motto of the Greek 20th Armored Division.
I can't wait!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
The Survey in November 2006
In November 2006, I was looking for bits of rock, ceramics, and old tin cans down along the U.S./Mexico border. We're there to clear staging areas for the U.S. Army Corps or Engineers and the National Guard to store equipment and materials to build vehicle barriers and lighting units. This area is one of the most lonely, situated on the west end of Luna County, New Mexico. The area is under the watchful eye of the U.S. Government, however. Black helecopters fly overhead every few hours, the low mountain passes are home to high tech surveillance equipment operated by the U.S. Military. Border Patrol vehicles are common, as is the occaisional rancher.
There are few roads, and fewer people in these areas during the day. They are not the kind of places you would want to be at night, for during the night, the border crossers come. They walk single file, and they walk along the existing road, but not on it, so as to avoid the sensors placed there by the border patrol. Full bottles of water litter the desert border region. Only a simple barbed wire fence stands between the U.S. and Mexico.
Signs placed along the border stating "Peligro", with pictures of snakes and scorpions and cow skulls on them warn people of the hazards of the United States Chihuahuan desert. The signs are ironic, because the desert goes on for miles in both directions of the border, with nothing to break the terrain except for the occaisional low hill.
One small town, Las Chepas, rests on the eastern slopes of the Carrizalillo Hills on the Mexican side of the border. This town once served the farming valley on the U.S. side of the border. At one time, the people of Las Chepas would line up at a metal pipe gate fashioned on the northwest end of town, and a bus would escort the populace to the farm fields. After 9/11/01, the ad hoc border crossing was closed, and the town dwindled. The U.S. proposed to demolish the town because of its lack of funding to create a border crossing there, and the obvious problem it posed to national security. Naturally, the remaining townspeople objected, and agreed to hire security for the town to keep undesirables out. The place is now almost abandoned, with exception to a few people, some cattle, and a dog or two.
One of the staging areas is located on the far western end of Luna County, near Border Monument 40. To get to this area requires a four-wheel drive vehicle, and then a half hour walk, through an ambush like pass. I was with two other men, who I had enjoyed the week with. One was the client for who we are working to complete the job, the other a skinny cuss with an ability to adapt to any situation. The terrain is broken with small and deep arroyo cuts. To complete the survey, we walk back and forth across these small drainages looking for cultural remains.
On the second to last pass across the proposed staging area, I come to a three-foot wide, four foot deep rounded arroyo. I size the thing up and decide if I make a run at it, I can clear my 250 pound frame and equipment across the distance. I get up a head of steam and make the leap. It is only then that I hear the unmistakeable sound of a rattlesnake directly below my airborne feet. Given the general trusim that archaeologists and snakes don't get along, my adrenaline spikes. I reach the other side of the drainage with little to spare, erupting with a slough of curse words. My compatriots come running to see the reason the expletives are coming from my direction, and too hear the noise, which seems to be amplified by the bowl of the narrow arroyo.
Cameras are produced to document what turned out to be a five-foot diamondback rattler. Visions of Fonzi interrupt my train of thought, in that episode when he jumped over the shark, and I am thinking to myself, "I Jumped The Snake!" Then I start thinking of what had happened to me if I had missed the jump, and Fonzi too, seeing this leather coat mixed with shark blood, and him getting dragged under, with one last thumbs up and a Heeeyyy! That sucker would have probably bitten me a couple times before we parted ways.
Thinking on it, the journey back to the truck was a good half hour, then another hour down difficult dirt roads to the blacktop, then another 45 minutes to the first location a cell phone could be used, near Columbus, New Mexico. then another 50 minutes to an hour to Deming, where the precious antivenom could be obtained. Fortunately such a journey did not have to be undertaken.
As the sun was headed down, we left the snake in his habitat, and headed back to Columbus for some dinner.
There are few roads, and fewer people in these areas during the day. They are not the kind of places you would want to be at night, for during the night, the border crossers come. They walk single file, and they walk along the existing road, but not on it, so as to avoid the sensors placed there by the border patrol. Full bottles of water litter the desert border region. Only a simple barbed wire fence stands between the U.S. and Mexico.
Signs placed along the border stating "Peligro", with pictures of snakes and scorpions and cow skulls on them warn people of the hazards of the United States Chihuahuan desert. The signs are ironic, because the desert goes on for miles in both directions of the border, with nothing to break the terrain except for the occaisional low hill.
One small town, Las Chepas, rests on the eastern slopes of the Carrizalillo Hills on the Mexican side of the border. This town once served the farming valley on the U.S. side of the border. At one time, the people of Las Chepas would line up at a metal pipe gate fashioned on the northwest end of town, and a bus would escort the populace to the farm fields. After 9/11/01, the ad hoc border crossing was closed, and the town dwindled. The U.S. proposed to demolish the town because of its lack of funding to create a border crossing there, and the obvious problem it posed to national security. Naturally, the remaining townspeople objected, and agreed to hire security for the town to keep undesirables out. The place is now almost abandoned, with exception to a few people, some cattle, and a dog or two.
One of the staging areas is located on the far western end of Luna County, near Border Monument 40. To get to this area requires a four-wheel drive vehicle, and then a half hour walk, through an ambush like pass. I was with two other men, who I had enjoyed the week with. One was the client for who we are working to complete the job, the other a skinny cuss with an ability to adapt to any situation. The terrain is broken with small and deep arroyo cuts. To complete the survey, we walk back and forth across these small drainages looking for cultural remains.
On the second to last pass across the proposed staging area, I come to a three-foot wide, four foot deep rounded arroyo. I size the thing up and decide if I make a run at it, I can clear my 250 pound frame and equipment across the distance. I get up a head of steam and make the leap. It is only then that I hear the unmistakeable sound of a rattlesnake directly below my airborne feet. Given the general trusim that archaeologists and snakes don't get along, my adrenaline spikes. I reach the other side of the drainage with little to spare, erupting with a slough of curse words. My compatriots come running to see the reason the expletives are coming from my direction, and too hear the noise, which seems to be amplified by the bowl of the narrow arroyo.
Cameras are produced to document what turned out to be a five-foot diamondback rattler. Visions of Fonzi interrupt my train of thought, in that episode when he jumped over the shark, and I am thinking to myself, "I Jumped The Snake!" Then I start thinking of what had happened to me if I had missed the jump, and Fonzi too, seeing this leather coat mixed with shark blood, and him getting dragged under, with one last thumbs up and a Heeeyyy! That sucker would have probably bitten me a couple times before we parted ways.
Thinking on it, the journey back to the truck was a good half hour, then another hour down difficult dirt roads to the blacktop, then another 45 minutes to the first location a cell phone could be used, near Columbus, New Mexico. then another 50 minutes to an hour to Deming, where the precious antivenom could be obtained. Fortunately such a journey did not have to be undertaken.
As the sun was headed down, we left the snake in his habitat, and headed back to Columbus for some dinner.
Trailer House
There are a lot of trailer homes in and around where I live. There are also a lot of nice adobe homes. This is a strange blend between the traditional New Mexican hacienda, and the mobile one.
Archaeology and Paleontology
Most people think that archaeology has to do with finding dinosaur bones. This tends to be brought on by several celluloid masterpieces, which show dinosaurs and people co-habitating. These include The Flintstones, 1 Million Years B.C., Caveman, The Land that Time Forgot, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and others.
Another reason people believe that people lived at the same time as dinosaurs, is that they have a difficulty with scale. Modern humans have lived on this planet for 60,000 to 100,000 years, which at first glance goes back a long way in time. Jurassic period dinosaurs, which includes everyone's favorite, the T-Rex, dates to 270,000,000 years ago. Like looking out and understanding the distance of the nearest star, the scale is almost unfathomable.
Some modern Christians attempt to squeeze all time into about 6,000 years, because of a calculation of all the years added up in people's lives in the bible. There is a man in Kentucky with a $25,000,000 museem which shows Adam and Eve being thrust out of the Garden of Eden by T-Rex himself. Screwing millions of years into such a tiny span has caused hardship to these Christians, and it makes explaining the Grand Canyon difficult. Recently, a book was put out on how the Grand Canyon was caused by the Biblical flood. Some biblical scholars indicate that the behemoth, mentioned in the bible was a dinosaur. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon:_A_Different_View
There have been numerous other claims attempting to tie dinosaurs to humans living in the same time and space, including the Ica Stones of Peru, and figurines made by native groups in Mexico. Both of those claims have proven to be false. I have heard that dinosaurs were put here by Satan to tempt us away from the Christian way.
The reality is that geologists have a fairly good idea on much of the Earth's age.
Another reason people believe that people lived at the same time as dinosaurs, is that they have a difficulty with scale. Modern humans have lived on this planet for 60,000 to 100,000 years, which at first glance goes back a long way in time. Jurassic period dinosaurs, which includes everyone's favorite, the T-Rex, dates to 270,000,000 years ago. Like looking out and understanding the distance of the nearest star, the scale is almost unfathomable.
Some modern Christians attempt to squeeze all time into about 6,000 years, because of a calculation of all the years added up in people's lives in the bible. There is a man in Kentucky with a $25,000,000 museem which shows Adam and Eve being thrust out of the Garden of Eden by T-Rex himself. Screwing millions of years into such a tiny span has caused hardship to these Christians, and it makes explaining the Grand Canyon difficult. Recently, a book was put out on how the Grand Canyon was caused by the Biblical flood. Some biblical scholars indicate that the behemoth, mentioned in the bible was a dinosaur. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon:_A_Different_View
There have been numerous other claims attempting to tie dinosaurs to humans living in the same time and space, including the Ica Stones of Peru, and figurines made by native groups in Mexico. Both of those claims have proven to be false. I have heard that dinosaurs were put here by Satan to tempt us away from the Christian way.
The reality is that geologists have a fairly good idea on much of the Earth's age.
Background
I am an archaeologist working in the American Southwest, currently working in the field of cultural resources management. In the US, there are two types of archaeologists, those dealing with academic aspects, as you might see in a university setting, and those dealing with the legal aspects of archaeological sites. I fall into the latter category, which involves working as a partly as a mediator between someone who wants to build a road or building and the state historic preservation officer, whose job it is to ensure important sites are not destroyed.
I have been doing this steady for the last 18 years, and having an adventure with it. It is definitely not the movie life of Indiana Jones, though there have definitely been exciting moments. I hope to include some of those moments herein.
I have been doing this steady for the last 18 years, and having an adventure with it. It is definitely not the movie life of Indiana Jones, though there have definitely been exciting moments. I hope to include some of those moments herein.
Writing style
In the several hundred archaeological project reports I have written, the style calls for descriptive narrative and the presentation of data in a dry and concise manner. This style is written at a 5th grade level to help keep the professional jargon and lingo to a minimum so that the widest audience will understand what is going on. See the previous post about dinosaurs and people living together if you don't believe me.
Such language includes such things as:
On January 19, an archaeological survey was conducted on X property in Dona Ana County, New Mexico. The survey was conducted for X client, and three sites were identified.
The site is situated on a west-sloping alluvial fan. Vegetation includes mesquite, white thorn acacia, and prickly pear. The assemblage includes 52 pieces of flaked stone, three Mimbres Black-on-white sherds, and a metate fragment.
I hope to break out of that style here some, by including words like marvelous, chewy, and gothic.
Such language includes such things as:
On January 19, an archaeological survey was conducted on X property in Dona Ana County, New Mexico. The survey was conducted for X client, and three sites were identified.
The site is situated on a west-sloping alluvial fan. Vegetation includes mesquite, white thorn acacia, and prickly pear. The assemblage includes 52 pieces of flaked stone, three Mimbres Black-on-white sherds, and a metate fragment.
I hope to break out of that style here some, by including words like marvelous, chewy, and gothic.
Acacia Survey
Last week I conducted an archaeological survey near our office. Generally when we do these surveys we walk in a straight line, covering the area where the proposed action, meaning earth disturbing activity, will take place. Usually this is done with two or more people walking at a 15 meter spacing. On this particular day, we were surveying a powerline alignment, which trended through some particularly bad terrain and vegetation.
Most plants in the desert have developed some type of thorn or other protective measure to keep their water from being stolen from other desert creatures. The straight thorn acacia thrives along the distal alluvial fans and is usually found in association with creosote bush. In many places the plants in the desert are spaced so that it is easy to walk between them. However, alluvial fans are cut with many small and large arroyos, allowing the plants to clump together.
Given that I knew where the survey area was, and that previous surveys of such kind had destroyed several pairs of pants due to the ripping nature of acacia, I chose an old pair of slacks that I didn't need anymore. Bad choice. If I had chosen the pair of blue jeans that I usually wear to the field (the ones that have many holes from trying to climb over barbed wire fences), I would have been just fine.
Walking through the densely populated acacia fields, it is always good to go for the plant with the least amount of thorns. In decreasing order, that would be cactus (any kind), ocotillo, catclaw acaica (the really evil cousin of straight thorn acacia, mesquite, and finally creosote bush. Holding my recording sheet in one hand, and the GPS in the other, we moved through these fields with deftness and caution, all the while scanning our 15 meter area for cultural resources. We didn't find any isolated artifacts or sites within these areas of thick brush, either because these areas may have been the same during prehistoric times (and blue jeans hadn't been invented yet) an they didn't want to come through these areas, or we spent all the time ferreting our way through the brush, not concentrating as hard on what might be on the ground.
By the end of the day, I felt that the old slacks hadn't done a good job of holding out the thorns. I returned home to find my legs cut up with about a hundred small scratches, making it difficult to sleep that night.
Most plants in the desert have developed some type of thorn or other protective measure to keep their water from being stolen from other desert creatures. The straight thorn acacia thrives along the distal alluvial fans and is usually found in association with creosote bush. In many places the plants in the desert are spaced so that it is easy to walk between them. However, alluvial fans are cut with many small and large arroyos, allowing the plants to clump together.
Given that I knew where the survey area was, and that previous surveys of such kind had destroyed several pairs of pants due to the ripping nature of acacia, I chose an old pair of slacks that I didn't need anymore. Bad choice. If I had chosen the pair of blue jeans that I usually wear to the field (the ones that have many holes from trying to climb over barbed wire fences), I would have been just fine.
Walking through the densely populated acacia fields, it is always good to go for the plant with the least amount of thorns. In decreasing order, that would be cactus (any kind), ocotillo, catclaw acaica (the really evil cousin of straight thorn acacia, mesquite, and finally creosote bush. Holding my recording sheet in one hand, and the GPS in the other, we moved through these fields with deftness and caution, all the while scanning our 15 meter area for cultural resources. We didn't find any isolated artifacts or sites within these areas of thick brush, either because these areas may have been the same during prehistoric times (and blue jeans hadn't been invented yet) an they didn't want to come through these areas, or we spent all the time ferreting our way through the brush, not concentrating as hard on what might be on the ground.
By the end of the day, I felt that the old slacks hadn't done a good job of holding out the thorns. I returned home to find my legs cut up with about a hundred small scratches, making it difficult to sleep that night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)