What's the Point? (original) (raw)
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What's the Point? Lessons Learned from 100 Years of Artifact Hunting in Eastern Colorado
Advances in Archeological Research, 2022
Our professional understanding of the archaeological record is informed through academic research interest, the nature (tensions of time/ money/location) of cultural resource management, and the ability of archaeologists to fully access diverse forms of data potentially available to them. Knowledge of eastern Colorado is poorly known, given that 40% of the state is publicly owned (federal and state) and most professional work occurs on land administered by federal agencies in western Colorado. Given this research disparity, we argue that professional archaeologists in eastern Colorado would certainly benefit from expanding their research networks to include the efforts of avocational archaeologists. Our article describes how artifact collectors have searched eastern Colorado for the past 100 years; although their methods differ from professional approaches, their cumulative efforts provide a nuanced read of the archaeological record. Differences relate to increased time spent on sites, access to a variety of landforms, and repeated visits over the long term. We present a case study on playa lake archaeology to emphasize these concepts and provide suggestions as to how archaeologists can create better partnerships to unlock potentially novel perspectives of the archaeological record.
Reviews in Colorado Archaeology
Decisions about which sites to preserve and study are among the most critical that archaeologists make. Sound preservation decisions depend on well-supported assessments of archaeological site importance, which in turn depend on agreed frames of reference or contexts. For archaeologists working in Colorado and adjacent regions, one of the most important frames of reference is a series of context documents published by the Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists. As is true of any synthesis of archaeological data, those contexts are now in need of renewal, and in some cases revision. To provide one venue for context updates, Paleocultural Research Group has inaugurated an online, refereed journal called Reviews in Colorado Archaeology (RCA) that publishes authoritative and critical reviews, original research, National Register contexts, and methodological primers. RCA also publishes separately numbered, book-length contributions and distributes monographs or edited volumes pr...
The Journal of Vermont Archaeology, 2013
This commentary results from my nearly four decades as State Archaeologist in the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation (DHP). The DHP serves as the Vermont State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) under state and federal laws. The Vermont Legislature created the position of State Archaeologist in 1975 as part of the state's historic preservation enabling legislation, a late entry into the national historic preservation program. The legislature funded the position in 1976, when the DHP hired me as Vermont's first, and thus far only, State Archaeologist. Being and learning on the job from the earliest days of cultural resources management provides a unique vantage point from which to look back.
Indigenous Archaeology in a Settler-Colonist State: A View from the North American Southwest
Norwegian Archaeological Review, 2020
Collaborative, open, participatory, community-based, public, and Indigenous archaeologies are frequently discussed collectively as a paradigm shift for the discipline. As these approaches mature, we begin to understand some of their less-than-positive repercussions. However, the archaeology of Indigenous descendant communities in a settler-colonist state differs from reactionary populism. In this article, I approach these concerns from my vantage point as a Euroamerican academic archaeologist working in the Southwest United States. I first situate Indigenous archaeology within its historical context. I then explore the issues faced by archaeologists working in the ancient Indigenous Southwest United States. As Southwest archaeologists work to decolonize our discipline, there have been successes, but there are also tre-mendous challenges and obstacles. I conclude with an example from my own work that illustrates how archaeologists can collaborate with Native commu-nities to fight against global capitalist and neoliberalist interests.