Old Dirt - New Thoughts

I have not posted one of these “finds” for a while. We’ve recently shifted our lab work from sorting shell midden to cataloging, so we’re starting to handle a lot of unusual objects. This “hook” thingy is made of sea mammal bone and clearly part of a composite tool. The two triangular parts are nicely finished and appear designed to extend out from the tool, while the center piece is where this artifact would have been lashed or fitted into the larger object. The triangles have several faint lines scratched onto their surfaces. The lines are so haphazardly inscribed that I don’t think they are meant to be decorative, but they also don’t seem to be functional, nor are they usewear. Any ideas of what kind of tool this object is from? I’m guessing possibly part of a harpoon, boat hook, or kayak frame.

 Bone artifact from Aniakchak.

Scott Anfinson, the Minnesota State Archaeologist, just recently posted his assessment of the Walker Hill site, the widely reported potential 13000 year old site from northern Minnesota. After reviewing the information made available by the site’s excavators at the recent Council for Minnesota Archaeology symposium, and after consulting with a number of Minnesota archaeologists (including myself) who had the chance to examine the lithic finds, Anfinson concludes

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I admit that I am a bit of a science geek — Ok, I admit I’m a major science geek. I love reading and hearing about people doing science. I’m fascinated with the scientific process, with the personalities, the vision (or lack thereof), and the occasional dumb-luck involved. While prepping for a lecture I’m giving tomorrow in my Principles of Archaeology class, I stumbled across this interesting account on the development of radiocarbon dating. Written by E. H. Willis in 1996,  this “Worm’s Eye View” describes his experiences as a young graduate student in the 1950s working for Harry Goodwin and Alfred Maddock at Cambridge’s brand new radiocarbon laboratory. In fact it was so new that most of the fascilities didn’t exist. Willis, as the grad student, was often responsible for building the necessary equipment.

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The 2007 Council for Minnesota Archaeology Symposium was held this weekend. Archaeologists from around the state (including a few of our friends from across the border) met to hear papers on recent research and cultural resource management issues. One of the big events was a presentation on the Walker Hill Site by Thor Olmanson, Mathew Mattson, and Colleen Wells. They really provided a great service to Minnesota archaeologists by presenting their findings even as their analyses continue. Perhaps the best part of their presentation was the chance to see in person the Walker finds and to hear the assessments of these finds from different archaeologists. Although I didn’t take a poll, there were clearly a range of opinions with many archaeologists unconvinced of the site’s cultural reality.

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A number of bloggers, scholars, and news stories have highlighted the intriguing opportunity to use the free satellite images on Google Earth to identify and study archaeological sites.

  
Teotihuacan from 15,500 ft (Google Earth image 1/16/2007).

Ur from 1600 ft (Google Earth Image 1/16/2007). 

I am amazed at what I learn about archaeological landscapes when I can explore them in Google Earth. I’m also amazed at how well one can see surface features and architectural remains in the high resolution areas. One of the really impressive explorations of Google Earth archaeology is posted by James Q. Jacobs. His web site includes a very interesting discussion about monumental architecture from archaeological sites around the world.

I’m working on my own Google Earth “survey”, the results of which I will post sometime soon. In this post I want to write about the application of Google Earth in the classroom. Last month I taught my World Prehistory course. Every time I teach this subject I always begin by telling my students my fantasy would be to have a helicopter, a pilot, and unlimited funds. We would fly to all the sites so that we could see them in person and in their surrounding landscape - see them “in situ“. To me archaeology is about places and things (and our ideas about these places and things). To really grasp archaeology, to understand our theories, to connect with the past, one needs to see and touch the places and things that we study. Google Earth is as close to my helicopter classroom as I’m likely to ever come.

The assignment I gave my students was to develop a “tour” of a world region outlining the prehistoric and historic developments by highlighting its important sites and/or archaeological settings. Google Earth allows them to include text, photographs, and web links with each placemark. So I saw this assignment as having many of the elements of a traditional term paper, but presented in a geographical format. The students utilized a variety of research and computer skills while learning about archaeology, geography, and a new technology.

You can see an example of my students’ work at the GE community forum. The example is for the site of Cuzco put together by Lindsey Jo Helms.  I was really impressed by her use of photographs and overlays.

We had another meeting of the Hamline history group this week. This time we had several historians, archivists, and professors - so it was a lively meeting (that is if you find old photographs and railroad records exciting)!

I see this collaboration as having incredible potential. I’m already lining up interested students for next fall’s class (Excavating Hamline’s History). We are still hoping to find one of the original train depots for an excavation, but we also talked about some other potential sites. Given all the possibilities, I am convinced we are going to excavate a very significant historical site.

Phil Reinhardt, of the Hamline Midway History Corp, has added a nice section to their website describing the project and some of the research that his group has completed. I particularly like this quote from a 1901 traveler to Hamline describing the trip by streetcar from St. Paul.

Arrival - Monday morning, September 6, 1901, marks the moment of my introduction to Minnesota. From Vernon McCombs, one of the student managers of the college bookstore, I had received instructions how to reach the Hamline district from the Union Depot. … [The Hamline-Jackson streetcar] was distinctly sui generis, functioning, as it seemed, like many a homo sapiens, with a minimum of reserves and a maximum of noise. Tradition has it that the passengers got off frequently and helped the car up the inclines on Lexington and Minnehaha near their point of intersection. Of course there was no car line on Snelling nor was the street paved. Both came many years later. (Dr. James S. King, “The Middle Years and Now”)

To any Hamline students reading this blog, now is a great time to get involved in this project. There are opportunities to help with the archival research, collect oral histories, and this spring, to help with the archaeological testing of possible site locations.