Over at Savage Minds (well… their backup blog), Kerim has posted a guide in how to ramp up on a particular topic in an hour. I don’t know about the hour timeframe, but one of the key skills of CRM archaeology is bringing yourself up to speed on a particular topic very quickly. Over a weekend, perhaps. Also, this won’t actually make you an expert, but you’ll be well informed.

ruralarchaeologist:

process-arch:

ruralarchaeologist:

I was serious when I said we use pick axes in the winter

You must have a nice repertoire of Woody Guthrie songs. 

What happens with the bags of soil when you’re finished with the axes? Do you let it thaw in the lab? Do you screen it or float it?

(hat-tip to Andrew Sewell for asking about the soil in Disqus)

It all really varies from company to company but the basic process is this: the bags are brought back to the lab and are allowed to both thaw and dry out (usually by increasing the surface area and having really warm rooms or dehumidifiers). Once the soil is dried it is hand screened though a standard mesh screen (or a smaller mesh if the permit requires it). If an artifact is found we know which bag it came from, and therefore which test pit it originated in. A map of test units and features was already drawn during field work and each bag was marked by a test unit number, which was also recorded on the map. Once all of the soil is processed we can see if the area is positive or negative and also see the patterns of positive clusters. We then decide what our next move is: a) give the client the go-ahead for construction b) go back to test more and figure out the boundaries of the site either with more winter testing or wait until summer c) write-off the test location entirely because we suspect it is a large or complex site. I also want to note that occasionally wet screening is applied or other special measures. This is just the basic method that I’ve noticed with the companies I worked for or companies that friends have worked for.

ruralarchaeologist:

process-arch:

shovelbum:

zomganthro:

ruralarchaeologist:

If you ever wanted to know how we do winter archaeology the answer is a cement saw, some feed bags, a pick axe and lots of muscle! This was actually taken last spring so there isn’t very much snow (nor is it very cold) but you get the idea.

Canadian CRM is badass

The construction crew at our site had a rock saw out yesterday and it reminded me of the many years of this.  I explained it to my English colleagues, I’m not sure if they believed me or not.

It does run counter to the idea of carefully recording the delicate associations in situ. How do you find features this way? What does this do to fragile artifacts? Is (durable) artifact recovery the only goal?

It’s very different from summer archaeology, and very VERY different from academic archaeology. The point of commercial archaeology is to locate sites within a development, so that we can avoid them. We aren’t testing to learn more about a specific site. We are using the least invasive methods available (and within reason and price range) to selectively test high potential features to prove the existence of a site. We often refuse to test truly high potential features during the winter, as well. Once that is established we petition to the Archaeology Branch and advise the client to avoid the area, and the large buffer zone that we associate with it. You also tend to pick-axe in natural layers, so it ends up being more similar to summer archaeology than one would think.

Testing is different than excavation because we are using a grid method to just sample an area. We are trying to establish if there is a site, without destroying the site, and the information associated. It’s not about stratigraphy but rather about the location in general. The good news is that if a clovis point were to pop out (highly irregular) we would SEE it in the field. If further information is required we do excavate in long trenches. Either the excavation is done by building excavation tents and using large industrial heaters, and heat blankets OR we wait until the thaw, and excavate in better weather.

Unfortunately, we can’t avoid winter testing, because the government regulates archaeology. My first winter, I was afraid that we might saw through an artifact, but no one I’ve ever met has done that. You can always feel when you hit a rock and usually stop to check it out. But, at least in Canada, before doing ANY development you have to call us in. That’s a huge plus in my opinion, unlike a lot of other countries. It’s not a perfect system, but at least there is a system. I hope that answers some questions people might have!

Thanks!

Reblogged so others can see your response.

ruralarchaeologist:

I was serious when I said we use pick axes in the winter

You must have a nice repertoire of Woody Guthrie songs. 

What happens with the bags of soil when you’re finished with the axes? Do you let it thaw in the lab? Do you screen it or float it?

(hat-tip to Andrew Sewell for asking about the soil in Disqus)

theolduvaigorge:

Ground stone use-wear analysis: A review of terminology and experimental methods

• by Jenny L. Adams
  

“Methods, terms, and experimental results are presented as standardized concepts for the analysis of ground stone tools. Recent experimental and microscopic research techniques applied to the study of ground stone tools have broadened the recognition of use-wear patterns. Building on the research of tribologists who study wear in order to prevent it, wear mechanisms have been identified that are distinctive to the relative nature of contact between two stone surfaces in addition to the nature of substances worked between contacting surfaces. Tribological wear mechanisms identifiable on stone surfaces include surface fatigue, adhesion, abrasion, and tribochemical interactions, each of which are continuously in play, so that what we see depends on when the wear process was interrupted. Other important factors influencing surface wear are the durability and texture of the rock type selected for tool use.

► Use-wear analysis on ground stone tools is described. ► Macroscopic and microscopic use-wear patterns are defined. ► Ethnographic models are used to design exploratory experiments. ► Experiments standardize methods and terms derived from tribological research” (read more).

(Source: Journal of Archaeological Science 2013, in press)

(via gwebarchaeology)

shovelbum:

zomganthro:

ruralarchaeologist:

If you ever wanted to know how we do winter archaeology the answer is a cement saw, some feed bags, a pick axe and lots of muscle! This was actually taken last spring so there isn’t very much snow (nor is it very cold) but you get the idea.

Canadian CRM is badass

The construction crew at our site had a rock saw out yesterday and it reminded me of the many years of this.  I explained it to my English colleagues, I’m not sure if they believed me or not.

It does run counter to the idea of carefully recording the delicate associations in situ. How do you find features this way? What does this do to fragile artifacts? Is (durable) artifact recovery the only goal?

nevver:

Me

Nice profile, but you’re missing the scale, provenience data, and Munsell colors. Please, redo.

(via koriblr)

zomganthro:

ruralarchaeologist:

If you ever wanted to know how we do winter archaeology the answer is a cement saw, some feed bags, a pick axe and lots of muscle! This was actually taken last spring so there isn’t very much snow (nor is it very cold) but you get the idea.

Canadian CRM is badass

(via canadianarchaeology)

richiedcruz:

Realities of the job: Sketch Maps

For anyone who dreads making a sketch map. Most sketch maps in CRM are done with the aid of a Trimble (fancy, expensive, yellow GPS thingy).

All one does is copy what is on the screen. No need for pacing. Just measure with the Trimble. Zoom in and out as needed. Most of the landscape is already on the screen in relation to the site.

Easy.

Why you can’t just put the site map from the yellow box thing on a record and save a few minutes of freehand drawing, I do not know…

For us, GPS is for detailed mapping and sketch map is a rougher map to help illustrate roughly where things are in the notes (not to scale). For my sketch maps, I still use the compass and pace method, although someone on Twitter mentioned using a range finder, which I think is brilliant.

I can see the point of having a separate sketch map in the notes, but just copying what’s already on the GPS doesn’t make much sense to me.

jangojips:

Has anyone been hired by a company outside the state they live in or outside the geographical region they live in? How did that work? Did your company provide you with room and board? Did you fly back and forth on your own dime in between projects? What happens, exactly?

Job prospects in my area…

I did this a couple of times. Once, on a pipeline survey, the company provided housing and per diem, even on the weekends. This was an ongoing project that was moving from hotel to hotel on a weekly basis. Travel was on my own dime.

Another job was an ongoing survey of a large land area. We didn’t ever move the field hq, so you were expected to find your own place. Again, personal travel wasn’t covered.

Generally, per diem and travel is based off of the location of the company hq. If you’re within a couple of hours of hq, there won’t be per diem. If you need to move to be close to the hq, housing won’t be covered and you’ll have to find your own. If you do this, I strongly recommend getting a place month-to-month. It’s more expensive, but will be cheaper than having to break a lease when the project doesn’t work out. 

If the project is more than a couple hours away from the hq, housing and per diem will usually be provided. If it’s a long drive from hq, sometimes housing and per diem will be supplied over the weekend. Otherwise, they’ll go back home over the weekend. In that case, you’re on your own over the weekend. If you’re traveling out from the company’s hq, it’ll be covered to and from the project area. Sometimes, you’ll just meet at the hotel, in which case you’re on your own for travel.

Sometimes, rarely, the firm will keep a room at the hotel over the weekend to house equipment for the following week. They’ll occasionally be willing to let one or two people stay in that room to “watch over the stuff.” Basically, you get free housing for the weekend, but that’s it. It’s unpaid and there’s no per diem. I did that a couple of times, less because of the travel and more because I enjoyed exploring those smaller towns.

If a project is really long term and far away from hq, the firm will sometimes establish a field hq. In this case, the rules for being close to hq apply.

Good luck in your job search. Many firms have a “stable” of techs who have worked for them before. When I project comes up, they’ll contact that group of people first. Not everybody will be able to show up, but they’ll usually know people who are looking for work. Talk to your fellow tech friends who have jobs to see if they can put in a good word.

Also, it’s still late winter up in the north, so everybody is grasping for a limited number of jobs. I’d expect the job market to open up a little more in a month or two, although I also expect it to be a dismal autumn because of the sequester.