Category Archives: Uncategorized

My final semester…..

by Genevieve Everett

By: Katherine Peresolak

The Carroll Farm

It’s amazing how quickly the past two years have gone, but I was warned! It’s exciting to be in my final semester and focusing on thesis work and writing. My research centers on a historic home (and farm) located in Fayette County that stands on what is now DCNR land. The primary goal was to determine when the older, hand-hewn timber part of the house was built. This and three other research questions were investigated using several methodologies: documentary research, archaeological excavation, architectural survey, dendrochronology (tree-ring dating), and soil chemistry analysis. Answers to my research questions will provide the DCNR managers support in arguing for the home’s and site’s significance and need for funding. While the use of dendrochronology to date house timbers and soil chemistry analysis to understand the farm fields and land use/quality has been so interesting, probably the most exciting part of this project for me has been the public archaeology aspect.

 

Joanna Furnace, 2006, Wheelwright Shop

My own experience in archaeology began when I was 16 and still in high school. Two annual festivals are held at Joanna Furnace in Berks County, to which my mom regularly took my sister and I. I honestly did not want to walk away from the open excavation when I saw it, and my mom saw an opportunity to ask if they (SPA Chapter 21) took volunteers. Ever since then, public archaeology has been dear to me, and I can’t wait to share the results of my thesis research with DCNR and other publicly-accessible outlets so that the history of a 19th-century log house in rural SW Pennsylvania can be told. Another valuable part of my thesis has been the accessibility to three individuals with a family connection to the house. Their involvement only improved what I have been able to conclude in my study.

Staffordshire pottery sherd

I am planning to defend my thesis soon and fully graduate by May, which is exciting, and I look forward to the job opportunities that will be available afterward. Traveling to new places and seeing cotton fields, Cyprus swamps, and other things like Armadillo shells (it’s almost like seeing a live one, right?) and uncovering Staffordshire pottery (trust me, it’s cool) has always been one of my favorite parts of fieldwork, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

A graduate student’s musings on the NEH and NEA

by Genevieve Everett

By: Genevieve Everett

The arts and humanities have always meant a great deal to me as I was lucky enough to be raised in an environment in which expressing oneself was done through painting or drawing in or outside the lines. As a child, my mother and grandmother both took me to as many museums in Delaware and eastern Pennsylvania as they could. All of these experiences opened my eyes to the world around me. However, it wasn’t until fourth grade that I found a way to express myself. Fourth grade was the year when students were given the opportunity to pick out the instrument of their choice and get weekly music lessons from the school music teacher. No, I did not go to a fancy private school, on the contrary, I went to PUBLIC school where my education was FREE. I still remember the day my mother took me to the school cafeteria to pick out the instrument that I would end up playing for nine straight years, the clarinet. This is going to sound real cliché, but music made me who I am today. I struggled with attention deficit disorder as a kid, but still managed to do well in school, because I found something that I excelled in and enjoyed. I credit my interest in the arts and humanities to those music teachers that taught us to tap our feet in time to the music, to the women in my life that showed me that the past is part of the present, and the history, anthropology/archaeology teachers that broadened my understanding of the world.

You may be asking yourself, “why did she just go off on that tangent about music and art and history?” Well, without the arts and humanities, I would not be where I am today: a graduate student studying applied archaeology. The things I listed above, the experiences, especially learning to play an instrument cannot be directly attributed to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) or the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), but the federal recognition of importance of the arts and humanities in the 1960’s created programs that would affect millions of Americans and American institutions for years to come.

Okay, a little background information on the NEH and NEA…

The NEH and NEA were established as federal agencies by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 29, 1965 in response to a 1964 finding that, “the emphasis placed on science endangered the study of the humanities from elementary schools through postgraduate programs”. The 1960’s were a time of civil unrest, and the American people began to question the status quo. The civil rights movement was in full force, the first real talks around human impacts on the environment were being seriously discussed, and people recognized that the arts and humanities were not getting their fair share. Since the implementation of the NEH and NEA, it has not all been smooth sailing. The agencies have experienced drastic cuts throughout their 50 + year tenure. Now in 2017 the NEH and NEA are facing similar cuts under the new administration. So, we tell ourselves, “oh, no big deal, they’ll bounce back just like they have in the past.” WRONG. The new administration wants to cut federal spending by $10 trillion dollars, and the NEH and NEA are low on the totem pole when it comes to funding priorities under a conservative agenda.

What does this have to do with archaeology? While archaeology is technically considered a science (whether social or a ‘true’ science, it is a highly debatable within archaeology), it still falls in the ranks of the humanities, such as history and social studies. The NEH provides grants to archaeological or closely related archaeological projects. For example, Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections is one of the NEH grants created to help, “cultural institutions meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting sustainable conservation measures”. It is projects like this that protect cultural resources from destruction and deterioration. Although having little do to with archaeology, a project that uses art for the betterment of the American people is the NEA Military Healing Arts Partnership which, “supports creative art therapy programs to help our nation’s wounded, ill, and injured service members and their families in their recovery, reintegration or transition to civilian life”. Without the NEH and NEA, projects such as these will fall by the wayside, and the arts and humanities, including archaeology will suffer.

If you are reading this, and are a concerned citizen just as I am, you can sign this petition: Do not defund the NEA or NEH AND speak to your state and local representatives.

 

Material referenced:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/arts/design/donald-trump-arts-humanities-public-television.html

https://www.neh.gov/about/history

Image:

NEA and NEH logo image

 

IUP at SHPO, Part 2

by Genevieve Everett

By David Breitkreutz

During the past four months I have been working for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commissions (PHMC), our State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO), with fellow IUP graduate student Hannah Harvey. We are working on the Report Backlog Processing Project. On a typical day our job duties include: mapping archaeological survey reports into the Cultural Resources Geographic Information System (CRGIS) system, data entry of archaeological survey reports, updating Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey Forms (PASS) into the CRGIS system, and filing of all processed archaeological survey reports into the SHPO Report Archive. At times the job has become predictable and mundane, however it has been educational to read all of the reports. We’ve also been invited to attend Determination of Eligibility (DOE) meetings and we attended the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Board (PHPB) meeting in October. Attending these meetings has been far from the humdrum of processing reports because it has given us an insider’s perspective on procedures for evaluating eligibility in the commonwealth.*

Prior to the DOE meeting each Phase I or Phase II report has been evaluated by the regional Archaeological Reviewer. At this point, the assigned reviewer has made their determination and either agrees or disagrees with the consultant’s (CRM firm) findings and recommendations. The DOE meeting is used to defend the reviewer’s evaluation of the project to the others in attendance. The meeting is attended by all three Archaeological Reviewers (Kira Heinrich; Western region, Steve McDougal; Central region; and Mark Shaffer; Eastern region) and the division chief of Archaeology and Protection (Doug McClearan). Keith Heinrich (the Western Region National Register Reviewer) and Noël Strattan (CRGIS Coordinator) often attend these meetings too. Almost all of the DOE meetings we have attended have been after the Phase II has been completed.

The staff go over site mapping, sampling strategies, testing strategies, soil integrity, feature context, and they discuss whether or not the site adds data that contributes to our understanding of the past, thus eligible for inclusion in the NRHP. Their recommendations are congruent with the Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations in Pennsylvania and are based on the site’s significance and integrity, or lack thereof. At least three of the reviewers must agree to the determination and sign-off on the DOE certificate. Usually this is a straightforward process and there is really no back and forth arguing. After all, they have been doing this for years and they make sure the consultants are following the guidelines. Fortunately our state has a solid and strict reputation, most contractors abide to the guidelines, and most times consultants ask PHMC reviewers for feedback. Unfortunately at times the reviewers have made the evaluation that the contractors work scope hindered their ability to appropriately evaluate the property. In these cases the consultants are sent back out to complete more work because they didn’t reach the minimum required for evaluation under the Guidelines. I have to say that these type of DOE meetings were the most educational for me because you can learn a lot by never repeating mistakes of others.

Photo 1: DOE Meeting at the SHPO. From left to right Hannah Harvey, Doug McLearen, Steve McDougal, Mark Shaffer, Kira Heinrich, and Keith Heinrich.

On October 4th we attended the PHPB meeting in the Rachael Carson Building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This was a different undertaking from the DOE meetings because these were all above-ground resources, therefore we heard arguments for eligibility on the basis of all four criteria of eligibility. There was a total of eight properties that were nominated during this meeting. The process on average takes about a year to complete, sometimes a little longer for the non-professional. A National Register Form is completed and submitted to one of three National Register (NR) Reviewers. Like Archaeological Reviewers the NR Reviewers are divided by region (Keith Heinrich: Western Region, Dave Maher: Central Region, and April Frantz: Eastern Region). Each NR Reviewer receives dozens of NR forms yearly and works closely with the individuals submitting the form. The exact numbers are not yet ready for the year as staff is still working on the annual reports, but it is estimated that three-quarters of NR nominations are determined ineligible by the reviewer before going to the board. Only some of the eligible properties have an actual nomination submitted and move forward through the process. Therefore, the board only receives the strongest nominations.

The primary responsibilities of the 15 member board is to review NR nominations and nomination appeals before they are sent to the Keeper of the NR. Prior to the meeting each board member has reviewed the NR Form. During the meeting a NR Reviewer makes a power point presentation of the nominated property highlighting the strengths for inclusion in the NR. Upon conclusion the reviewer pronounces to the board that they strongly recommend the property be listed on the NR. Board members then make their comments on either the strengths or weaknesses of each nomination. After the board makes their comments they ask for comments from the public. The Board supported the nominations for eligibility on all eight properties and they will be passed on to the Keeper of the NR. This is usually the case during these meetings. After all, the NR Reviewers have selected these among others as presenting the best case for inclusion in the NR. The most rewarding aspect of attending the PHPB was the exuberant faces of the individuals responsible for nominating the properties. For them it is the payoff of a lot of research, constant revisions to NR Forms, and plenty of patience. However the board’s determination is not the culmination, as the property is now in the hands of the Keeper of the NR.

Photo 2: Andrea MacDonald leading the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Board Meeting.

List and Links to Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Board Meeting nominations.

1–Marcus Hook Plank House: http://www.marcushookps.org/house.php

2- Rachel Foster Avery House: http://hiddencityphila.org/2016/10/historic-designation-for-suffragette-meeting-house-in-somerton/

http://hsp.org/blogs/fondly-pennsylvania/suffragists-philadelphia-home                                              

3- Harry C. Kahn & Son Furniture Warehouse: This link is from a real estate development firm. http://www.pyramidliving.com/look-inside/

4- Rueben & Elizabeth Strassburger Farmstead: No link found.

5- Highland Park Camp Meeting: http://www.highlandparkcamp.org/national-register/

6- Jacob & Juliana Middlekauf House: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gettysburgfestival/5471771960

7- Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge: http://wmchapel.org/

8- Twin Bridges Historic District: No link found.

*A quick refresher on National Register of Historic Places Eligibility:

The NPS regulations in 36 CFR 60.4 established the criteria of eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and explains four (A, B, C, and D) NRHP Criteria for Eligibility. Criterion A is for sites associated with important historic events “that made a significant contribution to the broad pattern of our history.” Criterion B is for sites “that are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.” Criterion C is for buildings “that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction.” Criterion D is for sites “that have yielded, or may yield, information important in prehistory or history.” D is the most important, and used, criterion for both historic and prehistoric archaeological sites. The eligibility criteria leaves ample room for interpretation with regards to what resources are determined to be eligible for inclusion and how it may be interpreted.

Rocks and Roosters

by Genevieve Everett

By: John Rolf

Hey. What’s up? My name is John Rolf and I am a first year graduate student at IUP. As cliche as it sounds, I have wanted to be an archaeologist since I was a child. I used to devour anything I could related to foreign cultures, exotic locales, and action-adventure. Basically I was a huge fan of Indiana Jones and Dirk Pitt. However, with a subscription to Archaeology magazine, I learned early on that archaeology wasn’t all about fighting nazis and combing the desert for lost arks. Still that did not deter me from seeking a career in the field, rather it made me more fascinated by it.

rocks

Rocks: the worst thing to dig through

I received my BA from WVU, go Mountaineers, in sociology and anthropology with a focus in anthropology. It was here that I worked closely with Doug Sahady as a teaching assistant for both the WVU 2013 Field School and Archaeology Lab the following semester. It was during the field school that I learned two very important things besides how to conduct an archaeological investigation; digging through a garden of rocks is not fun and roosters make wonderful companions at archaeological sites since they eat all the bugs you dig up. That fall, as monotonous as it was, I assisted in cataloguing over 7,000 artifacts that semester too. If you want to talk about fun, try sitting in a shed looking at rocks for hours on end picking out what are artifacts and what are not, and then developing a database for it all on top of it. During this time, I also assisted Carl Mauer, president of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology – Mon/Yough Chapter 3, at the Schriver Farm site near Garards Fort, PA. We never really found anything outside of small chert flakes at this site, but it did give me a ton of experience conducting site surveys, laying grids, and identifying artifacts.

john-rolf

Me in Colorado!

After my undergrad, I took a year off to think about what I wanted to do, and at the time Colorado seemed like a good idea. So I moved to Colorado Springs. It was a beautiful place and I would have loved to stay out west, but grad school started scratching the back of my brain. I was interested in pursuing a degree that focused on the applied aspects of Archaeology, and I wanted a program that let me implement technology into my investigations. Ever since I attended a seminar in my undergrad about a man who used magnetometers for geophysically surveying a field, I’ve wanted to get training to do that professionally, plus use it in archaeological investigations. After a few Google searches, I stumbled upon IUP. I filled out the application a few weeks later, took my GRE’s (which are the worst by the way), packed up and headed back across the country to Oakland, Maryland, aka my hometown, but not before I visited the beautiful town of McCall, Idaho where my wonderful girlfriend was attending school at the MOSS Program.

If you ask anyone in my graduate class, they will tell you how great grad school is, and it really is, but there is no way to express the amount of work involved in pursuing a masters degree in Archaeology. By the end of the semester I will have written enough words to fill a small novel (literally!). I wouldn’t change a thing though. This program has taught me so much this semester alone and I cannot wait to continue on my educational journey here at IUP.

IUP at the SHPO, Part 1

by Genevieve Everett

By: Hannah Harvey

dave-hard-at-work

Dave Breitkreutz hard at work mapping a report

This fall, IUP’s archaeology program is being well represented at the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). David Breitkreutz and myself, both “third-year” grad students, are currently working as independent contractors helping to process a backlog of archaeological survey reports into PA’s Cultural Resources Geographic Information System (CRGIS). This work is part of a larger project to design and implement a new SHPO-wide data management system, which is serving as mitigation for the destruction of an archaeological site.

wall-of-backlogged-reports

At the start of the project, a wall of backlogged reports!

The day-to-day work is fairly straightforward: grab a report, enter report data into the CRGIS database, map the survey area in GeoMedia (which links to the report record in the CRGIS web interface), put the report in a folder, slap on a label, file it in the record room… and repeat! Sounds pretty simple, and for many reports it is that easy. However, we’ve been learning that each survey and each report is unique due to the nature of the undertaking, the terrain, the consultants’ reporting styles, and whether or not sites were recorded. Naturally, a few of these reports are problem children and very difficult to process, especially when the report is older than I am and the volume with all the project maps has vanished. Needless to say, the variety keeps things interesting!

Even when the work feels a little repetitive, it is an important part of the SHPO’s task of managing compliance-driven archaeological survey across the state. For every project, after the field and lab work has been completed, the report ends up at the SHPO where a trusty team of archaeological reviewers read the reports to assess the presence of sites, whether or not they’ll be impacted by the undertaking, and in some cases to evaluate their eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places. These folks are responsible for ensuring that significant archaeological sites are given appropriate consideration (whether avoidance or mitigation) as projects move forward. After a report has been accepted by the SHPO, it needs to be recorded and mapped within CRGIS so that we can keep a record of the locations and results of these surveys. That’s where Dave and I come in! As we process reports, they become searchable within CRGIS and available to consultants and researchers. Without this processing, the locations and findings of these surveys are effectively “hidden” from consultants and SHPO staff alike.

reports-processed

As the reports are processed, they get filed in the SHPO record room.

Many aspects of this job are extremely educational and dovetail nicely with the things we learned in our graduate classes. For me personally, it’s been a fun challenge to work with an unfamiliar GIS application (even if I’m still partial to ArcMap). Plus, reading through all these reports is like a whirlwind course in some really cool PA archaeology! But looking at the bigger picture, it’s been helpful to learn what happens to reports and how they are reviewed. Seeing the tail end of the process helps me to better appreciate the importance of careful work in the field, the lab, and in creating clear and understandable reports. After all, once a site has been excavated, it has been destroyed, but that information will continue to exist within these reports and maps.

PCSS Conference

by Genevieve Everett

By: Genevieve Everett

This past weekend I drove out to Harrisburg for the 63rd annual Pennsylvania Council for Social Studies (PCSS) conference. The conference theme this year was “Creating Global Citizens Through Issues Focused Instruction”.

Part of my public archaeology assistantship is to go to this conference to present to social studies teachers from all over the state. My contribution to the conference was a presentation on “The Crisis in Archaeological and Cultural Heritage in the Middle East”. The first question I asked my audience, “have any of you taught arpcss-conferencechaeology in your classrooms?” was received with side-glances and heads awkwardly turning to look at their neighbor to see if they had taught the subject. I took that as a resounding, “NO”. From there I began to discuss cultural heritage destruction, and back that up with several case studies. I began with two based in the Middle East concerning the Giant Buddha’s of Bamiyan Province in Afghanistan and Palmyra in Syria. These are two examples of religiously motivated destruction of cultural resources and heritage, but I didn’t want my audience to think that this only happens in the Middle East. I wanted to drive home that the destruction of cultural resources and heritage is a global issue. Not all destruction is religiously motivated, we also see looting and selling of antiquities on the black market in economically depressed countries, and individuals that loo

giant-buddhas

Giant Buddha of Bamiyan

t sites for their own personal collections. I continued to explain context and its importance in archaeology. When artifacts and features are looted, broken or completely destroyed, they lose their meaning and interpretive value. I ended the discussion by talking about Sarah Parcak, the satellite archaeologist that is using satellite imagery to compare maps over time that show increased looting, especially in Egypt. Parcak hopes to use these maps to prevent further looting of sites worldwide. Did I mention she is my hero? To read more about her research follow the link below!

looting

Two satellite images depicting increased looting holes at a site in Egypt between 2009 and 2012

My main goal at this conference was to get these teachers interested (and excited) in incorporating archaeology into their curriculum by providing resources that they can use in their classroom. One such lesson plan called, “Trash Talk” has students examine modern trash the way that archaeologists look at trash pits to make inferences about the people that were using the objects, and how they were used. I even found a lesson plan pertaining to context, which I will provide a link to below. I had fantastic social studies and history teachers growing up, but I do not recall being taught archaeology at all. I hope that my presentation opened the eyes of some of these teachers, veterans and newbies to a new way of presenting the past to their students.

Links:

Sarah Parcak- National Geographic fellow and satellite archaeologist

Context exercise

 

International Archaeology Day in a few words…

by Genevieve Everett

By: Genevieve Everett

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Atlatl demo on the Oak Grove

This past weekend in the midst of midterms and homecoming we held our International Archaeology Day event for the public. It was a beautiful, unseasonably warm fall day. Campus was abuzz with students and alumni headed to the game, and along the way they had a chance throw darts/spears with an atlatl, “a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing, and includes a bearing surface which allows the user to store energy during the throw”. It’s basically like throwing darts at the bar on steroids (kind of, sort of). It’s really fun, and gives you a perspective on the concentration and precision that must have gone into the use of this tool by early humans. Did I mention that it’s REALLY fun!?

After a vigorous workout of throwing darts you could head into McElhaney Hall on the ground floor where undergraduate and graduate students were set up to teach you about everything from micro-artifacts to what a flotation/wet lab is. I won’t bore you with a description of everything, instead I will share photos of the days events, because that’s much more exciting! Before I do that, I hope that everyone that was able to attend had a fun and educational experience, and we look forward to seeing you next year!

photo-1

Prehistoric table and prehistoric artifacts

 

photo-1-4

Kids room making wampum and hand painting

photo-1-3

Historic archaeology, zooarch lab, micro-artifacts, and Zaakiyah handing out dirt cups!

photo-4

Flint knapping demo

photo-3-1

Chris giving a GPR demo on the Oak Grove.

Special thanks to: Susanna Haney for coming out and giving the flint knapping demo, Lori and Andy Majorsky & Margie and Frank for putting on the atlatl demo! LAST, BUT NOT LEAST: All of the students that participated in the event!!

 

Cited material:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear-thrower

I Can Munsell That Pt. 2

by Genevieve Everett

By: Genevieve Everett

Side note: THIS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15th from 12-3pm  at McElhaney Hall on the Ground Floor is our INTERNATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY DAY event! Come one, come all!

What’s Halloween without candy? I remember having the occasional box of raisins or
bag of pretzels thrown in my pillow casecandy-corn, and for most children, this was unacceptable! When I think of Halloween candy, I think of CANDY CORN! For those that have never had the tiny morsel’s, they are pure sugar shaped into what you’re supposed to assume is little kernels of corn? Who knows? Whatever it is, I love it! Time to Munsell!

So, as you can see in the photograph, I ‘dissected’ the candy corn into three parts: white, orange and yellow. I pulled out the handy, dandy Munsell and put the white piece to the test, and guess what? There is a ‘WHITE’ section at the very back of the Munsell Color Book. I wanted to know what makes soil white, and this is what I found out, “Clear or white (soils), usually due to the presence of calcium and magnesium carbonates, gypsum or other more soluble salts”. Cool!  So, the white piece came out (to me) as 2.5Y9.5/1….WHITE! Next, I took the yellow piece of the candy corn and tested it against the several yellowish colors. Yellows in the Munsell vary from straight up yellow to varying hues of reddish yellows and brownish yellows. The closest I could come to this bright yellow candy was 2.5Y8/8…YELLOW! Last, but no least, the orange piece. First I want to point out thacandy-corn-munsellt the word orange does not show up in the Munsell Color Book ONCE. According to the Munsell color blog, “orange isn’t part of Munsell’s primary hue color. The color is represented in Munsell’s “intermediate hues”—the colors between two primary hues.  So the color orange is referred to as “yellow-red” (YR) because it is located between the primary hues, red and yellow”. This does not mean that orange doesn’t exist naturally in the natural world. SO, this led me to look at the reddish yellows. I went back and forth between 5YR and 7.5YR…and I decided the orange that is candy corn orange does not fit any of the Munsell colors. It’s its own unique combination of yellow 5 and red 3 dye!

To learn more about ‘hue, value, and chroma’, click the first link “Soil Color Never Lies”, below!

Cited material:

http://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/sss/2014/03/30/soil-color-never-lies/

The Color Orange Touches Off a Testy Debate

 

I Can Munsell That

by Genevieve Everett

By: Genevieve Everett

munsell-book

I’ve decided to continue something that a previous poster started, and that is to Munsell something other than soil!

First, what is the Munsell color system? The Munsell color system was created by Dr. Albert H. Munsell (1858-1918), an accomplished artist and inventor. “Munsell’s work in developing a systematic approach to teaching and communicating was influential in evolving color science theory at the turn of the century.” We as archaeologists use the Munsell color system to describe soil colors in a profile. I won’t go too deep into this subject, because, well, I am not well versed in it (yet!), but if you want to learn more, I suggest taking the soils class when it is made available.

cat-munsell

Now for the fun part! I’ve been thinking, about what to Munsell, and I came to a conclusion, a dangerous one…my vicious cat, Isabelle! I’ve decided that this entire series, at least for the month of October will be ‘Halloween’ themed, so, what better way to do that than with a black (or is she?!) cat. Isabelle decided to be extremely cooperative today with this photo shoot until I put a trowel near her body. Luckily cats shed, A WHOLE LOT, and I was able to find clumps of her hair on the floor.

In the field, you take a small piece of soil from the profile with your trowel, and pack it down so that you can place it under one of the many color chips in the book. NEVER TOUCH THE COLOR CHIP, because they will fade. It usually helps to either be in full sunlight or full shade, because I’m telling yocat-hair-munsellu, many soil colors look like various shades in the book. For example, there are three shades of ‘yellowish brown’ (10YR 5/4, 5/6, 5/8), all of which look pretty much the same, so do yourself a favor and make it a little easier on the eyes. In my case, I took the wadded up ball of fur, and tested it under various color chips. 5YR 2.5/1, black? No. 7.5YR 2.5/1? No. 2.5Y2.5/1, black? YES! Okay, this is not scientific by any means, but it looked the closest to me, and since no one else has tested a Munsell on cat fur before, I’m going to stick with this answer.

What ‘Halloween’ themed thing, blob or monster would you like to see put to the Munsell next week? Leave comments below!

I will leave you with a really cool website, Munsell.com. Check out their color blog! The link below was a project they did to describe the unique soil colors of several National Parks in the United States for the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service:

The Soil Colors of the National Parks

Quoted material:

Albert H. Munsell & The Munsell Color Theory

 

International Archaeology Day 2016

by Genevieve Everett

By: Genevieve Everett

International Archaeology Day is upon us! Saturday, October 15th to be exact. Get excited!! Dr. Lara and I have been meeting weekly to discuss logistics, and reaching out to undergraduate and graduate students to get involved. Some of you have participated in the past, and for some of you it’s your first time. Our event will include Historic and Prehistoric archaeology, a GPR demo, flintknapping, Zooarch, a kids table, and much more!open-house-flyer-16-1

This is our chance to show the community what we know, and why archaeology is important, and connects us to the past. It is not only our duty to educate the community, but make it fun at the same time. If we just put a bunch of artifacts on a table and tell our guests what they are and where they came from, that isn’t interesting or fun. We as archaeologists know that they are interesting, but how can we make them come alive?

We can ask people to come to Archaeology Day, even bribe them with snacks, but we want them to walk away saying, “Wow, that was really cool! I want to get involved in my local archaeology chapter” or “I am changing majors tomorrow”. Most importantly, we want them to walk away thinking that archaeological sites are a valuable resource that should be protected. Now, I know that isn’t going to happen with everyone, but that is how we should think about this day. It’s an opportunity to show the public why we do what we do.

We look forward to seeing you all there!