#4 Geotagged Photos or "Hey! Dig here!"

In the modern age of social media and smart cell phones a new concern has developed. Who hasn't taken a picture of a landscape, feature, or artifact that they wanted to show their family and friends? Those of us that do archaeology on a daily basis get excited by what we find and want to share it with others. The common sharing method for photos is on popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Many people also share photos on a number of photo sharing sites such as Flickr and Photobucket. While I agree that we should share our excitement and love of our jobs with others, in the technological age that we live in, we have to be careful.

All modern smartphones, which are usually defined as phones that can run applications, have GPS chips inside. The default setting for the camera on these phones is to geolocate and tag the photos. Stored in the meta-data is latitude/longitude and elevation information. It's not difficult to find this information on a photo saved from the internet. The best way to prevent the location information from getting out is to turn off the location services on your phone.

On Apple's iPhone (all models) location reporting can be easily turned off.  

Go to "Settings", then "Location Services".

At this point, you can turn the phone's GPS receiver off entirely by sliding the "On" switch after "Location Services" to the "Off" position.  

If you choose to just turn off the GPS for the camera application then simply scroll down to it.  Keep in mind that if you use a different application than the factory installed one to take pictures, you will have to turn off location services for that app as well.

Once you have switched the slider to the off position you are safe to take photos of artifacts and sites and post them on your website of choice.  You can post with a clear conscience knowing that you have done your part for archaeological digital security.

The technology review website, CNET, has a great video on how to disable geotagging on the three major platforms, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry:

I hope that everyone includes digital security in their next "tailgate" safety meeting.  We don't realize sometimes that collectors and looters search the internet looking for artifacts to sell.  It wouldn't surprise me if they also trolled Facebook and Twitter looking for photos of artifacts and sites.  Keep this in mind when you post a photo and when you see a friend's photo.  PASS THE WORD so we can keep our friends from shouting to the world, "Hey! Dig here!"

#3 Stop and Smell the Roses

On one of the beautifully brisk morning walks to the Convention Center in Sacramento for the SAAs my good friend Deanna D. (or maybe F. if DF gets his way) and I were looking for a coffee shop that I had stopped at the previous evening. The coffee shop is called Temple Coffee and Tea and is on 10th st. between J and K. When I first found the coffee shop I was walking south and saw the unique triangular facade, which was slightly angled towards me. When we were looking for the coffee shop the next morning we were walking the other direction. Since I'm not familiar with the streets of Sacramento I was a bit unsure as to where it was. When I thought I had the right street I turned down it but then stopped because I couldn't see the shop. It's facade was angled away from me.  We realized it was actually there and Deanna commented that it was all about perspective and that it, "makes you think about survey".  

I thought about that statement later and she is absolutely right.  Things always look different from even slightly different perspectives.  We have all experienced it.  On survey it can be difficult to see large land features until you get up on a high hill or rock outcrop and everything snaps into focus.  Just the other day I was recording a fairly large historic mining area that included a shaft, waste rock platform, lift house foundations, and a debris scatter.  Four of us were on that site for an entire day.  The next day, while I was looking at some diagnostic artifacts, my eyes adjusted to what I was seeing and a square platform snapped into view.  It was slightly cleared with a small berm of rocks around the edge. The area was completely overgrown with shadscale and greasewood but it was unmistakable once I saw it.

I started to look around and saw another cleared platform about 10 m away.  Overall we found about six new features just because we changed our perspective and took a second (third, fourth) look.  

(In case you are wondering, the two platforms I initially saw were likely tent platforms for short term occupation and the others turned out to be a carpentry area and other indeterminate functional areas.)

Nearly every archaeologist, especially CRM archaeologists, have done a linear survey at one time or another.  How often have you been with a crew chief that is concerned more with miles covered than what's on the ground?  I know I've been in that situation.  They want to walk fast and cover as much ground as possible.  Aside from getting your Master's degree and saying, "I'll never do that to my crew," there isn't a whole lot that you can do.  

So, I say, sometimes you just have to turn around.  Sometimes you have to change your perspective.  Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses.  You might just find something interesting.

#2 Digital Tool Box

When I worked on the Ruby Pipeline in Northern Nevada a couple of years ago I was astonished at the amount of paper that we carried in the field. We had a three ring binder for IMACS forms (standardized site recording forms used in several western states) and associated supporting forms, and a binder for reference material. We were recording a fair number of historic sites and had glass and can identification material. Fortunately, many of our sites were near access roads which limited the need for packing that material into the site. It did happen, albeit occasionally. I needed a change.

During my various careers I have strived to find ways to make my job more efficient. My approach to archaeology is no different. The solution to my paperwork problem came with the purchase of my first smartphone: an iPhone 3GS. I instantly embraced the technology. All of the reference material that we had was already in PDF form, with a few exceptions, and the IMACS Guide, which also has good reference material, can be found online. I began using Apple's MobileMe service which gave me online storage and cloud syncing. I still kept the reference binders in the truck but that is where they stayed, in the truck. Using the iPhone made everything much more efficient for me. The iPhone's small size was the only limitation. Enter the iPad.

Only a couple weeks after it's debut I purchased my first iPad. Immediately, I saw the applicability of this device to field archaeology and site recording. I moved my PDFs to the iAnnotate App for the iPad which is a great reader and annotator for papers. I also use Pages, Numbers, and DocsToGo for spreadsheet creation and editing and document creation and editing. I'm not done yet...

I'm currently teaching myself how to program and develop apps for the iOS platform. My initial idea is for an IMACS site recording app. The IMACS form has a minimum of two parts, more if the site is multi-component. The app could be used not only for just filling out the fields but could have the reference material linked to appropriate fields and could have the ability to add the references to the end of the document as well. All this would be done in real time, as opposed to later in my hotel room or by someone in the office later on. With multiple tablet devices on the site the different parts of the form could be electronically delegated to other crew members via Bluetooth or onsite wifi technology. Upon completion of all requisite parts of the form it could be uploaded to a server and/or printed out in any format desired.

Now, a common complaint I hear to my ideas is what happens when the battery fails, or when I drop the iPad down a mine shaft, or when I drop it on a rock. As for the battery, the iPad can easily run for an entire work shift and then some, as long as you aren't watching video all day. In 2011, battery life is becoming less and less of a concern as battery technology improves. Also, there are energy storage devices that can charge devices in the field (Zagg Sparq). The other two issues that involve destruction of the device are also solved by evolving technology.  My iPad and my iPhone are both in cases made by Otter Box (iPad case, iPhone case) As of right now, there are large parts of the west that do not have access to cell service. For those areas, the data within the iPad would have to be uploaded at end of each day. This is similar to what most companies currently do with GPSs and digital cameras. In areas with service, the data can be backed up in real time to a dropbox, cloud server, or company server. How great would it be to tell your PI that the form is on their computer right now and that they can provide input and feedback instantaneously?

The last piece of equipment in my tool box is my BlueAnt T1 Bluetooth Headset.  This thing is great!  It has two microphones, one for talking and one for extraneous noise cancelation (i.e. wind).  It will also do bluetooth streaming from a smartphone which means I can listen to podcasts and audiobooks during those long surveys in the desert.  The benefit to using bluetooth is, first, that I still have one ear out and can interact with others.  Second, I can shovel test, excavate, survey, climb up boulders and steep hills, and whatever else is needed with out pesky wires getting in the way.  Also, most older project managers don't yet understand bluetooth and don't put it in the "headphones" category.

A short side note on headphones.  Generally, unless safety and heavy equipment is a concern, I don't think headphones are all that bad of an idea.  Just don't have both ears in and don't listen to blasting music.  If you can't interact then it's unsafe.  Podcasts and audiobooks are much less intrusive and let you learn at the same time.

I've only just begun to incorporate this type of technology into the field of archaeology. I hope that others can provide their experiences and concerns regarding this shift. I'm not arrogant enough to think that I've thought of everything and welcome suggestions.

#1 Blogging Archaeology

So I'm at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Sacramento and I'm listening to some interesting people give interesting papers but nothing is really blowing my socks off.  On Saturday afternoon, all of that changed.  I attended the "Blogging Archaeology" symposium and my outlook on archaeology and CRM instantly changed.  My goal has always been career oriented with the targeted path going from field tech to crew chief to field supervisor (or project archaeologist or whatever your region calls the lowest level of managing and writing) to principle investigator and/or company owner.  Now, however, I feel that it is equally important that I devote a large portion of my time to telling the public about the field I've chosen to spend the rest of my life in.

I've always enjoyed telling anyone that would listen about my love and passion for my job.  Even when I've had less-than-enjoyable bosses I've still gone home at the end of the day and said, "I did something good today."  I like that feeling and I wish everyone could experience it in their jobs.  Those of us that do feel that way should tell people about it and get others excited.  Enthusiasm is contagious.

We shouldn't stop at just boasting of our love for archaeology. No.  In fact, we should be talking about not only why we do what we do but how we do what we do and why it is important.  A few words from a presenter come to mind.  He commented that he would like to meet someone that saw archaeologists at work in the field, digging holes, looked it up online, and found a blog and all the answers to their questions.  I like that.

Often, the projects that we work on affect the public in various ways.  Even a gold mine on private land in nowhere Nevada affects the public.  They have a right to know, not where the project is, but what we are doing and what our findings are telling us about the history and prehistory of the area.  

So, what is this blog going to be about?  Well, mostly archaeology.  Specifically CRM archaeology.  I'll relate my experiences in the field regarding our methods and what we are finding.  I welcome all comments and suggestions.  I'll also talk about general science occaisionally, as well as astronomy and skepticism.  I'm a member of the Reno Skeptics and really enjoy talking to people about critical thinking and rational thought.

OK.  Let's see if I can keep this going.  Together we can make a change for the better!