#167 ArchaeoTech - Magic Cook

The Magic Cook fire-less cooking system.

I’m filing this little suite of devices in the “just plain cool” category. I’ll get right to it. The basic system includes a plastic cup or dish, an inner stainless steal container, an airtight plastic locking lid, and a water-activated heat pack. Simply place food, liquid, or even a frozen meal in the stainless steal container; put a heat pack in the plastic container;  cover the heat pack with water; place the steal container in the plastic container and attach the lid.

It should take about ten minutes to cook soup, tea, and coffee. Instant noodles take 15 minutes. In 20 minutes you can have pasta and vegetables. Rice also takes about 20 minutes. Frozen food takes about 25 minutes.

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The website for the product is not clear as to how much of an impact using very cold water versus warm water has on the heating cycle. Is the maximum temperature affected by the ambient or starting temperature of the water, or, does the water just take longer to get to boiling when really cold water is used? Either way, it’s pretty cool technology.

Uses

There is no doubt that something like this would be good in an emergency survival situation. Just the ability to boil water for purification purposes would come in handy. You could even build a small shelter in the winter and heat it up with steam from the boiling water. Sure, it wouldn’t last long, but, it might last long enough for you to get rescued.

There my be occasional uses for this product in the field on extended work-camping trips as well. The only limitation would be the heat packs you have to use to heat up the water. Just 10 packets costs $24.99 on the company website. It that means 10 dinners for one session then it might be worth it. $2.50 a day to cook your food means the difference between cold sandwiches and hot, tasty, pasta. I think I’m starting to come around.

​Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field.

#166 ArchaeoTech - Road Safety and Mobile Power

I recently saw a video from Geek Beat TV that included some great options for crews on long deployments in the field. Do you drive for hours to get to your field locations? Do you spend 8-10 days in the field at a time? Do you spend that time camping? If you work in the West then chances are the answer is yes.

The first device, a road safety light, is applicable to all situations. If you have a field vehicle then you should have something like this. The latter devices are for people and companies that have embraced a digital lifestyle.

The Video from Geek Beet called, “My Mobile Life Episode #116” is below. Check it out, then read on.

If the video doesn’t load you can find it here.

Eton Road Torq $20 to $30

​A couple years ago my wife, also an archaeologist at the time, and I were returning to the office in a company vehicle when the left rear tire blew out on the interstate, in the dark, in the middle of a torrential down pour. Good times. There was just enough space to pull off the interstate and be safe while changing the tire. It would have been real handy to have the Eton Road Torq in our safety kit.

Ever have to get into something in the company safety kit only to find out that the batteries are dead, or, something is expired. Well, that’s why it’d be nice to have one of these devices. The Road Torq can be hand-charged with the side hand crank so you know it will always work. Just two minutes of cranking will give it ten minutes of flashlight and flashing beacon power. You can also charge it up prior to leaving with the DC input for extra long charges.

Well, that’s why it’d be nice to have one of these devices. The Road Torq can be hand-charged with the side hand crank so you know it will always work. Just two minutes of cranking will give it ten minutes of flashlight and flashing beacon power. You can also charge it up prior to leaving with the DC input for extra long charges.

The Road Torq stands up with three reflective legs and has a three-LED flashing beacon and a bright, LED, flashlight. At less than a pound (13.7 oz.) this device is a must for any company, or personal, road safety kit.

My Charge - $79 to $99

​I discussed two other field battery packs before here and here. There is a suite of battery packs from this company that should fit most smartphone and tablet needs. The advantage to these power packs, as opposed to the Zagg Sparq and the Solio Bolt, is that they contain their own charging cords. Not all of them do, but some.

The Peak 6000, Summit 3000, and Portable Power Bank 6000 all contain charging and power cords which eliminates the need to carry extra cords. I’ve often found myself with one of my two battery packs but without a sync cord required to charge my device. That makes my power packs just extra weight. Get a myCharge Power Pack and you won’t have that problem.

HyperJuice 2 - $299.95

Now we’re in the big leagues. The HyperJuice series are a group of batteries that allow you to charge a laptop and two other devices, such as an iPhone and an iPad, many times over. The HyperJuice 2 will run a MacBook for up to 18 hours, an iPad for 34 hours, and the iPhone can be charged up to 19 times.

​I’ve been on long camping trips for work and it was essential to use a laptop in the evening to download equipment. For hours on end the field supervisor had a gas generator running.and it was very annoying. If we only had to run it once every other day that would have been better. With these batteries you wouldn’t have to run the generator every day and that alone is worth it.

Options

The devices I’ve presented here have many uses. They are also only a few options among many on the market. When spending the amount of money that some of these things cost I highly suggest you figure out what your needs are and find something that suits them. It is easy to under or overestimate what your needs are. My inclination is to always overestimate what my needs are and get something that’s a little beyond what I currently need. That way I’m prepared for the inevitable upgrade cycle and my equipment will stay relevant for a little while longer.

What fun and useful tech do you use in the field? Leave a comment and let my readers and I know so we can all benefit from our collective knowledge and experience.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field.

#165 Lagomarsino Petroglyph Site

(Note: If you're reading this somewhere other than on the actual page I highly recommend clicking through to the actual page. There is a slideshow of over 80 petroglyph pictures from the site that might not show up on some readers.)​

On Sunday my wife and I treked out to the Lagomarsino petroglyph site in northern Nevada. We went with the aid of some friends that have a large 4WD vehicle because the site is incredibly inaccessible. It took over an hour, mostly in 4WD Low just to go the last five miles or so. The parking area, however, is right at the base of the 1/4 mile long site.

The site contains 2,229 rock art panels and is one of eight rock art sites in Nevada that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The petroglyphs are pecked into fine-grained basalt cliff faces and an associate talus slope and boulder field. ​

Many of the large glyphs are up on the basalt wall, however, there are smaller panels and single petroglyphs dispersed throughout the boulder field. The signage at the site says the petroglyphs date to at least 10,000 years but that seems like a generalized date based on the prehistoric occupation of the area. It seems likely that the petroglyphs fall in a date range that spans several millennia at least due to the various states of patina on some of them. There are petroglyphs that look like they could have been created yesterday and some that were clearly made many centuries ago.

This site is very difficult to get to but I highly recommend the trip if you are able.​

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the field!​

#164 Podcast Episode 4: Interview with Tom King

The next episode, Episode 004, of the CRM Archaeology Podcast is up! On this episode we discuss our plans for recording during the SAAs in Hawaii, talk about an industrial expansion about to take place on the ancient site of Star Carr in Scotland, and we have a fun interview with noted regulatory expert, archaeologist, and writer Tom King.​

Thanks for listening and we'll see you in the field!​

#163 ArchaeoTech: A Present For Your Boss

Presenting the Fujitsu GPS Cane!

​Boss coming out to visit your site? Is it a bit of a walk from the vehicle over rough terrain? Get him/her the new Fujitsu GPS Cane!

All kidding aside this prototype could have some real potential way down the road. When I say way down the road, I mean way down the road. I don’t want angry comments from old timers saying how this will never work. I think outside the box and I’m thinking this “cane” has some potential. Bear with me.

Imagine that the GPS sensor in the cane knows how long the cane is and where the tip of the cane is in relation to the sensor. Now imagine that there was a small pressure tip or something at the end of the cane. You might be able to go around a site and simply tap artifacts or site boundary points with the cane and have the information transmit to a tablet or base station.

Of course, I’m just hypothesizing and trying to jam this prototype into archaeological reality. You can't even buy this cane and it may never be available. It's fun to speculate, though. I’m an early adopter and proud of it. I like trying new things and making them work in new ways. Maybe we can start a fund where people give me money to try fun new tech! Right. 

What uses can you see for this crazy tech? Do you think you'd use it to pick your way out to a site when you're a grizzled old salt? You go ahead-I'll be flying in on my jet pack.​

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!

#162 Chumash Cemetery Unearthed in Los Osos

​Los Osos is at the "A" pin.

Read the article here.

The Chumash community in Los Osos, California, located northwest of Los Angeles, is having a sewer collection system constructed. Far Western Anthropological Research Group was given $898,105 to complete the cultural resources phase of the project.

Ground was broken on the sewer project on October 8 of last year and the first two burials were found on March 11. Another was found on March 12 and another on March 13. Back in 2004 an intact burial was discovered and reburied only 10 ft from the current burials.

The Chumash community wants the excavation halted until the size of the cemetery can be determined and options can be presented.

As is usual for this sort of project an archaeologist and “most likely descendants” are always on site. However, according to Cavanaugh, a Chumash on the site, the “most likely descendants" are Far Western employees and the archaeologist is married to one of the principals. Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.

Chumash Rock Art

Cavanaugh claims “they were shoveling dirt with human remains on the street and then picking up skull fragments and grave items off the street”. Pat Nicolson, a project manager at Far Western declined to comment.

Far Western decided to do a rapid reburial of the remains after the discovery. According to the article, Far Western plans to dig below the level of the sewage piplines and rebury the remains. The Chumash community voiced strong opposition at this plan.

Members of the Chumash community said they don’t want decisions made about their ancestors by several descendants with a financial stake in the decision.

What do you think is the proper course of action? Does Far Western have a conflict of interest on this project? Should they have agreed to do it? Should they have found other “likely descendants” other than ones that work for the company? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!

#161 ArchaeoTech - Teleconferencing

I spend a lot of time writing about the uses of advanced technology in archaeological survey. Admittedly, there are few companies ready to take this leap into the 21st century. However, absolutely every company has to deal with communicating with employees over long distances. Frequently, Crew Chiefs and Project Managers call in, sometimes on a daily basis, to report on the day’s activities. Some companies ship employees across several states to work on projects with other offices which also means that communication is a necessity.

We live in a time where just about every hotel has internet, and if they don’t, you should be working for a company that provides you with either tethering from your smart phone or portable wifi devices. If you don’t, that’s a conversation for another time. Since you should have internet access why settle for a simple voice connection when you could do so much more? What follows are some well known teleconferencing options and a few options you can only support if you win the archaeology lottery and find a hoard of gold coins that no one can lay claim to.

Traditional Teleconferencing Options

Skype

Everyone knows what Skype is. Skype’s basic functions are accessible to everyone free of charge as long as you are making a computer to computer call. These days you can think of that as a Skype to Skype call because Skype works on smart phones and tablets too.

A basic, free, Skype account gets you free video and voice calls between Skype accounts, low rates on calls to phones, audio conference calls, and instant messaging (Microsoft bought Skype and MSN Messenger was rolled into the Skype App). With a premium account at $4.99 per month you get all the free options plus video conference calls, group screen sharing, no advertising within the Skype application, live customer support for when it all goes to hell, and unlimited calls to a country of your choice.

Skype is the industry standard in video communication. It’s been around for a long time and just about everyone has at least heard of it. You can use Skype on a smart phone, tablet, or on the web. And, all three device types can talk to any of the other device types. The biggest limitation to the free account is that they recently took away screen sharing. That wasn’t a good idea because the next option still has it. And it’s still free, too.

Skype Business. If you want to go all out you can contact the good people at Skype and get a business account. There are no prices since I’m sure they tailor your billing to your situation. There are some interesting benefits from Skype business that you don’t get with the standard accounts. For example, you can allocate credit and features to different people on your account. You can also make Skype calls on your office phone system. You could pick up the phone on your desk and make a Skype call straight to your people in the field.

Google Hangout

Google Hangouts are free. You need a Google account to use it and you need to be on Google+. Also, you can add telephone members to Hangouts once they are started. Up to 10 people can be in a hangout at once. Screen sharing is still free on Google Hangouts and can really come in handy.

Google Hangouts are not very secure. Anyone currently in a hangout can invite anyone else into a hangout. If you’re not paying attention you could have others in on the conversation that you didn’t intend. You can block or ignore others in the hangout but that doesn’t stop them from joining in in the first place.

GoToMeeting

Go To Meeting is for people that are really serious about having frequent online meetings and online training seminars. There are actually three products from the GoTo Meeting people. The other two are GoToWebinar and GoToTraining.

For most companies GoTo Meeting will be sufficient. The other two are for larger companies and massive training sessions. They are also way more expensive. The basic GoTo Meeting, which allows up to 25 meeting attendees, is $49 a month or $468 a year. Sharing of screens, applications, mouse, and keyboard controls are all options included with the lowest account level.

Uses

There are companies that have employees meet them in the field on the first day of the session. They then have a, sometimes lengthy, meeting about the project and what is expected of everyone there. Why not have this meeting prior to fieldwork with all the employees so people that want to can prepare for the fieldwork. I always tried to get as much information from future employers as I could about the next project I was going to be on so I could learn about what I’d be finding and what I should be looking for. Why not make it policy to give that information ahead of time through interactive screen sharing and video conferencing? Join the 21st century and check out some of these awesome programs.

If you really want to go crazy and have other offices to keep in touch with, check out the video below. If it doesn't load check it out here.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!