#228 The Best of Archaeology Blogging 2013

This is just a short post to gauge interest in a project I want to do this month.

Right now I’m editing papers about Blogging Archaeology (#blogarch) for an eBook I’m creating with Doug Rocks-MacQueen over at Doug’s Archaeology. The eBook is in association with the Blogging Archaeology session that I’m chairing at this year’s Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting being held in Austin, Texas this year. In case you’re going, the session is on Saturday, April 26th at 10am.

A number of the articles I’m reading for the eBook mention the popularity of some posts and the unpopularity of others. This made me realize an idea for another great eBook: The Best of Archaeology Blogging.

I want to collect unedited blog posts from around the world related to archaeology blogging. These aren’t just any posts, however. These are the posts that were the most popular on your blog for 2013. Popularity can be determined any way you want. You can use unique page views, comments, number of times it was re-blogged, etc.

So, if you’re interested, comment below, send me a message with the form to the right, or, email me at chriswebster@digtech-llc.com.

The Best of Archaeology Blogging book for 2014 will be announce a bit earlier in the year next year than this one was. Promise.

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

#227 Printing Wikipedia or How to Think Backwards

I recently hear a report on NPR about a German company that’s trying to raise money to print Wikipedia into about 80 m of books. That’s about 1,000 volumes at about 1,200 pages each; over 1 million pages. This is so stupid it makes my brain hurt.

Some of the people interviewed by NPR thought it was a fun idea and others disagreed. Of course, the tech people they interviewed thought it sounded neat from an artistic standpoint, but, ultimately thought the idea flew in the face of what Wikipedia is all about.

A couple possible supporters were librarians. They have been traditionally cautious about using Wikipedia as a resource and thought that having a print version my make it more trustworthy, somehow. Right. That makes sense. Sounds like blogging. Call it a blog and it’s not taken seriously. Print that same entry in a book and suddenly it becomes relevant and citable.

Why is this an idea? Why is it even a thing? What’s the point? By the time the volumes are printed a significant portion of Wikipedia will have changed and new articles will have been created. So, I ask again, what’s the point?

The creators of the project want to draw attention to the volume of information that is available on Wikipedia. That I get. They say that maybe more people will use the resource if it’s also available in printed form. That I don’t get. The entire premise of Wikipedia is that it’s a flexible and changing resource. It’s constantly updated and constantly improved upon. How many encyclopedia companies are still in business? Not many. There’s a reason for that.

This idea has backwards thinking written all over it. The German print company is trying to appeal to people that don’t want to use the electronic version. They want to give others a chance to use the resource that might not have access to a computer or the Internet. I understand some of that, but, in the end you can’t hold everyone’s hand. Some people just aren’t going to be able to play.

I deal with this attitude in archaeology on a DAILY basis. So many company owners, and even younger staff members, are so resistant to new technology that they’ll make the old methods work at any cost. Usually the cost is time, money, and efficiency. Until that starts to cost them business, however, they seem OK with it.

Printing Wikipedia is about as smart as hand-writing a bunch of forms you’re just going to digitize anyway. Who does that? Oh, right. EVERYONE.

At least it doesn’t look like this project will get funded. At the time of this writing the Indiegogo campaign has 31 hours left and they’ve only raise $12,530 of their $50,000 goal.

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

#226 Nazi War Diggers - It’s our fault, not NatGeo’s

Nazi War Diggers is a new show from NatGeo (formerly the National Geographic Channel but hipsterized to gain a new audience). The premise is similar to recent shows in this country, except that it takes place in Europe. Stars of the show dig up World War II artifacts, and apparently human remains too. I’m not going to explain the show or critique it. I’m also not going to link to the show and increase their page rank.

What I am going to do is talk about the root of the problem by first talking about Wal-Mart and Starbucks.

Wal-Mart

Why is Wal-Mart in business? They are constantly the butt of liberal jokes because “everyone knows” what kind of person shops at Wal-Mart. Their treatment of employees, both in the U.S. and in factories overseas, is pretty much well know, and yet, they’re still in business. Not only are they in business, but, they are thriving. 

So, why is Wal-Mart thriving? Because the people that shop there want them to thrive. For whatever reason, Wal-Mart customers have decided that having a major retail outlet in their small town is preferable to having a number of smaller businesses run by their friends and family.

Cost. It’s the only thing that makes sense. People shop at Wal-Mart because it’s cheap. It’s cheap enough for customers to look past the decline in small businesses that inevitably happens when Wal-Mart comes to town. It’s cheap enough for customers to not concern themselves with the treatment Wal-Mart employees receive. 

So, Wal-Mart is a crapy company with questionable ethics, but, people shop there because it’s cheap. Let me restate that: customers make the choice to shop there.

Starbuck’s

In many respects, Starbuck’s is the complete opposite of Wal-Mart. They treat their employees well, the have environmental programs in place (whether they always work is another matter, but, they’re trying), and, they actively try to have a good relationship with coffee farmers and communities in areas where they get their supplies. They’re not perfect, and, I’m sure many people reading this have objections to what I’ve said. Do the research, though, and you’ll see that it’s mostly true.

One way in which Starbuck’s is similar to Wal-Mart is that they are a corporation that tends to put similar businesses out on the street when they move in. I have a difficult time sussing out why this is. Starbuck’s isn’t cheaper, and in fact, they are usually a lot more expensive than the local places. They are consistent, however. You can go to a Starbucks in New York City, and then one in San Francisco, and have the same experience. The store will look similar, the pastries will be similar, and the coffee will taste the same. 

When I’m on the road and just want a soy latte, I go to Starbuck’s. I know what it’s going to taste like and I’m never disappointed. I’ve been to hundreds of local coffee shops around the country and a soy latte at each one tastes just a little bit different. Some are good and some are bad. If I have time to live in the neighborhood and figure out what I like then I’ll do that. If I don’t have time, I’m going to Starbuck’s. 

So why does Starbuck’s put other shops out of business? The ultimate answer is that they have what consumers want. Whatever that is isn’t important, unless you own a coffee shop. What’s important is to note that Starbuck’s didn’t put the local coffee shop out of business. The businesses friends, family, and neighbors did. In a capitalist economy, the consumer is king.

Say what you will about big business and corporations. They fact remains that consumers dictate what businesses succeed and which ones don’t. When a corporation eliminates your options they call that a monopoly and it’s illegal. It’s not a perfect system, but, it mostly works.

NatGeo

What do Wal-Mart and Starbuck’s have to do with this show and NatGeo? They didn’t decide to put other stores out of business. They didn’t decide to become huge, evil, corporations. They simply decided to give customers what they wanted and what they wanted was a place that was convenient, sometimes cheap, but always consistent. As soon as that stops, business will slow down and stores will close. Look at Best Buy and Barnes and Noble. They are responding the the growing internet marketplace by closing stores. Eventually all books and electronics will be purchased online. They didn’t realize that soon enough and the consumers made them pay for it.

So why is NatGeo not to blame? Because they’re a business. They’re a business that is in the business of giving their customers what they want. NatGeo was pitched a show that was similar to a few other shows that have been very successful. We’d all like to think that networks are run by people with sound ethics and moral principles. Wake the eff up! NatGeo is run by a corporation that is beholden to their customers and their shareholders. They have a responsibility, not for ethical programing, but for profitable programming.

Everyone seems to be upset at NatGeo, but, the only way to stop NatGeo from airing shows like Nazi War Diggers is to stop watching Nazi War Diggers. Of course, just having us ivory tower, high-minded, NPR-listening, farmer’s market only-shopping archaeologists and environmentalists stop watching isn’t going to work. Our numbers aren’t big enough. What we need to do is tell others why they shouldn’t watch the show.

Your Assignment, Should You Choose To Accept It

Be vocal. That’s it. Pretty simple, really. Tell family and friends why they shouldn’t watch the show. Tell them to tell their family and friends. Eventually, word will spread. It’s a simple theory, but as Wal-Mart shows us, people are lazy and activism is hard.

Don’t blame NatGeo for bad programming. They’re doing what their customers want them to do. NatGeo has a potential to put on some really good shows. We just have to show them that good, ethical, shows about archaeology can be what people want. Maybe we should all get together and pitch them something. Maybe a reality show about CRM archaeologists. Talk about drama…

Thanks for reading and destroy me in the comments!

#225 #BlogArch March - Where is blogging going?

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So, I completely missed February. Between trying to pay the bills, a huge proposal I had to write, and starting a second company (more on that in a future post) the time just got away from me. Nothing has changed, since I'm writing this on my iPad while walking so I don't get behind in the Great Archaeology Step Challenge over on FitBit. Maybe I need to move to Mars. That extra hour or so every day would really come in handy.

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The Question​

Doug's final question for the blogging carnival is: Where are you/we going with blogging, or, where would you like to go?"

The Answer

The simple answer is that I would like to see blogging become a jumping off point for conversations in different mediums and among different people. Good blogs should turn into TV shows, documentaries, books, and podcasts. Start the conversation on the blog and continue it elsewhere. 

Some blogs already do this in various ways. A few are syndicated on larger websites and some bloggers have been asked to write for larger media outlets. My own blog is coming out in a few weeks as a book from Left Coast Press. Well, part of a series I did, anyway.  

So, where should we be going? We should be using our blogs to engage with the public. Some bloggers seem to write for others in thier profession. To me, this is a little like preaching to the choir. I understand it in many cases, but, I think we need to spend more time explaining what we do to the public. After all, our job is only half done when the research is finished and the report is written.

​SAAs

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We'll be talking about some of this at the Blogging Archaeology session at the SAAs this year. I'm hoping to have a meetup with four of the panelists from the CRM Archaeology Podcast where we can continue the discussion. I'd like to buy a few more microphones and a mixer so we can do a live recorded question and answer show too. If you find value in what we do, click through to the website, if you're not already here, and click the donate link. Every amount helps and you'll be entered into a drawing for the book I mentioned above.

Thank you to Doug for organizing this blogging carnival! I think it's been a rewarding and insightful experience for everyone involved.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the field, and, at the SAAs! 

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#224 SCA2014 Saturday Reflections

I started the day bright and early and was at the conference center by 8am. I headed straight into the symposium that occupy much of my morning.

Californian Rock Art: Heritage Management, Scientific Studies and Sacred Landscapes

I learned a lot about rock art during this symposium. I've never formally study rock art types and documentation standards, but, I have recorded it on CRM projects. We just did basic information recording and left the hard work up to future researchers that happen to find our site within the 9000 page report that was generated. Good luck. Yay gray literature.

An image I took in 2007 at PNM. I reversed the images and played with the levels to get the petroglyphs to pop out. It's no DStretch, but, it worked.

The first paper was about a monitoring protocol for Petroglyph National Monument (PNM) near Albuquerque, New Mexico. My wife and I visited there while working on a project between Grants, NM and Chaco Canyon.

PNM is an amazing place. Just following the paths the NPS has laid out will take you past thousands of rock art panels. Some seem to be off by themselves and others are in dense groups. The proximity of the monument to civilization is it's greatest detriment. The monitoring protocol, developed by Aileen Dear, is intended to document and monitor degradation and damage to the panels. It's a massive undertaking and the only sure way to ensure long term security is to educate the public.

From www.DStretch.com

There were a couple interesting papers about great murals. These are pictographs that are mostly animals and anthropomorphs. Murals are some of the most awe inspiring ancient art that you'll ever see. There is a heavy concentration of them on the central Baja Peninsula.

Several papers were about studying Cupules, and the relief opposite, Pecked Curvilinear Nucleates (PCN). Cupules are often, if not always, pecked into soft rock called schist in order to create a powder that, when mixed with water, makes a blue paint. They are often associated with fertility rituals and often just the powder is rubbed on the body. One of the presenters mentioned a rock on a site that was full of cupules. He told his students not to touch the rock. They didn't listen. According to the presenter there were more than a few wanted, and unwanted, pregnancies. Cupules are one of the oldest forms of rock art in the world.

Pecked curvilinear nucleated.

I skipped out on some of the rock art papers to see a paper from a friend, Sylvere, about population replacement in the Channel Islands. He was reporting on some mtDNA research that was done. Their findings showed a connection to populations in New Mexico between 1000 and 1600 years ago. Makes you wonder what people learn by coming to local, regional conferences. Maybe we should be going to conferences in neighboring regions to help build our picture of prehistoric life. I smell an entirely different blog post…

Lunch was spent with Dr. Alan Garfinkel, CA rock art specialist. Following lunch I helped him set up a viewing of his film, "Talking Stone: The Rock Art of the Cosos". I saw most of the film the first night, but, it was too noisy to hear much of it. Alan has been trying to get me to work with him on the Coso rock art down at the China Lake Navy Base. A recent contract win might help with that.

The afternoon was spent chatting with old friends, some networking, and a few interviews for the podcast. Since I didn’t have a ticket for the banquet either (see the last blog entry), I went back to the hotel and tried to wrestle the treadmill into shape. It wouldn’t go. So, I did my workout outside. I was trying to get as many steps in as possible because my FitBit was about to die and I didn’t bring the charger. You don’t realize how dire this circumstance is and there is no way I can explain it. Suffice it to say that one bad, low step, day will haunt me for the next seven days. CURSE YOU FITBIT!

After my workout I had dinner with an old friend, the man with the hat (listen to the podcast for more on that…). Now I’m finishing up the evening with a blog post and I’ll do some podcast editing for a night cap. Exciting life.

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

#223 SCA2014 Friday Reflections

It's the end of the first full day of the Society for California Archaeology Meeting 2014. Well, it's the end for me, anyway. Since I decided to come this conference only last week I didn't get a chance to pre-register and thus get a ticket for the infamous Silent Auction. Apparently, most people go because your $45 ticket gets you dinner and free beer. It would have been not only fun, but, a great networking opportunity. Ah well. I'll write a proposal instead.

Today's Sessions

DStretch. The morning started light with only one room having presentations. I saw a great one from Jon Harman about the rock art enhancement program, DStretch. I really want to talk to him tomorrow about some joint venture stuff with what I'm doing. I think apps like DStretch are the future and we need to use them to their fullest extent.

Here is a quick primer on DStretch. It's software that essentially uses algorithms to turn pictures of rock art from something we can't see to something we can. As pictographs (rock art with color and usually no pecking or etching) age the color drops out of the visible spectrum of light. DStretch brings it back into a spectrum we can see and the images are stunning. They even have a camera that will do it in the field.

Other good papers, I'm sure. I stuck around after DStretch for a couple more papers on California Rock Art, but, the convention center was having huge issues with the audio. The room was massive, too, so it was difficult to hear from the back. Mary Gordon gave a supposedly wonderful presentation on the current state of California Rock Art Research. I had a chance to speak with her at the California Rock Art Foundation desk in the book room later on, so, at least there's that.

Revised DPR Forms. In the afternoon I sat in on a discussion with the Office of Historic Preservation about future revisions to the commonly used site form in California, the DPR 523. There were some great suggestions regarding revisions to the paper forms. That's not what I was intrigued by, however.

The conversation eventually shifted to digital upload of the forms. They want to have a database that consultants and the like can upload site information to, rather than use the paper forms. There was a serious disconnect in the room, however, regarding the technology and the basic problem. Everyone agreed that uploading digitally was the way of the future and that we should strive for that. No one was discussing creating the information digitally in the first place, however. For a while I just sat there, iPad in hand, and took it all in. Eventually, I spoke.

I said I was using a $10 app on my iPad to record on DPRs and Nevada IMACS forms and that I'm helping other companies to do the same. There were some nods and approving looks, but, the conversation shifted back away from digital field recording rather quickly. That was a bit disheartening. Everyone knows we should be recording digitally, but, everyone seems to think it's an insurmountable problem right now. Well, it isn't. In fact, it's a simple problem to fix if you've spent four years thinking about it like I have. I just wish they'd let me help them through this initial stage rather than every company trying to independently reinvent the wheel. Give me a call! Operators (me) are standing by!

Archaeological Resources Committee. Since I was already in the room when the next presentation started I ended up just staying. It was a committee meeting of the Archaeological Resources Committee. They had some action items, one of which was defining experience and educational standards for PIs in California.

They started out by saying that even nail salons need a license, but, just about anyone can be an archaeologist. That's a problem. So, they're starting with the PI and are trying to set down some standards and get them adopted by other agencies.

One standard they set had to do with education. Right now, you have to either have an MA/MS or meet some equivalent requirements. The equivalent requirements clause ends on December 31, 2021. They figure they're being generous in giving people grandfathered in time to go out and get an MA. I think that's a little naive, since, what are the chances a grizzled old archaeologist without an MA is going to have the money and time to go back to school? Unless they can find a 1-year masters in CA then it's probably not going to happen. I agree with the standards, though. It's one more step to licensing, which, we also need to retain credibility and to improve the state of archaeological recording in California and beyond.

Books

Of course, I stopped by the Left Coast Press both to see what they had representing my book. There was a cardstock poster representing it alongside other great books. Apparently, my book went to the printer last week and they're hoping it'll be done before the SAAs in Austin in a month (crap! a month?!?!). But, they're taking pre-orders. I don't think anyone has pre-ordered it, but, it's nice that it's an option.

Caryn, the LCP rep and my editor, also asked if I would be available for a book signing at the SAAs. That seems so weird. Of course I'll do it. It just seems unlikely that someone will want my autograph on the book since it's my first one and most people probably won't know me. It should be a good time, though. If you're in Austin, stop by during the signing and say hi so I don't feel left out!

Before I left for the day I purchased three books. Dirty Diggers: Tales from the Archaeological Trenches is a collection of stories curated from archaeologists by Paul Bahn and illustrated by Bill Tidy. I've read a few pages and it looks to be a fun, short, read.

Since I've potentially got a massive rock art project coming up next year I also picked up Introduction to Rock Art Research, Second Edition by David S. Whitley. Whitely is an expert on Rock Art and currently works for ASM Affiliates. It should be an educational read. I should get him on the podcast after I'm done.

Finally, I picked up the new book from Tom King and Claudia Nissley called  Consultation and Cultural Heritage: Let Us Reason Together. The book is a guide to consultation written for government agencies and project sponsors. So, not for those of us on the other side of the table, but, it helps to know what the other side is thinking and where they're coming from in any negotiation. I think it'll be extremely helpful and will contribute to my overall knowledge of the consultation process.

Networking

I met with, and talked to, so many good people today. In fact, I handed out all the business cards I brought! Good thing I have an iPad. During the last session of the day I used the business card I created in iDraw on the iPad and made it into a sheet of cards. Then, I uploaded it to Dropbox, accessed it with the HP Enterprise App on my iPhone, and digitally send it to the nearest FedEx Office. I went down there right after the last session and printed up a few sheets on glossy card stock, then, cut them out. Now, I have 48 shiny new business cards to hand out tomorrow. I love technology!

There were a number of times between last night and today that people came up to me saying how much they liked either my blog or the podcast. That is very humbling and I'm just glad that someone is getting useful information from them. That's the overall goal, anyway. If you see me at the conference, or at any conference, please come up to me and say hi. I want to know what's working, what's not working, and what you'd like to see on the blog and the podcast. It's for you, the archaeologists in the trenches, after all.

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

#222 Society for California Archaeology Meetings

About a week and a half ago the stars aligned and I found I was able to attend the Society for California Archaeology meetings (#SCA2014) in Visalia, California. Since I didn't get a chance to pre-register I didn't get a peak at the program ahead of time. I wasn't aware that it was online this whole time. That's what being stupid busy will do for you. Anyway, the conference dates were listed as March 20th through the 23. Well, the 20th is today.

I've never been to the SCAs (not to be confused with the Society for Creative Anachronism) before, but, I assumed they were similar to the SAAs in that there was a full day of papers on Thursday. Not so much. Turns out there was nothing I could go to today. Well, not until this evening. I'll get to that in a minute. Looks like getting here on the 19th was a bad idea.

Schedules

When I realized there was nothing going on this morning I found I had a whole day to get some work done. I figured I'd start out by going to the convention center and getting myself registered. According to the program, which I eventually found online, registration opened at 8am. So, I had breakfast at the hotel and drove over.

When I got there, the convention center was an absolute ghost town. Not even a hint of a registration desk. Since I brought my things I decided to go over to Starbucks and finish up a video I've been working on (www.digtech-llc.com/tablet-program-overview/). At about 1015 I went back over to the convention center and there STILL wasn't a registration desk set up. I saw someone that looked official and asked them about it. She said they'd open up at 12pm as though everyone already new that. Conference was off to a great start.

Well then. That's how it's going to be, is it? Fine. I went back to the hotel, changed my clothes, uploaded a video to YouTube, had lunch, and went back to register. After that I headed east.

Really Big Trees

Why don't you use Runkeeper?

It turns out that Visalia is only about 35 miles west of Sequoia National Park. So, that's where I went. I'm in a fierce step competition on FitBit with, among others, Jennifer Palmer (Archaeology Fieldwork) and thought I could get a few thousand steps around some massive trees. I was not disappointed. There were few people up there and I got in a nice four mile, or so, hike on some really great trails. She's still kicking my ass, though.

Evening Session

I did get some archaeology in today. There was a Public Archaeology session at the convention center at 7pm. In one half of the room, well, a third maybe, there were screenings of several documentary films. In the other 2/3 there were tables from various agencies, some demonstrations (including a really great flintknapping station) and a lot of conversations.

Coso Rock Art

I started out watching "Talking Stones" a documentary featuring Dr. Alan Garfinkel and the Coso Rock Art on China Lake Naval Base. The Coso Rock Art is pretty amazing and the collections on the base are mostly untouched, protected, and vary numerous. Someday I'd like to get down there and check it out...

I spent the rest of the time doing some great networking. I met some fans of the blog (hey there!) and of the podcast (keep listening!). I talked to a few people about the tablet program and had some great interest. There is one thing I keep hearing in reference to using tablets in the field: it's time we did this. Yes. It is. Now call me so we can get going!

OK. I'm going to try and tweet from the conference tomorrow, but, there's no WiFi and the cell reception is terrible. At the very least I'll get some blog posts written about what I see and hear.

If I get any interviews for the podcast, some will go up on the premium content side. Join the others have already donated and give a buck or two to the show. You'll get access to the premium content and entered into a drawing for my new book. The book should be out any time now.

That's it. More from the conference to come.

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