Moonshine Archaeology
Like any good stories of adventure and intrigue that involve archaeology, this one begins with a treasure map! Once upon a time, I happened to […]
Historic Archaeology
Wild Plants and Historic Archaeology
As an archaeologist for the U.S. Forest Service, I get to do both prehistoric and historic archaeology. Historic archaeology isn’t something that was really covered […]
The Value of Context in Historical Archaeology
In business, people often say the three most important things to remember are 1) location, 2)location, 3) location. If you were to replace the word […]
Historic Monuments and the Fredericksburg, VA Slave Block
In Fredericksburg, Virgina, on the corner of William and Charles, sits a concrete (or is it limestone?) cylinder. Perhaps less than 2 feet tall, maybe […]
Photographs are not Data
With the advent of modern digital photography, it’s easy to take as many photographs as you want. No film to process means no film buy […]
Antique Archaeology: “Angle Rods”
I like to read early writings on archaeology, comparing and contrasting what they did with what we do now. Antiquarians methods of the 19th century and […]
Trail Marker Trees (a.k.a. Indian Marker Trees)
There was a collective gasp in the room and all eyes turned to me! Who was this apparent infidel who dares to blaspheme with his mention of an increment borer?
Silage Trenches on Historic Farm Sites
The Mystery Not long ago, while recording the remains of an historic farm in a National Forest, I came across a deep, long trench running […]
Artifacts in the wild
I so often encounter historic and sometimes prehistoric artifacts “in the wild” (meaning I don’t collect them but leave them in situ for others to enjoy […]
Historic Archaeology: Associating Vegetation with Sites
“Wolf tree” isn’t a species, rather it refers to a tree that is something of a “lone wolf” among its peers.