The Chocolate Archaeologist

The Looting of Archaeological Sites

Page Strong — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:32:36 +0000

Last week, Craig and I had the opportunity to record a couple of archaeological sites out where there has yet to be any survey. It was so nice to be recording sites when all we have done recently is survey in areas where we aren’t finding much in the way of sites or even artifacts. While the recording of the sites and the process of trying to find the sites were amazing, there was a bit of disappointment added to the mix.

While trying to locate the sites, we stumbled across three other unrecorded sites, each of which were wonderful examples of pueblo structures. The first we stumbled upon had the dirt road running right through the structure. This isn’t uncommon, from what I’ve seen, and the majority of the structure is still in fairly good condition. Unfortunately, I saw very few artifacts. In fact, we found what we believe to be an old screening pile, a pile of refuse from screening dirt for smaller artifacts. It is very disheartening to see things like that.

It seemed to be a trend through the entire day. We would come upon a site, be enthralled by the structure, but disappointed by the lack of artifacts, even on the sites we were recording that day. People have come to these sites and taken pieces of the history away with them.

Which makes me wonder why someone would do that. The obvious reason is for monetary gain. There are consumers out there who will pay great amounts of money for an unbroken projectile point, or a whole pot, or even a skull or skeleton. Again, this begs the question of why? Why would someone want to destroy a little bit of history so they can say they own it?

In the Southwest, I’m seeing a pattern. Instead of trying to educate the consumers about why such lovely artifacts should remain in the field, people here are trying to educate the pothunters and their children. Where I am working, pothunting is almost as much a time-honored tradition as Easter Egg hunts. Teaching these people about how much is lost when they take something from a site is difficult at best.

From another viewpoint, though, one must consider the consumer buying the artifacts. They are creating a market for these materials. Pothunters will continue to loot sites so long as there is a profit involved.

I don’t know if it would do anything to educate the consumers about the lost histories of the artifacts they so wish to possess, but I am wondering if it would be more effective to try to teach them than to try to teach those making a living off stealing artifacts. If the consumer realizes why it is wrong to buy artifacts, and why it is wrong to steal from sites, they will no longer buy artifacts. With no one to buy artifacts, the pothunters would have no incentive to loot sites.

This is only an idea. I doubt seriously it would work quickly; nothing ever does.

There is another aspect to this I would like to consider. Why is it that it is alright to loot ancient sites, such as the Virgin Anasazi and Kayenta sites I have seen, but not historic sites? Historic sites, such as old homesteads, I have come across have far less looting than the ancient sites I have seen. What is the difference between these two types of sites that makes it acceptable to loot from one, but not the other? I am wondering if it has something to do with recognition. The historic sites have artifacts that are recognizable: spoons, white plates, shoes, nails, even structures that are much the same as what we use today. Ancient sites have an almost alien feeling. We can recognize ancient pots, bowls, ladles and the like, but they are of a design we are not used to. Could it be that the inability to recognize ancient artifacts as belonging to a physical person causes people to feel no qualms about purchasing these artifacts or stealing them from sites?

I apologize for the rant, but I do not understand why it is alright for people to take pieces of history away, destroying the archaeological record as they go.

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A Wild Week

Page Strong — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 04:21:32 +0000

This week we were working with people from the BLM from Kanab. We knocked out a huge survey we started last season. I thought it would take weeks to finish, but with the folks from the BLM, it was finished in a couple of days. We also finished a road corridor survey, too. This week’s news isn’t about the surveys, nor the artifacts (scant as they were), but the wildlife. I think the photographs will speak for themselves:

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Good Friends and Big Wildlife

Page Strong — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:35:20 +0000

My friend Amanda has come to visit me! I’m so happy she’s up here with me for a little while. We’re planning on making a fun dinner (Chicken in a Brown Sauce from me and a dessert fruit pizza from Amanda), going for a short hike, visiting The Three Bears creamery, and just having fun. We’re headed off to Flagstaff tomorrow. It will be an amazing weekend!

Amanda and I went to the Kaibab Lodge for dinner last night. It was late when we got there and we didn’t leave until about 10 pm. It’s pretty much a full moon out there. The meadows looked rather eerie, but I could see fairly well. We cross into one meadow and I see something loping towards the road, so I slow down. Amanda said to watch out for the deer. I kept watching it thinking it wasn’t quite running like a deer.

It ran out right in front of us and I stopped dead in the middle of the highway.

It never stopped running, it just sort of gave us this look of, “What are you doing here? You’re bothering me.” It made it across the road, never breaking pace, in about two bounds.

It was a full-grown mountain lion.

And no, I didn’t get a picture! Darnit.

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Travel Management aka TMR

Page Strong — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 05:26:51 +0000

Thanks to Cindy, it was brought to my attention that I did not explain TMR very well. I mentioned it in the post Of TMR and Trucks, but I figured I should go into a bit more detail.

TMR. Travel Management Roads. A lot of funding is being poured into this project, hoping to reduce the wear and tear on the nation’s forests. Some roads will be closed in the process, some roads will be designated as camping roads, and some camping will be restricted.

A map for TMR

This is a sticky subject for a lot of the locals in the area. They are afraid the roads being closed will be their favorite camping spots, or will restrict their hunting area, but in actuality, the roads that are currently being closed are roads that are already overgrown or too rough to be passable. While camping will also be restricted to a certain extent, some roads will be designated for camping within a thirty-foot to hundred-foot corridor.

Our job with TMR is to go out and analyze the roads and the existing campsites. We never know how many campsites are on a given road. There could be five, twenty-five or none. The Trails crew goes out to record the pullout associated with a campfire ring and the use-area. The archaeologists go out to make sure the campsites are not sitting on archaeological sites.

This project is both mind-numbingly boring and interesting. The job is dull because there is little skill involved. We go out, we find campsites, we GPS the campsites, we move on to the next campsite. It’s a lot of paperwork for not a lot of gain, as far as I can see, though it may prove useful at some point… We archaeologists are lucky to find Isolated Occurrences. We’ve been working on this project since early May and we have not found a single site. We’ve only found about ten Isolated Occurrences.

: Matt and Jozalyn with a view to the Vermillion Cliffs

The job is exciting because we never know what is going to happen that day. It could be an easy day with easy roads and few campsites, or it could be filled with roads on the sides of a canyon, or going up the side of a canyon, down the side of a canyon, there could be trees blocking your entrance or exit, there could be wild animals (I’ve seen a total of four porcupines on this project), there could be wild campers (such as one couple Craig and Kayla accidentally disturbed…).

It’s also fun considering all the places we get to go that normally we wouldn’t see. West Lake was one such place. Plus there are lookouts over the Grand Canyon that are difficult to access that we get to see. We archaeologists also get to hang out with the Trails crew all day. The conversations we have range from interesting and academic to downright silly.

We complain about TMR. We gripe about the paperwork, the wear and tear on the trucks. We complain about how we’re all gaining weight. We groan at the idea that we have to be stuck in a truck all day long… but for my part, I really do enjoy TMR. Plus, I’m getting paid to drive around the back roads!

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A Big Thank You!

Page Strong — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:07:09 +0000

On Monday, one of the Trails guys, Zachary, and I went out to survey for the TMR project on Monday. Little did we know the day would quickly become very interesting! We found a campsite, recorded it and went back to the truck.

The battery was dead.

We tried Zachary’s radio multiple times and on multiple channels. No response from anyone. We tried my radio multiple times and on multiple channels. Again, no response. I gave Zachary a few options for what we could do: hike out to the highway and flag someone down to help us, hike out to the highway and hike out to the gas station a few miles away and call someone, or keep trying the radios. The last option wasn’t favorable. The radios we have are temperamental, at best. So, we set off on a fairly short hike.

Upon reaching the highway, Zachary stuck out his thumb, hoping someone would pull over. No luck. He waved. We got a few waves back, but other than that, no help. He then tried the double-handed, “help me” panicked wave. That worked! Someone pulled over for us. Well, she stopped in the middle of the road, but she stopped to help! It turned out to be a mother and daughter from Nevada, though originally they were from Germany. I never got their names, but they were kind enough to jump our truck for us!

It was a bit of an ordeal trying to jump the truck. The women’s car was a hybrid and the battery was in the trunk of the car, but the nodes where we needed to attach the jumper cables were under the hood. The owner’s manual came out and we were able to figure it out, after which we found the label saying “Attach Jumper Cables Here.”

We limped back home and decided to trade out the truck we had for one that had been in the shop for a week. We drove to Fredonia/Kanab to switch out the vehicles and took the other truck. In the process, we learned that where we were surveying was one of the many dead areas for the radios. Brilliant.

The rest of the day was uneventful.

But a big thank-you goes out to those two women who stopped for a couple of stranded Forest Service employees.

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