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Broad River Archaeological Field School: 2018, Week 2

1/30/2018

6 Comments

 
Last Friday was our second day in the field. We had another sunny day with temperatures starting around freezing but warming up to the mid-60's by the afternoon. As far an January working weather goes, I'll take it.

Other than educating students and directing the excavation, I had one main job: bring ground coffee and filters. I botched it. I won't fail again. I promise.

We started the day going over the basic components of our record-keeping system: the Field Specimen (FS) log, the unit/level forms, bag labels, and individual notebooks. I explained to the students how all of these things work together to match the materials we collect to the contexts from which we have removed those materials. The FS system I use is a kind of single context recording system that assigns unique numbers to unique proveniences of artifacts and samples. Redundancies built into the information that goes in the FS log, on the forms, and on the bags provide a way to catch and fix errors.

There was a little bit of water in the block that we bailed while removing the plastic. The main activities for the day were resuming excavation in Unit 5 and getting started on a unit extending the block to the north (Unit 12). 

At the end of last year's excavation, the floor of Unit 5 was 20 cm higher than the floor of Units 4 and 6. Unit 5 was the only unit in the block where we maintained a consistent piece-plot strategy all the way down after the first plowzone. That, along with a large number of roots, slowed things down. My plan is to maintain the piece-plot methodology in Unit 5 in perpetuity, as it will provide us with a consistent column of high resolution data down through the deposits.

Removing the landscape fabric from the floor of Unit 5 revealed some minor damage from ant tunnels. Sam and a crew of two students got to work cleaning the surface with trowels and beginning excavation of level 7.
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Ant tunnels beneath the landscape fabric in Unit 5. The pieces of orange flagging tape mark the locations of artifacts in the floor, identified but left in place last season.
Unit 12 is a 2m x 2m unit abutting the north edge of Unit 4. My goal in opening and excavating this unit is to get it down to the level of the floor in Units 4 and 6, exposing the northern portion of a cultural feature (probably a Late Archaic pit feature) that extends outside of Unit 4. As in the first unit/levels last year, we started Unit 12 by excavating arbitrary levels in 1m x 1m quadrants of the unit. This gives the students a chance to get some experience with controlled excavation while we're still up in the plowzone, where mistakes don't actually cost you any data.
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Completion of the first levels in the NW (right) and SE (left) quadrants of Unit 12.
.After the students get some reps digging arbitrary levels in near-surface contexts, we'll strip the remainder of the plowzones (there are two plowzones, remember) as natural levels and get down into what's underneath. In some places in the block and the machine profile, there appeared to be lenses of unplowed sheet midden and/or a natural A horizon beneath the lower plowzone (Zone 2). We'll be on the lookout for those as well as for truncated features extending from base of the second plowzone.

The floor and walls of Units 4 and 6 remain covered by backfill for now. While having that dirt in there makes for some ugly pictures, its presence protects the unexcavated deposits from our feet and from the water that will get in the block (and the bailing to remove the water). It also provides support to the fragile cut wall between Unit 5 and Unit 6, and allows us to have a ramp to get in and out of the block. It's better to have some ugly photos than to lose the archaeology through weeks of trampling.

​As promised, I made a video of our activities in Week 2. Enjoy!
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Broad River Archaeological Field School: 2018, Week 1

1/22/2018

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Last year, I wrote a blog post after every day of field school. This year I'm going to try something different. My plan is to create a short (5-10 minute) video that shows and describes our activities each day in the field. While the blog posts were useful for both research and public communication (and I plan to write when I need to talk about particular things in more detail), I think I might be able to expand my audience by making our work accessible through video. 

I hope to have a video from each Friday posted by the following Monday on my YouTube channel. Here's the first installment. Enjoy!
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The Humbug of Oak Island

1/17/2018

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I spent most of yesterday on the couch battling a germ. While waiting for the NyQuil to kick in last night I watched 15 minutes of The Curse of Oak Island. Although I'm sure I have tuned into the program since the infamous sword debacle of the 2015-2016 season, I can't remember exactly when.
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Based on what I saw, the program is pretty much right where it has been for years: long on holes, dramatic music, speculation, and imagination; short on results.

I'm not a fan of the show and the short time I spent watching it last night reminded me why. If learning nothing is the goal, I can think of a hundred other ways I'd rather spend my time.

The program is still on the air, however, because a lot of people are watching it. I know from groups on Facebook that some people watch it religiously. Despite years of baloney, misdirection, and nonsense, they still watch: the program is one of the top-rated cable shows on its Tuesday time slot, successfully competing with professional wrestling. 

Why?

The first chapter of the book Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News (by Kevin Young, 2017) provides a possible answer. Young draws a comparison between the rise of reality TV and P.T. Barnum's 19th century success with "humbug," noting Barnum's own distinction between "humbug" and other brands of fakery (swindle, forgery, hoaxing, etc.).  Young (page 9) quotes Barnum:
"An honest man who thus arrests public attention will be a called a "humbug," but he is not a swindler or an imposter. If, however, after attracting crowds of customers by his unique displays, a man foolishly fails to give them a full equivalent for their money, they never patronize him a second time, but they very properly denounce him as a swindler, a cheat, an imposter; they do not, however, call him a "humbug." He fails, not because he advertises his wares in an outre manner, but because, after attracting crowds of patrons, he stupidly and wickedly cheats them."
in other words, the most important component of successful "humbug" is actually giving the people something for their money. People walk away satisfied, even if they know they didn't see exactly what they were told they were going to see.

It is Young's comparison to reality TV (page 10) that resonates in my mind with the loyalty I see among Oak Island fans:
"As viewers, we inheritors to Barnum's America tend to feel a mix of I can't believe I'm watching this and I can't believe that person did that to I can't wait to see what happens next.
     . . . 
Barnum also proved brilliant at making the audience part of the hoax, saying effectively, you're smart, or better yet, you think you're so smart: come see and decide for yourself. He made everyone an expert."

There's no question in my mind that a good portion of the success of Oak Island can be traced to exactly that dynamic, where viewers can participate in endless debate about who buried what on Oak Island and what all the clues mean. It doesn't matter if nothing is ever found: the product that is being sold is the fishing, not the catching. The show is successful because it gives the viewers what they really want (a sense of participation) not what they say they want (an answer).

Here is my falsifiable hypothesis about Oak Island: there is nothing "special" buried on Oak Island.

Nothing.

Zip.

I have seen no evidence that convinces me that anything special happened on Oak Island: no buried treasure, no wondrous underground constructions, no Phoenicians, no Ark of the Covenant, no Knights Templar, no Roman armies, no bones of Jesus, no Shakespeare manuscripts, nothing. Before you start giving me the "what abouts," have a look at this critical source on Oak Island.

I am a professional archaeologist. I have been doing research in the field and lab for over two decades now. Nothing that I've seen on Oak Island since the first season resembles in any way how I would go about trying to answer a question about what happened there in the past and when it happened. Random metal detecting, drilling blind holes, entertaining a string of kooks to spout off about this or that "theory" . . . these things are fuel for the humbug, not steps taken to address a question. 

Don't get me wrong: I understand the appeal of humbug. I paid to take my daughter to the Mystery Spot in St. Ignace, Michigan. I probably would have paid to see Barnum's Feejee Mermaid and the Cardiff Giant. ​

But as far as Oak Island and "rewriting history," I checked out long ago and won't be back unless there's a real reason. FYI: "real reason" does not include another beach artifact found while metal detecting, another piece of wood retrieved from a hole drilled into an area that has been previously excavated, or another "artifact" handed to the film crew with a shaggy dog story attached.

During Swordgate, I made some internet friends that are connected in one way or another to the story of Oak Island. My goal in writing this isn't to make anyone mad, but to call it like I see it: when you strip away the show business from the show, what's left? Not much, in my opinion. That doesn't stop a lot of people from enjoying the ride, obviously. But I'm not among them.


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Videos: I'm Joining the 21st Century

1/8/2018

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In addition to spending a lot of time with my kids and building a new website for my art, I spent some time over the break re-acquainting myself with video editing software and working on tactics and strategies for making videos. I bought a GoPro knock-off to use for making time lapse videos of both artwork in progress and this spring's field school excavations (starting next Friday). I hope to also be able to incorporate videos into next year's Forbidden Archaeology class.

Anyway, I made a few short art-related videos over the break to do three things: (1) start climbing back up Adobe Premiere's steep proficiency hill; (2) increase my comfort level talking with/to a camera; and (3) build up a tolerance to hearing myself talk.  I hope the third one isn't as painful for you as it is for me.

 don't plan on writing a blog post every time I post a video, so if you're interested in keeping tabs on what I'm doing on that front please subscribe to my YouTube channel. 

Here are my first three videos:
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"Forbidden Archaeology:" Round 2 is Imminent

1/3/2018

37 Comments

 
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As I gear up to teach field school again this spring, I've just begun thinking about the upcoming fall semester. I'm planning on teaching Forbidden Archaeology again. Buckle yourselves in.

I'm going to make some changes, both topically and in terms of the structure of the course. I think I'd like to have a guest speaker again (the Jim Vieira visit worked out well), but I need to decide on what I'm going to try to cover first. There are numerous choices. I want to keep it fresh but also hit some important, relevant themes. So I'm looking for topics (probably two this time instead of three) that crosscut several dimensions of the social, political, historical, and cultural contexts of fringe claims. This timely article from the Southern Poverty Law Center lays some of this stuff out pretty well.

If you've got any suggestions or ideas, now is the time to voice them. If I can triangulate topic, timeline, and a willing guest, I can work on the fundraising aspect of getting someone to Columbia.
37 Comments

Swordgate Poster v6.0 (by Peter de Geus)

1/3/2018

2 Comments

 
This is a guest blog post contributed by Peter de "Man-of-Many-Faces' Geus: the latest iteration of his world famous Swordgate poster. It ain't over until it's over. Enjoy!

Swordgate Poster version 6.0: get your FREE 3’ X 4’ foot digital copy HERE (click the "Download This File" button)

As promised back in October, here’s the unofficial official Swordgate Poster v6.0. It’s been more than a year since v5.0 which was essentially the 2016 poster du jour for Swordgate Year 1. The new v6.0 is the 2017 Swordgate Year 2 Anniversary version.
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The poster tops off with an abstract of the whole Swordgate saga and study as updated over past versions and continues with the full inventory and group type presentation. The key stuff we’ve done and figured out and collected follows. Sections on the art of the science, 3D modelling, bivalve mold casting, metallurgy notes, morphometric notes, the timeline in quick view mode, and the primary working hypothesis, are presented. Graphics are crammed in to encapsulate and summarize everything important.  

Cover your walls or your computer screen with this executive summary poster of the single greatest crowdsourced kick in the pants debunking of pseudo artifact nonsense that’s ever happened within the history of man as we know it...or just share the inner giggle this has been for many of us Swordgaters. Once again, congratulations and thanks to all contributors.
​
Here’s the changelog update from v5.0 to v6.0:

  • abstract revised and updated noting extra tests, falsified hypotheses, timeline points
  • sword inventory increased from 16 to 25 with hilt picture row expanded
  • extra sword finds not used in the inventory added
  • group type boxes expanded to include all additional swords, three new types and one new subtype, full name of each sword with number and group code added, key morphology details added
  • former multiple hypotheses section reduced to the primary hypothesis and text updated
  • extra metallurgy test results for #3 & 4 added
  • measurement box updated with weights and additional measurement for Type I
  • original purchase location and date summary expanded to include additional swords
  • ‘Art of the Science’ section added with description text and picture collage
  • former enlarged hilt comparison removed and 3D model section revised to include description text and picture collage
  • timeline updated and description summary added and reference made to additional poster
  • bivalve mold casting section added with description text and picture collage
  • logos added
 
There’s also a summary video version of the poster on the unofficial official Swordgate Youtube channel HERE. 

Keep it real. Keep it Swordgate.  ​
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