Allrighty Sports Fans! The Archaeology is really heating up, in a manner of speaking… The temperatures for the Boulder City/ Las Vegas area have moved from low 90s to low 100s in a matter of days. I guess it’s a good thing I’ve been working inside mostly. I have a bit more time to discuss the details of my job now.
As I mentioned before I’m going through the site files for LMNRA and trying to compile a database that includes our most important, and our most endangered sites (Rock Art, Abandoned Mines, NAGPRA, ARPA), as well as sites that have been looted or otherwise disturbed in the past. This database will then be used to inform the Ranger Dept. where they should concentrate their efforts on in case of future criminal activities.
Now when I say I’m going through the site files, I mean every site file! Lake Mead is a GIANT entity and we have hundreds, if not thousands, of site files. Needless to say this part of the job has its ups and downs. There are periods of time throughout the day where this seems pretty mindless and boring, but there are also quite a few files that are extremely interesting. One such file included the story of a family, who found a human burial in the park, and were allowed to go with the archaeologists the next day to assist in the excavation of the remains! Obviously this was before NAGPRA!
I think my favorite sites are the Rock Art. They all have to be drawn, so many of the file have great drawings of prehistoric and historic panels.
Though my time in the office can be lots of fun I’m really looking forward to the field. My first session starts next week the 20th of June! I just can’t wait to get out and about!
Tune in later this week, and I’ll probably have more photos on here!
Ryan
