OK, you can take your finger off of the delete button now -- the
SOPA/ROPA/DOPA thread is over.
 
Meanwhile, a non-email colleague at a local community college is interested
in hearing from anyone who has constructed an "archaeological" site for the
purpose of training students in stratigraphic excavation techniques. He
wants to do the same and would like advice, others' experiences, etc.  
I did this myself a few years ago and am still digging portions of the site
every spring.
The advantages:  
1.  I'm not destroying a real site for no other purpose than to give
students an introduction to digging.
2.  There's no report to write at the end of the class (I really like that
one).
3.  It's *exactly* like digging a real site. After only 3 months, I
couldn't tell that it was a phoney.
The disadvantages:
1.  I have to rebuild a portion of it each year.
2.  It cost about $500 for soil to create.
3.  I had to hassle with university administration for a piece of unused
land: "You want to do WHAT?"
 
So, if you have ever built a site -- something with real digable features,
not just artifacts on the surface -- please let me know and I'll pass on
the information. Thanks a lot!
 
Adrian Praetzellis
[log in to unmask]
[SOPA member since 1981]