In message <[log in to unmask]> John Buckler writes:
 
>> >                While at a field school in Annapolis, we  excavated
>> >the home of a freed slave (it is now known as the Maynard-Burgess house).
>> >The excavators included only one African-American.  In my opinion, this
>> >dig suffered because of that;  at times I felt I was operating in a
>> >vacuum, unable to confidently offer an opinion.  However, that experience
>> >opened up my world enough that I began to read much more widely in that
>> >field.
 
I was at the same field school as Mr. Buckler, and I'd like to offer
an alternative opinion.  Although the PI (Mark Leone) and grad students
directing the dig were all "white," they were also specialists in
African-American archaeology and therefore, I feel, very qualified
to dig the site.  The sole African-American excavator did offer some
alternative opinions, and these were welcomed--in fact, he was often
sought out for his opinion.  I *do not* think the dig suffered from only
having one African-American excavator.  In the first place, the heads
of the project were all experienced and qualified.  In the second place,
the director, Mark Leone, worked WITH the local African-American historical
society in both planning AND interpreting the dig, and several members
of the society came to tour the site and observe its progress.  Therefore,
I feel the African-American voice was sought out, listened to, and given
much importance by Leone and the others.
 
Finally, this *was* a field school class, offered by the U. of Maryland.
I don't know what they could have done to change the makeup of
the field crew to be more diverse--it pretty much matched the composition
of the anthropology dept.  It's distressing, but true, that there are
not many African-American anthropology/archaeology students.
Also, I too felt that at times I was "operating in a vacuum" and could
not "confidently offer an opinion," but that was, in my case, not due to
there being insufficient African-American participation in the project
but entirely due to the fact that it was a field school and I was
*learning* how to be an archaeologist!  I felt there was a lot of
African-American participation; I guess Mr. Buckland and I had really
different views of the same project!
 
>To bring other ideas and information into the play other than just your
>own can only help.  It would have been nice to see how the site (the
>Maynard-Burgess house) could be seen and interpreted through eyes other
>than my own, through backgrounds less similar to me.
 
Just a final note:  There were many women on the crew, a few older
returning students, one African-American, and several non-anthropology
majors.  African-Americans were consulted in the planning and interpretation.
These seem to be very different eyes than yours!  What exactly is wrong
with the interpretation?  Have you read the final reports?  I am not
trying to be defensive--I am genuinely confused as to why you feel
something was missing from the project.
 
Kerry