Cathy,

You mentioned that you had been able to gather a number of oral histories as
a preparation for your archaeological project. What about asking some of
your respondents -- and other community members -- what sort of questions
they would like to have answered? You will still be able to ask those that
you, as an archaeologist/anthropologist, see as "significant" -- but taking
account of local needs and agendas might also provide needed local support
for your project should you be in the position of arguing for full scale
mitigation later on.

Carol McDavid

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Carol McDavid
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
1638 Branard, Houston, Texas, 77006, USA
(713) 523-2649
[log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
www.webarchaeology.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Cathy Spude" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 3:19 PM
Subject: Red Light District Research Design


> Ron:
>
> I know you sent this to me off list, but I decided to reply to the whole
> list instead. I hope you don't mind.  HistArchers, Ron asked me:
>
> Cathy,
>
> When it is available, I would like a copy of your research design. I have
> been following presentations and publications on this topic for quite a
> number of years, but just do not get a good sense of how people are
> evaluating significance of what they find. So many people seem to either
> focus on single items or downplay stereotypes and let it ride.
>
> [Name deleted] did a [type deleted] brothel [place deleted] but the report
> did little to contribute to either history or archaeology. He just
reviewed
> other people's research and then provided a laundry list of recoveries.
> Sad, really.
>
> Ron May
> Legacy 106, Inc.
>
> This is Cathy again....I've been toying with the idea of asking the list
> for suggestions of "significant" research questions. I've been messing
> around with this subject for quite some time, and I'm not sure I can sort
> out what's "important" and what's not. What might seem interesting and
> "important" to me might seem boring and irrelevant to someone else. How in
> the world can one person come up with a research design that will ask all
> the important questions?
>
> Then I considered the subject, and the list, and the sort of replies I'd
> get, and you see why I hesitated asking the list for suggestions....
>
> Anyway, since you asked for my research design when I'm done, I take it
> you're actually serious about this. So I'm going to ask you, and anyone
> else out there who can pretend to be half serious (Okay, a few jokes are
> fine, too), what are some SIGNIFICANT questions that we can ask here?
>
> A year ago, I had the pleasure of directing a team of historians and
> cultural anthropologists in the direction I'd like them to take in doing
> the local historical research we needed to do to find out everything we
> could BEFORE we started getting into the ground. They've done a great job.
> We've got dozens of oral histories, lots of primary historical research
out
> of the way, and as the archeologist chosen to plan the archeology, I get
to
> focus on what the archeology can tell us that the history and oral history
> hasn't already told us.
>
> I've thought of some questions that do some reality checking against the
> oral histories (e.g. the privies all used mild boxes that were dumped out
> at the sea). These are particularistic questions that deal with specifics
> in the Seward red light district.
>
> I've thought of some that can only be checked with material culture. For
> instance, I ask "As has been observed on other archeological sites
> associated with prostitutes and sites associated with women in general,
> does there appear to be a larger percentage of medicinal items than on
> archeological sites associated primarily with men (for instance saloons or
> bachelor male households)? If so, might this phenomenon occur because the
> prostitutes were more susceptible to contagious illnesses of all kinds,
> women as a whole be more susceptible to illnesses, or were women more
> likely to seek treatment beyond simple dosing with alcohol taken
> internally?"
>
> But in order to make a good case for an expensive mitigation project after
> initial testing, assuming we find some decent remains, my marching orders
> were to ask questions that passed the "so what?" test. In some cases, we
> archeologists will be able to say, "because we believe it is important,
> that's so what," but I truly do want to be able to answer that question
for
> myself on each of them. I think the questions above answer that. I do want
> to know if we have intact privy deposits because of the potential for good
> data on health and diet that we'll never get from the historical record. I
> also want to know about medicinal treatments of all kinds because of my
> interest in health data for women of the period.
>
> But do I need to know the thickness of window glass from these brothels?
Do
> I need to know the size of the nails they used in the framing of their
> houses? Do I need to know the commodity flow of ceramics, when the ceramic
> time lag may be as much as twenty years? Are these "so what questions?"
>
> Can you help me out here? What ARE important questions besides just the
> ones I'm interested in????
>
>
> Cathy