20TH CENTURY ARCHAEOLOGY
Some points on Dan W.'s comment:
(1) I see no evidence that "the public" is any more interested in
"tavern sites" etc. than they are in Quonsett huts etc.
(2) There will be no massive backlash, at least not from the public,
to CRM. They do not know what CRM is.
(3) If and when they find out about the archaeological exploration of
the 20th Century they may well find that much more fascinating than
earlier sites as it is part of their immediate heritage.
(4) Historical Archaeology is expanding its horizons by adding the
20th century without abandoning the 16th, 17th, 18th or 19th centuries.
(5) I find all the subjects listed interesting, although they are all
surface or "above ground" archaeology, and certainly significant parts
of 20th century history.
Bob Schuyler
P.S. What the h-ll are "NA camps?"
At 08:07 PM 10/16/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>My God! is this what archaeology has come to in the 21st century?
>
>Study of garbage strewn along rail roads in the 1940s?
>
>Airport landing lights
>
>Quonsett huts
>
>55 gallon drums.
>
>What ever happened to spending scarce CRM funds on tavern sites, NA camps,
>blacksmiths shops, and other things that we really know very little about
>and which interest the public who pays for it all?
>
>Am I just being a crotchety old geezer (42) longing for the old days, or am
>I astute enough to see a massive backlash coming against CRM in the near
>future, brought on by spending tax dollars on finding the history things
>that no one really is concerned about except that they are more than 50
>years old. This is the crap that always told us that the good stuff was
>tainted.
>
>Yes, I know there are some people with interests in just about anything,
>but just what direction is this really taking us?????
>
> Dan W.
>
>
>
>
>
>At 10/16/02 12:16 PM, you wrote:
>>Histarch. . .
>>
>>A question about 55 gallon drums, those ubiquitous markers of former
>>military presence in Alaska (usually found half buried in the muskeg
>>with the bottoms rusted out. . .)
>>
>>On a recent survey at a WWII era airfield, we encountered a stack of
>>drums, and I'm trying to determine an age for them. My suspicion is
>>that they date to the WWII time frame, but I've never really found any
>>good information of the dating of oil drums. These particular drums are
>>of the form common today, with the cylinder sides molded from a single
>>sheet of steel and the rolling rings raised out from the main body.
>>However, there are also a series of smaller, barely-visible rings on
>>either end of the cylinder, between each rolling ring and its respective
>>end.
>>
>>Does anyone know if these smaller rings can be used to determine a time
>>frame for these drums? Any references out there that I can cite?
>>
>>Thanks, folks!
>>
>>
>>Kris Farmen
>>Northern Land Use Research, Inc.
>>Fairbanks, Alaska
>
Robert L. Schuyler
University of Pennsylvania Museum
33rd & Spruce Streets
Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324
Tel: (215) 898-6965
Fax: (215) 898-0657
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