Speaking of historic archaeology, I attended armored training at Fort Irwin
in 1965 and distinctly recall walking out of the World War II vintage shower
building and observing honey-colored rocks in the rainwater dripline of the
roof. Upon closer inspection of those rocks, I saw what I now know were core
tools. After washing out of armored and returning to academia, I had the
opportunity to hop on a San Diego Museum of Man field survey of Fort Irwin and found
more of those core tools alongside Lake Mohave and Silver Lake points on terraces
and in blow outs between sand dunes. However, I found the older World War II
bunkers, trenches, camps, and mock battle debris every bit as interesting as
the prehistoric material. Years later, I would learn that consulting companies
made quite a pile of money mapping all those military sites for the Fort Irwin
environmental office.

Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.