1. Who am I: George Myers, I am a sometimes member of the American
Anthropology Association (it's now over 100 years old) and often
archaeology technician. I have worked for a number of agencies and
private firms involved in "contract" or "public archaeology" (and
"archeology"). The companies have ranged from assisting Anna Roosevelt
at Marajo Island, Brazil to documenting "almshouse" burials in New
York City's City Hall Park, to remote-sensing a former "coal gas"
plant for "city lights" in Saratoga Springs for the EPA. My interest
in archaeology began with the announced "festschrift" ("book in
somebody's honor") for Marion White in Buffalo, NY, she the "mother"
of "salvage archaeology" in my state and reflected an interest, living
off-and-on at the time in Canada, on Grand Manan Island, NB where my
mariner relations lived, a similar "fate" shared by some of our
states' natives.
2. Dirtiest job: I would have to say the "black ship" found in
December next to NYC's "South Street Historic District" just before
the SHA meetings in Philadelphia, PA one year. Circa 1730, it was
waterlogged in landfill, and a black powder collected in one's nasal
passages. Currently, nearby, the water "Tunnel #3" at least 800 feet
below the sidewalk, is to come to the surface, planned as a hub for
lower Manhattan or at another location, next to One Police Plaza, in a
park.
3. Practical equipment: In heavy brush you might want to try the
Museum of Modern Art awarded design, Sonin transmitter-receiver units
(under $100 US) and might prevent the wielding of the machete that
could raise an alarm with you client's neighbors. They use infra-red
and sub-sonic energy to gauge distance up to 250' (70 meters).
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