Ron:

That wasn't our experience looking for our 1820's Mexican Hacienda\Presidio 
in Arizona but, then, we were looking for a soil K, P or Ca archaeochemical 
anomaly and got lucky when a 83 year old Hispanic  informant told us we were 
looking in the wrong area and that the "government historians" were all 
wrong. Besides, I love to interview "Old Timers"-they have great stories and 
are so appreciative of being listened to. Occassionally, they have some real 
ethnohistorical and artifactual gems tucked in their back closets.  We are 
working on a project in CA where the very literate and professional (retired 
MD)  informant MAY have stories and artifacts from the 1579 Drake Expedition 
that were passed down as oral traditions and sacred objects frrom his Native 
American family.  Historical Archaeology gives us this opportunity and 
programs should be structured to train students to get this information.

Rich Lundin, BA, MA, RPA, ISAP
Consulting Historical Archaeologist and Remote Sensing Specialist
Director, Wondjina Research Institute

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron May" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 8:53 PM
Subject: Re: Hysterical Archaeology


> Ah, but oral history only goes so far. I recall interviewing an 86-year 
> old
> World War II veteran and finding he knew nothing of the World War I 
> artifacts
> housed in the attic of the local American Legion Hall (in fact, none of 
> those
> WW  II vets could walk up the staircase to see the stuff in the attic). I
> suspect  few informants can tell us much of a 18th century Hispanic adobe
> location.
>
> Not all historical diaries and "geezer accounts" are accurate. During my
> tenure in local government, a local historical archaeologist hired an 
> historian
> to search for a "missing" 1840s adobe in a local rancho. They targeted a 
> piece
> of land using geezer accounts, newspaper records, and one or two Canary
> Island palm trees as guidance and then ripped up the land using a backhoe 
> in
> search of the legendary adobe. But to no avail. Then I enlisted the 
> assistance
> of a local land surveyor and he found a record of survey at the local
> government  office and triangulated the sightings of "the adobe house," 
> which proved to
> be a  mile or so east of the palm trees. Then I found a 1970s vintage 
> survey
> report  prepared by a couple of prehistorians that commented, "mound of 
> hard
> mud  associated with broken glass, beads, and white ceramics." My point 
> here is
> that  oral history, interviews with old timers, and living memory is only 
> one
> tool in  the historical archaeology tool kit.
>
> Should the prehistorians have received training in historical archaeology
> before surveying a large tract of land with a known Mexican era adobe and 
> native
> village in contact with European Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries?
> Should the historical archaeologists have learned land surveying to access 
> and
> thoroughly use records of survey notes in search of the adobe? How would 
> an
> historical archaeologist esconced in a history department have approached 
> the
> issue?
>
> Ron May
> Legacy 106, Inc.
>
>
>
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