I do! I do! It was Scout! I think???
At 12:45 PM 1/23/2008, you wrote:
>Mark and Lees have made a very important point. There is, however,
>one very positive aspect to this lack of historic memory. If you are
>running an archaeological project with students and working on 20th
>century sites much of material recovered is "ancient" and romantic
>to the student excavators. On our New Jersey project we found a
>small Lone Ranger sheriff's badge and almost none of our students
>knew who the Lone Ranger (not to mention Tonto) was.
>
>In the lab on two occasions students drew the small aluminium film
>cans we use because they looked so odd and ancient to them. We had
>to tell them, no, not the can, there is something in the can.
>
>However, it must be admitted that most of the "old timers" did not
>remember the name of Tonto's horse. Everyone knows "Silver" but who
>is --------.
>
>What is the half-life (or better, normal seriation) of elements of
>popular culture and why do some elements (e.g. Frank Sinatra) cross
>multiple generations while most do not. There is also recycling
>(e.g. an Art Deco Subway Station built recently in Philadelphia).
>
>Bob Schuyler
>
>At 10:08 AM 1/23/2008, you wrote:
>>Geezer Mark has hit upon a very vital point that we are increasingly
>>going to confront in public archaeology and archaeological
>>interpretation, and indeed on helping people to see the importance and
>>relevance of archaeology. This is also a point that is impacting all of
>>historical interpretation. Children of today are increasingly
>>disconnected with the cultures and economies and material cultures of
>>our collective past in a way that has not been the case previously. In
>>many ways a child growing up in the 1940s (1960s?), especially growing
>>up in a rural setting, had more in common with children growing up 200
>>years earlier than with children growing up today. Things that us
>>geezers look at and understand simply are not part of the cultural
>>knowledge of children of today and will not be part of the cultural
>>knowledge of the adults of tomorrow (and, as we have seen, is not part
>>of the cultural knowledge of some of the adults of today!).
>>
>>Our challenge is that we will increasingly have to back up and start our
>>interpretation by explaining some very basic concepts about the past if
>>we ever hope to be able to explain the more complex and to us the more
>>interesting facts that we learn through archaeology and history. The
>>problem is that in presenting an interpretation to the public there are
>>a very limited number of topics--five at the very most--that you can
>>hope they will recall, and we are given only a limited amount of time
>>and words to explain these five or fewer topics.
>>
>>To make matters worse is the current trend in education to focus on math
>>and science and to downplay or ignore social science and
>>history--children are not even coming away from school with much of a
>>social or historical context for the interpretations that we hope to
>>deliver to them.
>>
>>On a positive note, archaeology education is one of the best avenues
>>around for getting the attention of teachers and children and to light
>>their little fires about the past that is ever the more foreign and
>>increasingly intriguing. Three cheers for public archaeology!!!
>>
>>William B. Lees, Ph.D., RPA, Executive Director
>>Florida Public Archaeology Network
>>University of West Florida
>>www.flpublicarchaeology.org
>>
>>Street Address:
>>207 East Main Street, Pensacola
>>Mailing address:
>>PO Box 12486
>>Pensacola, FL 32591-2486
>>Email: [log in to unmask]
>>Phone: 850-595-0051
>>MOBILE: 850-293-4492
>>FAX: 850-595-0052
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark
>>Branstner
>>Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 3:50 PM
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: The perplexing artifact
>>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>Just a random thought ...
>>
>>Having grown up in the 1950s and early 1960s, either in a small
>>northern Michigan town or visiting my grandparents in the country, I
>>have been exposed to material culture and lifeways that certainly
>>extend well back into the latter half the 19th century ... The poor
>>kids had outhouses, still trapped for spending money, and horses were
>>still seen in at least limited use on local farms.
>>
>>There was certain continuity between the past and the present that
>>was predictable and understandable.
>>
>>On the other hand, some of the younger members of our fraternity, who
>>were born roughly coincident with the arrival of the personal
>>computer, are at a total disconnect with much of the material culture
>>that many of us take for granted ... Although at 56, I really don't
>>feel like an "old timer," the increasingly rapid disconnect between
>>the past and the present is, at best, disconcerting.
>>
>>So, when one of our younger number presents what to them is a
>>"perplexing artifact," I promise to check my initial reaction (shock,
>>smugness) and do my best to responsibly reply with the "vast" store
>>of knowledge that I apparently retain in my short-term memory :-) ,
>>when appropriate.
>>
>>Geezerly yours,
>>
>>Mark
>>
>>--
>>
>>Mark C. Branstner, RPA
>>Historic Archaeologist
>>
>>Illinois Transportation
>>Archaeological Research Program
>>209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
>>23 East Stadium Drive
>>Champaign, IL 61820
>>
>>Phone: 217.244.0892
>>Fax: 217.244.7458
>>Cell: 517.927.4556
>>[log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>"I hope there's pudding" - Luna Lovegood (HP5)
>
>Robert L. Schuyler
>University of Pennsylvania Museum
>3260 South Street
>Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324
>
>Tel: (215) 898-6965
>Fax: (215) 898-0657
>[log in to unmask]
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