Barry Vermillion wrote:
>
> Is it possible that archeologists, over a period of time, become calous, or
> numb, and get a "been-there-done-that" syndrome?  Do they lose the "fire"
> that once caused some excitement at the recovery of a square nail?
>
> BV


Well, I don't have that much experience yet, so I may still be a little
green, but I know that we map every old cabin and homestead we find on
survey, and we report on them. And every one of those 1960s-1970s shacks
holds something that interests me or makes me think. They may not be
eligible, but as archaeologists, we must recognize the importance of
recording future sites as well. In a mere twenty or thirty years, those
ramshackle homesteads may be a valuable research tool to someone
studying the lifeways of Alaskan homesteaders, whether there is a
plethora of paperwork or not on the material goods of the time. People
are innovative in their struggle to survive.
A little idealistic, I know.

Margan Grover