Dan,
When you wrote:
 
>I have encountered thick layers of glass in two contexts...both from the
18th c.
>One was a layer laid under the floor of one room in the cellar of a
>plantation house.  . . . The other case
>was the use of large amounts of both bottle glass and broken pottery to
>"crock" the bottom of kitchen-garden beds at the same plantation
 
You used the term "crock" the bottom of planting beds.   Is this an 18th
century term or did you just make it up?  inquiring minds want to know.
Oh, sorry, being a  state employee, I'm not supposed to have an inquiring
mind am I, Dan?    Hey, even if there are several "public servants"  out
there like that,  your characterization is still a very hurtful stereotype.
( well, . . . it hurt MY feelings! ) .     If I'm not as well read as my
academic counterparts, its NOT due to desire, its because I work long hours
trying to save archaeological sites and to make archaeology relevant to
taxpayers and their children.    A task that undoubtedly  prompts taxpayers
to continue to support University archaeologists     -   who have
comfortable work hours,  student slaves,  and easy access to great
libraries.    And do I ever get a thank you from these freeloading
academicians?   No.  In fact, many sneer  down at public service from their
ivory towers and  won't even volunteer an hour or two for archaeology week.
(how's that for an opposing view - - - equal time for equally outrageous
stereotypes).
 
By the way, I'd like to mention something to the person who raised the
question about training undergraduates for real world archaeology.  I saw a
really good paper at Seattle's SAA  you might want to check out.   It was by
Gillian Newel entitled "American and Mexican Archaeology: Differences in
Meaning and in Teaching."   Apparently undergraduates in Mexico graduate
with all the technical skills necessary to become practicing field
archaeologists rather than the general liberal arts education U.S.
undergraduates receive.    It was a really interesting paper and very
relevant to the recent thread on the list.    I got the feeling Ms. Newell
and her compatriots have spent many an hour laughing up their sleeves at
U.S. archaeology grads "who couldn't dig their way out of a kitty litter
pan."    Ms Newell's affiliation was given as "Arizona" and the session was
organized by Pam Wheat of the Texas Historical Commission.
 
 I know I learned how to "dig"  from people trained in a British tradition
(and am glad of it) but wouldn't  trade my theory classes at SIU-Carbondale
for "nothing."  Even though it was all "New Archaeology,"  I think its
important to know what the "old dogs" in your field have accomplished, so we
don't keep reinventing the same wheel and so we can build on one another's
work.  This is the importance of having a degree .  Our purpose should be to
destroy  old paradigms and build new ones - (and  try to be entertaining
and useful to the public at the same time. )
 
Linda Derry ([log in to unmask])
Old Cahawba Archaeological Park
Alabama Historical Commission