One more Mesoamericanist making a living in CRM. I started when the kids
were small and I was in grad school at SUNY Albany, and am now a
grandfather working as a project director at the New York State Museum
Cultural Resource Survey. My special interests have gone from Mayan
folklore to industrial and twentieth century archaeology over the years,
and I recently returned to work on my dissertation. Dream on...

Dirtiest... in what way? What comes to mind was the first artifact I
found in field school, discarded in the previous season's backdirt. It
must have been a very entertaining season!!!

Clothing? I wish I actually got to dig often enough these days to worry
about that!

>>> [log in to unmask] 09/28/06 1:39 PM >>>
Who am I? I am an archaeologist, trying like mad to finish my
dissertation! Although all of my academic work to date has been
Mesoamerican and prehistoric in focus, I have also worked extensively
in
CRM related projects in New England.

One of the last projects that I did in CT involved archival research
and
testing on a piece of property where I discovered the remnants of an
early
(ca 1760) house. That experience got me really interested in Historic
Archaeology. I like that there is some written materials that can be
compared and contrasted with what is "in the ground". I also find that
historical work is easier for students to understand; they can look at
a
broken piece of ceramics or glass, or a rusty nail and at least have a
general understanding of what it is, and what it might have been used
for.

  At the moment I am living in Ohio (moved for husband's job), and I
am
teaching part time at a local college, and working with a research
organization through that college that does local historic research
and
archaeology. I am gearing up to run a small field school type project
next summer on a house that had ties to the Underground Railroad.

  Dirtiest Moment in the Field: Probably when I was doing survey work
in
Veracruz during the rainy season. Everything was covered in mud...it
was
so bad I actually lost a shoe in the mud (and then had to put it back
on
again.....).

  There was also a project or two where we told a lot of dirty
jokes...but
I digress.


 Most useful things you can have in the field:
  1) Bandannas; I have used them to cover my neck and head, wash my
hands,
even wrap up lunch, and afterwards, artifacts. 2) Back-up sharpies and
pencils; (if I had a nickle for every pen that has been lost by me or
someone on my crew in the field I would be able to buy a lot more
sharpies and pencils...) 3) Toilet paper....enough said!


  -Elizabeth Hoag, MA, RPA