Ok. Before anything else, while I have your brief attention ;-) It is ShovelBums not “Shovel Bums”. It is a huge pet peeve of mine I have for absolutely no good reason, lol! The pattern is the CamelCase/medial capital convention adopted from computer programming. And I just like it better, it is a 90s thing :-) I don’t expect to ever win this because “Ski bum” is in such common usage, but I had to throw this out there.  Ok, enough ranting about obscure naming conventions. ShovelBums turned 22 this week (Sunday, actually!). Wow. Just wow. At least for me ;-) I would like to call out and thank Jim Colburn who has been eminently dependable over the decades in helping to moderate ShovelBums. It is handy to have an extra set of eyes on the list and to bounce ideas off of. So thank you very much, Jim! I don’t reflect on it until...

Hey folks!   Now isn’t that a kick-ass presumptuous subject for a post!  ? ? ?  (<— Since I am quite NRHP eligible I can use whatever outdated emoji I want ;-)   But like every clickbait worthy POS article online only after you are lured into opening it do you see the full title.   "The state of Archaeology, CRM, Architectural History… in the age of Covid, via my incredibly siloed view of the profession(s) through ShovelBums. Plus, the Mark of the Beast bodes a good omen for us!"   Bonus Material: My Kevin Bacon Number.   I put Architectural History in the title only because that always catches peoples eyes and makes them think it must be interesting because none of us really know what they do. I mean we all know the Architectural Historians write prodigiously, they can talk eloquently about a shocking number of subjects beyond their job title, and they always give that...

    For those of you who live within 4hrs of Albuquerque I would like to encourage you to come to the SAA’s for the Free CRM Expo being held at the convention center tomorrow on Saturday 10-4. The expo will have 50 companies represented( * ), but more importantly will serve as a gathering place for coming across old friends (and therefore likely preceed an evening of anthropologically observed debauchery). Think of it as an excuse to come to the big city for the weekend for the occasional big shopping trip :-) Knowing SW connections I am sure you can find a couch to crash on in ABQ (Loebig & Silcock are threatening to crash me which will likely create a biohazard environment! Lol). And it’s a good excuse to grab an Olympia Gyro!   Yeah yeah I know it is expensive to go to the SAA’s out of pocket. Yeah yeah, it’s a...

A beloved family story recounted by my Grandmother about the events from one cold December day in 1932. The three children mentioned were the first of what would be thirteen children she raised.   TL;DR: Your small actions can have a life long positive impact you never know about on another person. Be kind, Be gracious, Be thankful.    ~R. Joe   The Stranger's Gift Genevieve Brandon, Sterling, Illinois   The December day was bleak, just as every day from mid-September on had been that cheerless winter of 1932. The cold weather had settled in early, wiping out the fall crop of vegetables. Over our small village in northwestern Illinois, as over all the nation, there hung an aura of quiet desperation. These were the deepest, darkest days of the Depression. With so many people out of work, there seemed to be little to look forward to this holiday season.   My husband and I huddled close to the...

December 2017, California: Tehachapi Wildland Fire Crew 11 cr ew sleeping after 24hr shift. Photo Credit: Kern County Fire   Where there is smoke, there is Wildland Firefighters.    Fire, when finally mastered by our ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago, cast the very light which illuminates the darkest shadows of our shared history. Unlike lithics or ceramics, fire is a capricious tool of mankind; both benevolent and malevolent in what it can do to shape our destiny. From a single errant spark a conflagration can erupt and devastate entire ecosystems. Fire has no pity, no premeditation, no plans, just potential. In our modern era we are fortunate to have those, who as much as is humanly possible, understand fire. Those who think like fire. Those who can try to predict fires ravenous desire for fuel fanned by always fluctuating  temperatures, winds, and precipitation. When the call goes out, they are the #WildlandFirefighters and their peers. These professionals do not run blindly at...

Regardless of how the election turns out today it is worth noting that in late October 2018, after the big drop, all of the "gains" from 2018 were effectively wiped out (someone made a profit, and it wasn't most of us!). And while jobs grow continues (*)(a trend started early in the Obama's administration) wages are not rising in any meaningful way (and have yet to top 3% during this entire run).    It is also worth noting that while Trump did inherit a steadily recovering economy (unlike the recession Obama inherited) and there has been growth, this growth has not been "free". It is a direct result of the Trump Stimulus Plan. The combination of the massive tax cuts for the wealth and businesses and the massive increases in government spending have now pushed out National debt to over $21,000,000,000,000/21 Trillion dollars (when Trump took over it was $19,000,000,000,000/19 Trillion dollars. So why has...

Get Your Absentee Ballot In Two Minutes I got mine. Please get yours. It takes two minutes and requires no site registration (tip: you do not need to provide your phone number). http://shovelbums.net/l/get-your-absentee-ballot-here List of all states Absentee Ballot Deadlines: https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot-deadlines/    

TL;DR Is at the bottom:   —> MUST READ:   I always wanted to find myself standing on some dramatic landscape. A vista of foreboding clouds billowing across a distant horizon as a dusky golden sunset beautifully glints off the armor of the vast army behind me waiting for my command as we face our mortal enemy in the final great battle that will see us either victors of the principles we value or smote from the memory of both time and space. Standing before those who have entrusted so much to me I raise my arm to signal our advance, as I utter quietly, to myself:     “And so it begins…”     Welllll now I don’t see that happening anytime soon. So I will take this opportunity as probably the only time I will have the chance to utter those words and actually have some meaning behind them. So here it goes: ...

The greatest tragedy of the Brazil Museum fire? The fire departments are now reporting that when they arrived on scene all of the local fire hydrants were dry. While the design of the building (wood supports and floors) and the apparent failure of any existing fire suppression to contain the fire contributed to some of the loss. The primary cause of the complete destruction was a failing in basic modern infrastructure that allowed for what is effectively a 100% loss of most collections of more that 20,000,000 specimens. This is what happens when societies build without preparing for infrastructure support into the future. There will of course be little stories of miraculous "finds" among the rubble, but their significance pales in comparison to the loss that could have been limited in scale. This is a modern equivalent to the ultimate destruction of the  Library of Alexandria of Brazil. A loss that could have been minimized in scope and scale....

Today is #AskAnArchaeologist day! Share the hashtag and help educate your friends and family on social media about what it is archaeologists really do! http://www.shovelbums.org/gear  

 Good Night Koko Hanabiko "Koko"  (July 4, 1971 – June 19, 2018)  

National Melanoma Day The first Monday in May was designated as "National Melanoma Day" by the American Academy of Dermatology in 1984 to help raise awareness of skin cancer.  Melanoma is one of the deadliest types of skin cancer. And skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the US. According to the American Cancer Society, one person dies from Melanoma every hour. Last year one of those people was a friend of mine. They were bright, vivacious, strong: But then they were diagnosed, and the melanoma came on fast and hard.  On average, a person's risk for melanoma doubles if they have had more than five sunburns. You are smart about so much of what you do. Be smart about taking care of your skin. If are a real ShovelBum and have done time enough in the field to have been exposed more than the average population, then you are at risk: Make...

May The 4th Be With You! Happy Star Wars Day!  

Archeology Today by Monty Python       

ShovelBums turns 19 today. 19!   DON'T YOU PEOPLE HAVE HOBBIES? :-) Seriously though, thank you, everyone. Both the companies and institutions that have believed in ShovelBums enough to feel it was worth your resources to spend the time posting positions and the 45,000+ "ShovelBums" who have been the right fit for the jobs advertised, whatever the level: Archaeology Field Technician, Crew Chiefs, Lab Directors, Field Directors, Principal Investigators, TV Shows, University faculty, etc... And there is only one, one very singular, reason any of this has happened. Because of you. Because you, and only you, reading this, have helped to spread the word about Shovelbums "No, really, it is not just for "ShovelBums"(*) Jobs" you would tell your friend with their nose up in the air at such a banal collection of below the bottom of the Shovel Test Unit jobs. From my first announcement to the "Pocket_Grophers" at Uark around 4am on April 25 1999,...

          Every Kid in a Park  This is a national program for federal parks and properties. If you have a 4th grader (or homeschool equivalent) your fourth grader can take his whole family to Federal Parks until August 31, 2018. You can sign up for the program here:   https://www.everykidinapark.gov Please share this information with your children's schools. With reduced funding and opportunities at schools, even entry fee cost can be a barrier to families from exploring these great places on our shared landscape. The best way to build up a generation that respects our cultural and natural environment and wants to help protect and preserve it is through exposure and experience.   Details about the Every Kid in a Park Annual 4th Grade Pass Available to U.S. 4th Graders (including home-schooled and free-choice learners 10 years of age). Educators can also be involved! Learn more at the  Every Kid in...

   Reblogged from Merritt Burton  https://twitter.com/chaotichamster Thanks to Bernie S. for the find:

The TransCanada Keystone pipeline spill of 210,000 gallons/5,000 barrels near Amherst, SD is *NOT* the Keystone XL pipeline that has been in the news so much this last year. The Keystone Xl is not completed yet. { Hat tip to JS for the heads up } The spill reportedly occurred because of a loss of pressure around 6:00 AM CST Wednesday, Nov 16th. The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources  was not notified until 10:30 AM CST.  So how much is 210,000 gallons/5,000 barrels? It's about 500,000 times as big as a Beer Keg. (source: Measure of Things ) It's about five times as big as The Goodyear Blimp. (source: Measure of Things ) It is about equal to 5 days of all coffee drinks sold by Starbucks worldwide (source: Leo Qin ).          Read More: TransCanada updates on the "Amherst Incident"  https://www.transcanada.com/amherst-incident http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/16/us/keystone-pipeline-leak/index.html https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/16/564705368/keystone-pipeline-oil-spill-reported-in-south-dakota https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/keystone-oil-spill-south-dakota-spd/    

  I have been casually following the work of French archaeologist Pierre Tallet and his work with  Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, the University of Ismailia and the University of Paris-Sorbonne on the ancient harbors at  Ayn Sukhna and and the even more remote Wadi el-Jarf for a few years. Channel 4 just produced a neat documentary on the researchers discoveries and translations of the "Diary of Merer". It is fascinating because in this diary Merer (Merrer, Mererer) details the daily work in mining the stone to build the pyramid for Pharaoh Khufu, what would be the tallest man made structures for over 3,000 more years. The diary also definitively answers some of the questions researchers have had about the technology and the process of moving large scale materials for the construction of the pyramids.  My favorite quote from Tallert is: “Most new evidence is found in the periphery.”  Watch the episode here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/egypts-great-pyramid-the-new-evidence/on-demand/67194-001 Read more:...

  Did you see this picture on the History Channel special in July 2017 “ Amelia Earhart – The Lost Evidence ”? It purported to show Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan in Japanese custody. There is a small problem...the photograph was taken two years before they disappeared!  While the History Channel has removed the episode from it's streaming service, they have yet to publicly acknowledge to their audience this error. Please sign this petition  to Paul Buccieri President A&E Networks to get the History Channel to correct this mistake. This is a perfect example of bad science making headlines, but when refuted, there is little coverage or attempt to correct the spreading of misinformation.      Sign the Petition