2016 ShovelBums Field Schools are now online!


Sorry for the delay! I never even officially opened up ShovelBums for entries for the 2016 Field Schools and there were already 150 when I finally got around to publishing them today! Please share this link to the field schools and suggest your prof advertise your field school on ShovelBums and reach the worlds largest targeted audience of students of Archaeology, Anthropology and related disciplines! http://shovelbums.net/l/2016-field-schools     http://shovelbums.net/l/2016-field-schools
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5D data storage could potentially record all digital knowledge to the end of time

An image of a 5D storage crystal.
Every archivist and anyone who has ever taken a digital image, filled out a spreadsheet, logged a GPS location has the same flickering fear in the back of their mind - "what happens if this data is wiped out?". I lay awake some night fretting about this on the global scale. We are at the dawn of an era of unprecedented access to knowledge, but as quick at the Royal Library of Alexandria became nothing but a memory of lost potential cultures prosper and fade throughout history. And if an event of a great of enough magnitude (pick your plausible collapse of modern iteration of civilization scenario and apply) occurs, so does such a vast epoch of potential knowledge.       in 2013 researchers at University of Southampton in the UK first announced that they had developed a potential prototype and over the last three years have refined the process to the point where they...
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Donald Trump Proves that there is no such thing as Intelligent Design.

Donald Trump proving that Intelligent Design is false.
Donald Trump Proves that there is no such thing as Intelligent Design.      

Mother Jones Article - Inside The Race to Stop the Next Mass Shooter. Their estimate was off by two days :-(

A few months ago, after the last mass shooting, I saw the estimated intervals between mass shootings in the US in a Mother Jones article. I counted ahead from that date and made a note on my calendar that according to their estimates there would be another by December 4th...
A few months ago, after the last mass shooting, I saw the estimated intervals between mass shootings in the US in a Mother Jones article. I counted ahead from that date and made a note on my calendar that according to their estimates there would be another by December 4th...  Mother Jone's article Inside The Race to Stop the Next Mass Shooter  by Mark Follman
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Nov 10th 2015, 40th Anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald



November 10th, 1975. The Edmund Fitzgerald was caught by the Witch of November and sank.
Nov 10th, 1975 The Edmund Fitzgerald broke apart and sank
The Edmund Fitzgerald Underway
SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When originally launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and to this day she remains the largest to have sunk there. The Edmund Fitzgerald had taken on a load of taconite iron ore in Superior, Wisconsin on November 9th and was making was to Detroit, Michigan. The Fitz was caught in a fierce Lake Superior storm with near-hurricane force winds and 11m waves. Around 7:10pm on November 10th Captain McSorley's last message to the nearby freighter The Anderson said, "We are holding our own." A few minutes later, with no distress call her crew of 29 perished, and no bodies were recovered. Gordon Lightfoot's song: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.         Captain ERNEST M. MCSORLEY (September 29, 1912 – November 10,...
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News Flash - Archaeologist were wrong! The pyramids at Giza built for grain storage, not Pharaohs.



Archaeologists Don't Dig Dinosaurs or UFO's
Thanks to the internet, the wisdom of Presidential candidate Ben Carson has been preserved and will heretofore save archaeologists, and egyptologists in particular, the hassle of having to wonder about what those crazy pyramids in Egypt were for.  As Carson told the 1998 graduating class of Andrews University: “My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain,” Carson said. “Now all the archeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs’ graves. But, you know, it would have to be something awfully big (if you stop and think about it. And I don’t think it’d just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain.” On the positve side Dr. Carson does clearly NOT give the aliens credit for building the pyramids! It is worth spending the 15 minutes watching the entire speech. One of my favorite lines is where he says this, but I think he is really...
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Koko gets kittens for her 44th Birthday



Koko the sign language Gorilla gets kittens for her 44th birthday
Koko - The gorilla  almost any practicing anthropologist alive today feels a kinship with received kittens for her 44th birthday. Watch this great video:    
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#ColumbusDay 2015

#ColumbusDay
#ColumbusDay #IndigenousPeoplesDay #October12th  Bartolomé de las Casas, who served with Columbus but later became an advocate for Indigineous rights described how Columbus and his men treated these people in The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account:  “They attacked the towns and spared neither the children nor the aged nor pregnant women nor women in childbed, not only stabbing them and dismembering them but cutting them to pieces as if dealing with sheep in the slaughter house,” de Las Casas wrote. “They laid bets as to who, with one stroke of the sword, could split a man in two or could cut off his head or spill out his entrails with a single stroke of the pike. They took infants from their mothers’ breasts, snatching them by the legs and pitching them headfirst against the crags or snatched them by the arms and threw them into the rivers, roaring with laughter and saying as the babies fell into the water, ‘Boil there, you offspring of the devil!'”
#ColumbusDay #IndigenousPeoplesDay #October12th Bartolomé de las Casas, who served with Columbus but later became an advocate for Indigineous rights described how Columbus and his men treated these people in The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account: “They attacked the towns and spared neither the children nor the aged nor pregnant women nor women in childbed, not only stabbing them and dismembering them but cutting them to pieces as if dealing with sheep in the slaughter house,” de Las Casas wrote. “They laid bets as to who, with one stroke of the sword, could split a man in two or could cut off his head or spill out his entrails with a single stroke of the pike. They took infants from their mothers’ breasts, snatching them by the legs and pitching them headfirst against the crags or snatched them by the arms and threw them into the rivers, roaring with laughter and saying as the...
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International Academic Posting Special for October on ShovelBums

From Thursday October 1st to Wednesday October 7th any institution of higher learning may post an academic teaching position for free. From October 8th-31st any institution may pay a flat fee of $100 and post as many individual ads for positions open in their system. NOTE: This does not apply to any institution position that is a CRM position unless over 50% of that position is a teaching capacity.   Why ShovelBums? I thought that was for my undergrad archaeology students and Masters students in the summer?   Nope. Where do you think so many of you best and brightest ended up after they graduate? We all recognize that Archaeology and Anthropology are an academic pyramid scheme of sorts. Every year 100�⒠�s of institutions all around the world produce numerous exceptionally bright and well educated graduates who quickly learn that breaking into academia is a tough gig. So what happens to these former students? Yes...
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Has Dr. Nicolas Reeves found Nefertiti's tomb behind a hidden wall in Tutankhamun’s tomb?

Nicholas Reeves and Egypt’s antiquities minister Mamdouh Eldamaty  inspect the wall of King Tutankhamun's tomb
Tutankhamun's Tomb Room
  Nicholas Reeves  from the School of Anthropology, University of Arizona got to give  the interview quote ever archaeologist wants to give in their life:   “ To be honest, I feel numb,” Nicholas Reeves, the archaeologist who first proposed the existence of the hidden rooms, said in his Luxor hotel room, after inspecting the tomb. “This has been part of my life now on a daily basis for more than a year. ” " If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, " Reeves told the BBC. " But if I'm right, the prospects are frankly staggering. ”   So what is the fuss? Factum Arte, a Spanish group specializing in the replication of artistic works, conducted detailed scans of Tutankhamun’s tomb for a replica model. Nicholas examined the high resolution images and  saw fissures that he believes indicate the presence of two sealed doors in the tomb's north and west walls. With genetic evidence suggesting that Nefertiti...
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This weekend Mars will be as big as your Full Moon and Uranus!

This weekend Mars will be as big as the full moon and Uranus.
Totally true and hard science here folks. This weekend Mars will be as big as Your own Full Moon and Uranus (depending on your viewing distance).   As for Mars being viewed from earth and appearing as big as the moon, it is never, ever, going to happen.
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Gates of Gath, home of Goliath, discovered.


  A big honkin' gate recently excavated in Israel by  Aren Maeir, of Bar-Ilan University in Israel may very likely marks the entrance to Gath. The home of Goliath of David vs Goliath fame described in the bible. At it's time occupation it might have been the largest city in the region.  More from LiveScience :   
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What is the best song that sums up the life of an archaeologist?




What is the best song that sums up the life of an archaeologist? I was in Copan, Honduras when the Joshua Tree by U2 came out in March of '87. Mail was slow and expectations were high when someone finally got the cassette mailed to them. But this song made me me chuckle thinking of the fate of all archaeologists: "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" So what's your best example of a song that sums up the life of an archaeologist? (Please provide a link to the track if possible, or the lyrics) Post here or on facebook  
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Death of Rexdale Henry , a well known Choctaw Activist in a Neshoba, Mississippi Jail Prompts Questions

Rexdale Henry
Rexdale Henry, 53, a member of the Choctaw tribe and a lifelong community activist was found dead in his cell on July 14th.  Rexdale, who coached stickball and was a candidate for the Choctaw Tribal Council from Bogue Chitto was arrested for failure to pay a fine. "Rexdale W. Henry, 53, long-time Native American civil-rights activist and beloved leader in his Choctaw community, was found dead in his cell in the Neshoba County Jail in Philadelphia, Miss., sparking family and friends to seek an independent autopsy, reports Countercurrent News. Henry’s body was found at around 10:00 a.m. on the morning of July 14, about 30 minutes after he was last seen alive. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is allegedly investigating the case, but, knowing the history of Neshoba County, Henry’s supporters (justifiably) aren’t satisfied with just that... At a time when the nation is focused on the terrible circumstances of the brutal death of Sandra Bland, it is critical...
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Probably NSFW, but clever -> Key & Peele's Pirate Chantey Is the Feminist Anthem of the Summer


Key & Peele's Pirate Chantey Is the Feminist Anthem of the Summer
VIA Jezebel - Thanks for the heads up Lucy! Key & Peele's Pirate Chantey Is the Feminist Anthem of the Summer 77,557 91 Madeleine Davies Filed to: COMEDY 7/09/15 5:50pm   “I once met a lass so fine. She was dunk on barley wine. I’d been at sea for months a three. I knew I could make her mine. And the lass was past consent! So it was off with her we went,” growls pirate Jordan Peele. Don’t despair, though. There’s a twist! Sing it with me! “A woman has a right to a drink or two without worrying about what you will do! We’d say ‘YO HO,’ but we don’t say ‘ho,’ ‘cause ‘ho’ is disrespectful, yo!”
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South Carolina lowers the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Jaluladin Abdul-Hamib shouts "Take It Down" on the grounds of the South Carolina State House back in June.
VIA NPR Marking Historic Moment, South Carolina Removes Confederate Flag  JULY 10, 2015  8:32 AM ET EYDER PERALTA Twitter Jaluladin Abdul-Hamib shouts "Take It Down" on the grounds of the South Carolina State House back in June. Win McNamee/Getty Images During an emotional ceremony and amid popular cheers, the Confederate battle flag was brought down from a 30-foot flagpole that sits on the grounds of the State House in Columbia, South Carolina. The ceremony was conducted by South Carolina State Troopers, who marched in formation in front of a cheering crowd of hundreds. Slowly, they cranked the flag down from the pole, rolled it up and marched out. The crowd chanted, "USA! USA! USA." The flag was first flown over the state's Capitol dome in 1961, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the Civil War. But it was kept there as a protest against the Civil Rights movement. After calls from African Americans to remove it,...
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Irish baptismal and marriage records from 1740-1880 are now online (and free to access!)


Great news for anyone with Irish Catholic ancestors who is into genealogy. The National Library of Ireland (NLI) has announced today a website dedicated to presenting over 390,000 microfilm images dating from the 1740's to the 1880's covering 1,091 parishes throughout Ireland. These are primarily baptismal and marriage records and can be accessed at the Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI .  http://registers.nli.ie  
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Facebook now lets you choose who you see first in your news feed




Note: This is iOS only right now. It will be coming to other platforms soon. This is great news! Facebook has introduced a way to actually prioritize who you see on your news feed (though it caps at 30 unfortunately). It has also simplified who you are friends with (anyone have crazy uninformed friends on their list? lol!) that you choose not to follow (or want to refollow).  It is very easy to access:   1: Go to the facebook App and click "More" in the lower right corner:       2: Scroll down until you see "News Feed Preferences" under Settings:       3: Viola! There you go. Prioritize away! But keep in mind Facebook inserts a star into your news feed so you can see who you have prioritized...but so can your friend/relative looking over your shoulder!        
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Don't be like Arnie Kids! Don't Drink & Drive.

Don't be like Arnie - Don't Drink & Drive
Have a safe 4th everyone! And remember the lesson my friend Arnie showed me when I found him on a country road in Texas or Arkansas. Don't Drink & Drive.  
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The Atlantic Slave Trade in Two Minutes -> 315 years. 20,528 voyages. Millions of lives.


From Slate: Usually, when we say “American slavery” or the “American slave trade,” we mean the American colonies or, later, the United States. But as we discussed in Episode 2 of Slate’s History of American Slavery Academy, relative to the entire slave trade, North America was a bit player. From the trade’s beginning in the 16th century to its conclusion in the 19th, slave merchants brought the vast majority of enslaved Africans to two places: the Caribbean and Brazil. Of the more than 10 million enslaved Africans to eventually reach the Western Hemisphere, just 388,747—less than 4 percent of the total—came to North America. This was dwarfed by the 1.3 million brought to Spanish Central America, the 4 million brought to British, French, Dutch, and Danish holdings in the Caribbean, and the 4.8 million brought to Brazil...   Read more and watch the awesome two minute video :   
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