For anyone interested in knowing, I saw no article relating to the Subject topic in The Herald this Wed. a.m. Oct 14 regarding yesterday's hearing. A most interesting testimony was made by a lady Anthropologist/Archaeologist with extensive education and experience. Her education attained a PhD. in Anthropology with the main emphasis on Archaeology. Much of her education was done at the University of Washington, Seattle. She was a cum laude ( hope I spelled that correctly!-CC) graduate. Her experience is over a period of 25 years; young appearing, and obviously very precise in her expertise. She really laid out what archaeology is about and the precise pre-information needed to even begin a "dig" of any kind. First, a detailed and lengthy Report of the soil conditions as they are observed and found must be the starting point before any distubance of a soil can begin. This aids in determining what methods and procedures are to be used to make a site study. This is NOT a couple of paragraphs preparatory to the "dig". For instance, the use of a backhoe can be critical - the teeth alone of a backhoe can disturb a soil site negatively so that evidence of the real soil condition and study of it cannot be accurate without extreme care and professional expertise applied at all times. You just don't start digging. Certain procedures must be layed out before invading a site of any kind. This lady brought graphically the care needed, for instance, in employing a backhoe operation. Only small amounts of surface, need be disturbed or invaded. Then one expert anthropologist/archaeologist must monitor the back hoe that has been designed to have a straight edge, not teeth, as teeth destroy needed evidence of the soil and can destroy artifacts, and other important observations necessary. A second archaeologist needs to monitor just the soil as it is exposed bit by bit, carefully so as to spot any details of the soil that are needed for further examingation. The backhoe opr. might have to stop suddenly when artifacts or other data are observed or sensed. So, the coordination of the hoe opr., and the 2 professional observers must be correographed in such a way that a sudden signal to "STOP!" is imperitive to a concerned archaeological dig, as artifacts of various can be overlooked or destroyed in the procedure. A rock material that has been chipped, or the chips from a rock material can indicate human alteration as for a kind of tool of the past or a shovel invasion by a human being. Even pieces of glass are very important - coffins in early times may have had a glass window in the top of the coffin and this glass may be in the site, or the glass left by grave diggers who may have been drinking on the job, so to speak, left their trace of glass. And ( not supposed to begin a sentence with a connector such as and) the ability to analyze that derelict piece of glass can tell some stories about vintage (no, not the squeezins, but perhaps that, too) of the glass making process giving evidence of time frame. Its the little things in Life that counts, and it certainly applies here, when a thorough analyses is sought, to tell the rest of the Story! Digging huge toothy clamshells of dirt at a site with a backhoe and dumping those loads into a large dumptruck to be hauled away from the site, who knows where, and then returning later with loads to put back into the digs, is not your professional way of doing analyses, as sometimes a fairly good sized piece of curbing, complete with the yellow paint on it was obviously not from the site dig, unless blindness has set in. This is not an archaeological procedure for digging. Use of the auger, say 4" when it strikes something like a tree root or a rock/boulder type object stops the auger, but either side of the obstruction is there and can be found by moving the auger aside since this was the purpose of the dig. Different sized augers may be necessary in some instances. Depth in smaller increments is or should be a part of the procedure as determined by the Preliminary Report or whatever the professional calls it before the dig is ever begun. Sensing devices such as are used to detect or sense a "spot" of interest called an anomoly, as I recall, used to aid in a place of interest to be further explored, use various methods for the probe. In addition to the one used at first at the site, was another, the magnetometer which probes much more deeply. All of these and other methods may be used to aid in finding items of interest to the professional archaeologist, that the untrained eye and brain would overlook. This discussion of what I learned from listening to a professional describe the pre-planning, the preparation, the operations along the lines of an acute observer, trained to see what others don't see, nor sense, was an education that most of us don't get the opportunity to experience in a diminutive amount of time. I was glad that I attended the afternoon session as it was very interesting, educational, and makes one aware of how pieces of a puzzle can come together. We experience this continually in our pursuit of the fascinating diligence we call genealogy - the adrenelin just starts pumping when the puzzle begins to take shape and begins to have success, no matter how small. The drive innoculates, and away we all go. Those lulls, and stone walls, continually confront us - hurdles - sometimes we make it over the top and oftentime we just hit the dirt, and not the "pay dirt"! But, just leave it alone for awhile - or just "give up" and darned if it doesn't somehow over a period of time appear out of nowhere. These computers and the quick info we are able to attain right in our homes, these days, just make that easier and more attainable. Most of us recall the hours we spent in various libraries, and other repositories of data - I have a 4 drawer steel filing cabinet full of it, but Oh! it so nice when the screen does, what used to be a chore. Catching buses to the Seattle Library, stop at the bank & get myriads of dimes and nickles for the copying machine where you waited you turn, and you made several copies that you ash canned. Genealogists do a lot of digging and archaeologists, and anthropologist do a lot of digging but the preparation that goes into it, then the actual digging, and the careful observation and brainwork used to not overlook anything, and the follow up and utilization of your findings to arrive at the "finished product" - but is there a real "finish" to them - more like building blocks, or Lincoln Logs. How much building do you want? Infinitesimal, isn't it. Didn't mean to get carried away, but today is another day. This was all off the top of my head, where the white stuff is getting thinner; no notes, except mental, so I accept all responsibility for the shortcoming. Maybe tomorrow's Herald or some other rag will have something to ponder re the Subject. Carroll, Snohomish. & & & 30 & & & ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. 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