A Photo of Miles Burkitt, Cambridge Archaeology Museum

Photograph taken on 8 November 2008

One of the great joys of Paleolithic archaeology is studying the history of its scholars. There are just so many unexpected and delightful connections between researchers. And while the study of advisor-student “lineages” is interesting in its own right, it is also illuminating in regards to why present-day researchers hold particular theoretical perspectives. This sort of insight can then applied to the self for understanding one’s own biases. In 10 or 15 years time, I may one day write here my reflections on my own archaeological lineage. My advisors have certainly left their methodological and theoretical signature on my approach to the discipline.

Given my deep interests in the history of Paleolithic archaeology (especially American and British), I was quite excited when, after giving a lecture at the University of Cambridge, I stumbled across a small display at the Cambridge Archaeology Museum about Miles Burkitt. Despite the exhibition glass, I managed to snap a shot of this classic image of Burkitt (left) and the Reverend Neville Jones (right) in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) in 1927 examining a stone tool.

“Our buried human history all about us is, in comparison with that of the Roman period, sublime beyond conception; sublime in its extension into past time; sublime in that it takes us through profound physical mutations of the world itself; sublime in that it reveals the origin and progress of man from out a wondrous past; sublime in that reveals to us the process of man’s creation; the making of man in some aspects in the image of Him the Divine Maker, in that man reflects, anticipates, creates. Neither motor cars nor tours are needed when our eyes are open to see that our feet thrust aside the letters and figures in that history upon our graveled paths, and that they are crushed to untranslatable dust upon our graveled-metalled roads. Man grows bigger in the greatness of his being, in proportion with the openness of his eyes, and mind, and soul. Closed eyes and mind are truly a soul made blind” (Smith 1926: 99).

Smith, Frederick. 1926. Prehistoric Man and the Cambridge Gravels. Cambridge: W. Heffer and Sons Limited.

A "Rock-y" Montage? Hunan Province, China, December 2008

Photographs taken 12 December 2008 by Yiyuan Li

At the Archaeological Institute of Hunan Province, located near the heart of the Chinese metropolis, Changsha, there is a lovely courtyard. Wthin this courtyard, however, there is some strange, brightly colored exercise equipment that seems entirely out of place. Thus, during a break from flintknapping, my old professor Ofer Bar-Yosef and I decided to try the equipment out:

We have no idea what this thing is or what it is for.Surely, this is good for the abdominals.

Almost half a pull-up...

Ofer doing some cardio, while I struggle to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing.

I hope Sylvester Stallone doesn't approach me about Rocky 7. I have to start my PhD this March.

My First Handaxe, Southeastern Turkey

Photographs taken in August 2004

As a break from excavation at the Neolithic site of Mezra'a Teleilat, our excavation team visited a variety of archaeological sites in Southeastern Turkey: Bronze Age, Roman, Neolithic, and Paleolithic. At one point we stopped suddenly by the side of a road. I stumbled out of the field van into thick, baked air, silently annoyed to be leaving the air-conditioned vehicle. Looking up, I witnessed a rocky, seemingly barren, field (above right). Some of the crew knowingly started to look around. Following their lead, I did the same, my curiosity suspending my discomfort and distracting me from the relentless sun.

To my delight, I started coming across a variety of lithic implements: unmodified blanks, retouched flakes, amorphous cores, and even Levallois cores (left).



But best of all was having the chance to find in the field one of the most emblematic Paleolithic stone tool types: the handaxe. While I've handled many types of stone axe before and after that experience, I will never forget the joy of simply finding them on site. And thanks to digital photography, I will never forget what they looked like either.

"The maker of the implement [handaxe or cleaver] seems often to have taken great care over its shape, and the latter survives, hundreds of millenia later, even when damaged, challenging us to understand its significance" (Roe 2006: 330).

Roe, D.A. 2006. "Some Thoughts About Acheulian Cleavers," in Axe Age: Acheulean Toolmaking from Quarry to Discard. Edited by N. Goren-Inbar and G. Sharon, pp. 313-333. Equinox Publishing Ltd.

Teaching Lithic Technology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas

Photographs taken in Fall 2006 (by B. Sunday Eiselt)

While teaching lithic technology to students, I have found there are generally two reactions:

1. Interest.

2. Extreme, annoyed boredom, bordering on total body shutdown.

An Obligatory Pilgrimmage

Photograph taken on 30 August 2008

Any visiting archaeologist in the U.K. is obliged to visit Stonehenge, if only to be able answer "yes" to one of the most ubiquitous questions asked by the non-archaeologist:

"Have you ever been to Stonehenge?"

Since the site is off the highway between Exeter and London, I recently had a chance to make my own pilgrimmage, and was greeted by a unique surprise! Excavation crews (led by Julian Richards and Mike Pitts) were conducting excavations. Here is what the information sign had to say:

"Between Tuesday 26 August and Monday 1 September archaeologists... will be re-opening one of the 'Aubrey Holes' to recover prehistoric cremated bones that were placed in it in 1935.

"The 'Aubrey Holes' (named after the 17th century antiquarian John Aubrey) are 56 pits which form a circle around the outside of Stonehenge, located just inside the outer ditch. They were dug just after 3000 B.C. around the same time as the ditch was constructed.

"During the 1920s, over half of the 'Aubrey Holes' were excavated by William Hawley. In 1935 all the prehistoric cremated human bones that Hawley had found in these pits and in the ditch were placed in storage in Aubrey Hole 7 because their scientific value was not appreciated at the time.

"The current excavation (a small trench on the west side of Stonehenge) will allow these prehistoric remains finally to be scientifically studied. We have the chance to find out more about who these people of Stonehenge were and when they lived. We also hope to find out more about the purpose of these mysterious 'Aubrey Holes.'"

The above image shows both the monument (center) and the ongoing excavation (lower right).

A Bit of Luck on the Jurassic Coast

Photos taken on 12 June 2008

During my survey for flint outcrops on the Jurassic Coast in south Devon (the U.K.'s only natural World Heritage site) I came across the famous "Sea Stacks" at Ladram Bay, west of the quaint coastal town of Sidmouth. Sea Stacks form when wave action erodes coastal rocks over thousands of years and isolates pieces of cliff (Brunsden 2005: 21).

Unfortunately, timing the tides of southwest England can be quite an art form, and though I know the Jurassic Coast quite well after 30-40 trips (over the course of the past year), I have been caught by the tide twice. June 12 was one of those days.

After hiking for about two hours along the coast, I came to a section that, according to my calculations, should not have been under water. With some expensive gear in my field pack, I was not keen on attempting to swim along the coast to the next section of coast above the tide (especially since I could not see the next non-submerged section, and the small point of not really being able to swim). However, I did not want to lose two hours of the daylight by hiking back to my starting point, and then lose another two hours hiking the same distance on the cliffs above to where I was currently located.

Debating my options I resigned myself to jumping in the water and hoping it was not too deep - or at least hoping that I could hold on to parts of the cliff and swing my way to the next bit of land.

However, just as I was about dive in I noticed a small raft in the distance. I called the raft over, and some friendly teenage boys rowed over. After explaining my plight, they kindly offered to take me out to sea, and drop me off at the next section of non-submerged coast!

After posing for a quick picture, the boys were off again to pick up their youngest brother who had been left behind to make room for me!

So, thanks Matt and Lane for some great fun, and getting me out of a rather tight spot.

Brunsden, D. 2005. The Official Guide to the Jurassic Coast: Dorset and East Devon's World Heritage Coast. Coastal Publishing.

The Spirited Digger, Dzudzuana Cave, The Georgian Republic

Photograph taken in July 2004

Every excavation has this person: jovial, bright, enthusiastic, tireless. Smiles and singing, they carry an exhausted (or hung over) crew through sweltering days, long surveys, uncomfortable and bumpy drives, and tedious mind-numbing paperwork.

At the Upper Paleolithic cave site of Dzudzuana in the Georgian Republic (pictured right), we also had such a hero. However, his identity escapes me: having no memory of his difficult name and no access to my field books in the USA, for now suffice it to call him The Spirited Digger.

Working in my test unit deep in the cave, I felt clammy, cold, and alone. I had been in the field hard-core nearly 3 months by that point, with another month to go. It was the longest excursion in the field I had experienced at that point in my life, and I was tired, homesick, and lonely. However, sensing this, The Spirited Digger (below) came to my rescue with a smile, a goofy pose, and some unknowable encouragement spoken in Georgian, which made me laugh since he knew I did not speak the language. During a break he offered me a swig of Georgian Spirits (ChaCha), which I threw back recklessly after an unspoken toast and a silent prayer (you will understand when you try ChaCha). With a pat on the back, he sent me back into the cave, and I found the strength to push through that final month of the field season.