Recent Happenings in Roger's Archaeology Lab: Collections Updates and New Publications

By Kendra Young

 

The new year seems to be flying by for us at Roger’s Archaeology Lab. As 2016 drew to a close we began the final step of the cataloging process for the Larson collection. This step involves applying special archival marks to each artifact containing an identifier, in which we use the catalog number. We have to make certain these marks are fade-proof, rub-proof, and waterproof so the catalog number can be read for decades to come. It is very important that these marks can be removed if needed and are not made with products that damage the specimen, therefore we work with the Anthropology Conservation Laboratory to obtain the correct basecoats, paints, inks, and overcoats. As you may remember from our previous posts about the Larson collection, the size of the collection encompasses ten storage units with about a dozen drawers inside each. So far we have already completed over half of the storage units for the collection! The following images shows how we lay out objects to apply the numbers. Some objects are already labeled  with numbers they received when they were excavated in the 1960s. In those cases, we add our new numbers near the old ones.

 

Most days we complete the marking process for over 1000 objects. Pictured here is a lot of potsherds. Photo by Lotte Govaerts.

 

Some sherds were mended during the original RBS project. Most of those mended sections have only one "old" number written on them. We add the new numbers to all the mended sherds so that we can still identify sherds in case they become separated. In this photo we have just applied the base layer for the new numbers. Photo by Lotte Govaerts.

 

 

In more recent news, we have two new publications to announce!

Dr. Rogers has a new article published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory titled “Dynamic Trajectories, Adaptive Cycles, and Complexity in Culture Change.”

Abstract: “Trends in interdisciplinary research over the last two decades have opened new perspectives and pushed forward our understanding of how complex social systems function. This study explores several theories of social change that have emerged from increasingly interdisciplinary perspectives in combination with complexity theory. Resilience theory and related concepts of adaptive cycles and panarchy are now being applied extensively to the study of a variety of human social systems. However, there is still the need to further explore the implications of how human systems differ from the ecologies of other species. A case study drawn from early polity formation in Inner Asia is used to assess the effectiveness of differing approaches. Certain theoretical gaps are described and a series of concepts within a theory of dynamic trajectories are proposed that focus on high-level patterns of social change. The basic elements of the theory include dynamics of the scope and scale of polities, the probability space in which change occurs, and the strands or bundles of social and cultural characteristics that represent the substance of trajectory. As the trajectory patterns manifest, they envelop constraints and opportunities influencing future patterns. Agent-based models are used to illustrate aspects of the dynamic trajectory theory, especially economic decision-making within specific landscapes and control hierarchies in the context of competing polities. Rather than repeating cycles, the results reveal reorganization modes highlighting the significance of continuity and opportunity in social change.”

Click here to access the full article.

 

Lotte has written “Transformative Consequences of Garrison Dam: Land, People, and the Practice of Archaeology” in the Great Plains Quarterly, Vol. 36/No. 4.

Abstract: “This essay examines the history and impact of Garrison Dam and its reservoir, Lake Sakakawea. The focus is historical issues related to dam construction, as well as the environmental and social impacts of large dams in general and of Garrison Dam in particular. Most importantly, included is an investigation as to how archaeology in North America was influenced by the construction of Garrison Dam and the other large dams on the Upper Missouri River.”

For the full article, click here.

 

Also, the catalog for the Larson collection was uploaded into our collections database. Now researchers and the public can search the collection with the keyword ‘Larson’ for all the artifacts we have been working on.

 

In the coming months we will be researching more about the Larson collection’s artifacts, specifically the stone objects and a deeper look into the bone tools present. So stay tuned to the blog!