Thursday, March 24, 2016

Cool website on women archaeologists

Trowelblazers has short biographies on women archaeologists, both historic and contemporary. They also include some geoscientists of various persuasions, but we can overlook that despite our strict "No Dinosaur" policy. They have dug up (no pun intended) some great historic photos to accompany the articles.

They also contributed to the development of a "Lottie the Fossil Hunter" doll that is cute beyond belief. If you scroll through the blog, you can enjoy photos of the doll performing fieldwork and analysis in different venues and contexts. Apparently, they take her on the road with them. It's a lot of fun. If the doll weren't sold out, I'd buy one.




Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Archaeological Material Culture

Cafe Press is a website to which one can send an image or logo, and they will print the design on a variety of objects, such as tee-shirts and coffee mugs, presumably on demand; they sell them through their online store and split the profits with you.

For some reason that eludes memory, I recently searched the site for "archaeologist" and found some interesting artifacts. ("Some" > 2000.) Most, inevitably, were banal: "My career is in ruins" or "Archaeologists do it in the dirt."  Even more predictably, there were some dinosaur items as well as, happily, some "No Dinosaur" items. (I'm not trying to sell anything, and I don't get a cut. This is a non-commercial, unmonetized blog!) I particularly like the bumper sticker that says, "Archaeologists don't dig up dinosaurs." Perhaps I should also mention the baby jumper that says, "Archaeologists Don't Dig Dinosaurs" because the picture of the dinosaur with the line through it is executed with a great deal of spirit.
  
The "Archaeology: Trowel and Error" coffee mug is fun, especially because the trowel they show in the picture is not the kind we use, hence the "error," I suppose, in the motto.

I got a kick out of the various objects you could buy with Munsell color charts emblazoned on them. (I linked to a 10YR travel mug, but you can pick the hue, apparently.) My enjoyment had nothing to do with the fact that my latest article is on the analysis of Munsell colors. (Subliminal message: It's open access, so please follow the link, download it, read it, and cite it!)

Probably my favorite item was the tee-shirt that read, "Archaeologists: Stronger than your average geek!"   The question of why I enjoyed this one so much could only be answered, I'm sure, after intensive psychotherapy, so we'll probably never know. Sadly, the yearnings of my Freudian neurosis will not be soon satisfied: the item is a little pricey and out of stock.