Archaeology’s Footprints in the Modern World

422 Pages·2017·3.61 MB·English

by  Michael B. Schiffer

Archaeology’s Footprints in the Modern World

Archaeology’s Footprints
in the Modern World
Michael Brian Schiffer
THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PRESS
Salt Lake City
Copyright © 2017 by The University of Utah Press. All rights reserved.
The Defiance House Man colophon is a registered trademark
of the University of Utah Press. It is based on a four- foot-tall
Ancient Puebloan pictograph (late PIII) near Glen Canyon, Utah.
21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schiffer, Michael B., author.
Title: Archaeology’s footprints in the modern world / Michael Brian Schiffer.
Description: Salt Lake City : The University of Utah Press, [2017] | Includes
bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016034793| ISBN 9781607815334 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN
9781607815341 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Archaeology — History. | Archaeology and history. | Social
archaeology.
Classification: LCC CC165 S324 2017 | DDC 930.1 — dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016034793
Cover photographs: top image is a detail of a mosaic from the House of Eustolios,
Kourion, photo by S. Rae (Flickr.com Creative Commons); the bottom image is
a panel in room 1 of the Bonampak murals showing musicians and dancers and
lavish use of the pigment Maya blue (Wikimedia Commons, photographer unknown).
Printed and bound by Edwards Brothers Malloy Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan.
For Ethan Louie, Aliya Hannah, and their generation

Contents
List of Figures and Tables xi
Preface xiii
Introduction xv
I. Evaluating Myths, Sagas, and Legends 1
1. Debunking the “Lost Races” Myth 5
2. Did the Norse Beat Columbus to the Americas? 10
3. King Solomon’s Mines 15
II. Complementing Historical Evidence 21
4. The Confederate Submarine, H. L. Hunley 25
5. The “Poor” Potter of Yorktown, Virginia 32
6. Nuclear Archaeology in the Nevada Desert 37
III. Enhancing Cultural Tourism and Heritage Awareness 43
7. Mount Vernon and George Washington’s Whiskey Distillery 47
8. Kourion, a Roman Town in Cyprus 54
9. The World Heritage Site of Stonehenge 60
IV. Collaborating with Communities 67
10. The Levi Jordan Plantation Project 71
11. The Ozette Site and the Makah Indian Nation 77
12. Thurstan Shaw and Nigeria’s Enigmatic Bronzes 83
V. Pursuing an Activist Agenda 89
13. Remembering the Ludlow Massacre 93
14. Advocating for Homeless People 98
15. Promoting the Electric Car Revival 104
vii
viii Contents
VI. Reviving Ancient Technologies 113
16. Chipped Stone Scalpels 117
17. Raised- Field Agriculture in the Andes 122
18. Ancient Pots and Modern Potters in the American Southwest 128
VII. Managing Cultural Resources 135
19. Federal Agencies and Cultural Resource Management 139
20. Tribal Archaeology: The Seminole Indians of Florida 146
21. Archaeology in the City of Alexandria, Virginia 152
VIII. Participating in Judicial and Diplomatic Processes 159
22. California Indians v. United States 163
23. Antiquities Acts and the Looting of the GE Mound 169
24. The International Antiquities Trade 174
IX. Doing Fieldwork in a Forensic Context 179
25. Solving a Murder in the Midlands of England 183
26. A Nazi- Era Mass Grave in Ukraine 188
27. Recovery of Missing American Military Personnel 193
X. Expanding the Social Sciences 197
28. The Garbage Project 201
29. The “Material- Culture Turn” in the Social Sciences 206
30. Undocumented Migrants Face the Arizona Desert 212
XI. Contributing to the Physical Sciences and Engineering 217
31. The Mysterious Pigment: Maya Blue 221
32. Radiocarbon Dating 225
33. Nuclear Waste Disposal 231
XII. Bolstering Biological Sciences 237
34. Origin of the Domesticated Sunflower 241
35. The Pygmy Rabbit and Applied Zooarchaeology 247
36. Microbiota of the Human Gut and Coprolites 253
XIII. Furnishing Tools for Environmental Sciences 259
37. Tree- Ring Dating and Dendroclimatology 263
Contents ix
38. Dating Sunset Crater 269
39. Mass Extinctions of Animals: The Human Role 274
XIV. Revealing Our Prehistoric Past 281
40. In the Beginning 285
41. From Foragers to Farmers 295
42. The Urban Revolution 303
Notes 311
References 335
About the Author 375
Index 377