Archaeology in the news

This past week as seen two interesting controversies come to my attention via twitter and Facebook (this is why we use social media!). One, being the television show on Spike, called 'American Diggers", which is essentially grave robbing. Not exactly, but it a bunch of good ol' boys raiding Civil War sites for 'treasure'. I guess they think it's like Storage Wars, except that this is pretty illegal in most states. needless to say, there is a big outcry from the archaeological and heritage communities all over the world. We have a hard enough time keeping heritage from being destroyed under the current legal system (dig it up before the condos are built, for example in Toronto-can't get in the way of 500 square feet of postage stamp luxury!), much less without yahoos like this encouraging people to loot. Spike TV needs to stick to what they do best-explosions and titties.
The second is somewhat related, but much more complicated. A NAGPRA observer detailed his disgust with a Bioarchaeology conference. It is an interesting read, and I don't really know what to make of it. I think there is a definite disconnect between anthropologists and the indigenous communities when it comes to burials. I remember being at  a conference where we (as archaeologists) were being accused being grave robbers and going around digging up their ancestors. However, the vast majority (probably 98%) of people in the room were not actively looking for or studying burials. The majority were consulting archaeologists who only end up dealing with burials when called in by  a client to deal with them, or academics such as myself who have enough sense to stay away from burials in general. Personally, I have had enough unexplained experiences on archaeological sites and around mortuary relics (in both museums and private collections) to have a healthy aversion to dealing with the dead. Beyond my own heebie jeebies though, it is interesting to see another cultural view on bioarchaeology that I haven't really thought about. The misunderstandings between the author and the conference participants are a mix of poor communication, dismissive attitudes, and bad science on the part of the participants, and cultural views, bias and willful misunderstanding on the part of the author. However, the one statement the author made that did disturb me was the notion of 'race' that is still touted by bioarchaeologists. I mean, really? Aren't we past that? We can make good guesses of someone's background and where they may have grown up, and certainly, some peoples have distinct skeletal markers, however it is not unknown for forensic biologists to make mistakes, for example, confusing asian men and caucasian women. Skeletal analysis is subject to variability, and when other scientific tests (such as DNA) are unavailable, there is a certain amount of uncertainty in any classification based on 'race'. On the other hand, it is this kind of analysis that allowed police to determine the number and identity of native women who were murdered by Robert Picton. It is a touchy subject, and based on this article, there is still a lot of work to be done by the bioarchaeological community to reassure and explain to the native community the purpose of their work and how the remains are being treated with respect not to mention their plans for repatriation. However, there are no easy solutions.

A Twat in the Twitterverse

Just because I want to use the word 'twat' in a post. Funny thing is, in my parents' day, it was slang for butt, not...the other thing. My parents used to use it all the time. Things have changed-my mother jokes about how she has to be careful when she talks about her pussy-she of course, means cat not... the other thing.
So I recently joined twitter, mostly because a colleague of mine was posting  these great articles via twitter. Also I was looking for work at the time and I was told that a presence on Twitter was a good thing (because, Facebook, LinkedIn and Academia are not enough...sigh).
I find Twitter fascinating for a number of reasons. Some of it is just plain funny, some of it informative, and some just makes you weep for humanity in general. Most of the time I am simply reading through feeds, looking at articles which I will occasionally share on facebook or retweet (I'm still not totally sure about the whole hashtag thing-god I sound like an old fart). I am still refusing however, to link all my accounts, or get  a smartphone so I can tweet my inane thoughts to the world. Sometimes, a girl has to have a little bit of privacy

A year ago today....

So, I'm trying this blog thing again, mostly due to the inspiration of Samantha Irby who writes this great blog, 'bitches gotta eat'. I'm sure I won't be anywhere as funny as she is, but if nothing else, I can claim this as a writing exercise. Maybe I'll ge around to wriitng that Jane Austen fanfic!
So today's news? Ugghhhh. Rick Santorum. Really US? I mean, I could kind of understand the appeal of GW, as he was a good ol boy, but Santorum? Do you really think God is gonna get you out of the recession? No offense, but he's kinda busy, probably trying to keep people from starving and killing each other and useless shit like that.

Bah!

So I just spent the last hour redoing my final exams for a class because university students are stupid-at least, that's what I should gather form the instructions. I had to include instructions on how to fill out a scantron and also put at the bottom continued on page... even though it is stated on the front page how many pages their on AND I have put THE END at the end of the exam. Oh yes, and I' ve already told them how many questions there are on the test, But this is not good enough. And you know that they've done this because some idiot shithead has complained. Yeesh, no wonder we have a conservative government. And speaking of which, one of my usual mark grubbers is coming to complain about the ONE question he got wrong. As usual, sometimes you are just WRONG!!!!!
On top of this, some bimbo from Hamilton is vying to be Charlie Sheen's intern. Oh well, she will fit in with the rest of his harem of idiots.

Wait, what happened?

So it's April already (well almost) WTF? Inasmuch as I'm relieved that this term is almost over, I'm also feeling rather panicky that the term is almost over. All the shit that I said I would do is not done. deadlines are looming and I feel like an absolute failure. I'm really not liking teaching, I feel like trying to get an academic career is going to be a future of eternal post-docs and crappy sessional contracts. Is this how I want to spend the rest of my life? I'm almost 40 for crying out loud. There 's a potential job opportunity for me in Nunavut-yeah, its cold, has no housing and there's no sunlight for half the year-but it's a job with regular hours and a real paycheck. Very tempting.

Celebrity Snow Day

Well not exactly-we are having a rather nasty late winter icy snowfest at the moment-the city is shut down except of course for the university. I could really use a day off actually-get some work done, not have to deal with students. And they are watching a movie today-seems like a total waste to have students come in for a frickin movie. Whatever.
So William Shatner is 80 today. Normally, I don't give celebrities much thought-they don't deserve it for the most part-but hey, Shatner is a) Canadian and b) pretty cool so I will say, Happy Birthday. I love how older celebrities are finally getting their due. Betty White is 90 (or at least damn close ) and still has impeccable comedic timing. Do you think any of the schlubs for the current cast of SNL will be that admired when they are that age (as much as I do like Lonely Island)?

Addicted to the weed

No, I'm not addicted to THAT weed...the insidious legal weed called tobacco. I hate that it has this hold over me-it's just a plant after all. I can beat a plant, can't I? I don't know what's more frustrating-trying to quit, or starting up again after quitting. I feel like a failure, so I say to myself, 'what the hell? I suck anyway' and the cycle continues.
Well, the pack I had is finished, and there is nicorette on my counter. Time to get on the wagon once more