Quảng Yên, Việt Nam There are no sidewalks where the sidewalks are. We cannot walk ten meters without having to weave into the road. Like urban breakers, the streets of Quảng Yên crash into an endless line of little store fonts. The space between curb and building is just another parking spot for trucks, bikes […]

At the dawn of civilization in the Nile Valley, people settled upon four levees of the Mendesian branch of the Nile.  These sandy embankments protruded from the landscape in a southwest to northeast direction and provided the earliest settlers a safe abode from the annual floodwaters.  Here the first settlement of Mendes, initially known as […]

Evidence of one of history’s legendary naval conflicts lies somewhere beneath the inundated rice paddies of rural Vietnam. In November, Veronica and I had a chance to join an international team searching for the remains of the Bạch Đằng River battle, where seven hundred years ago Đại Việt hero Trần Hưng Đạo defeated the forces […]

I love digging underwater, but loathe of the endless mechanical circus. Don’t get me wrong – being able to vacuum up sediment with a giant hose is far better than having to lug bucket  after bucket of backdirt up and out of your unit. And as far as archaeology is concerned, nothing can beat floating […]

May 25th 2010: I had been in Cairo for nearly three weeks now, staying with my Egyptian-American friend, Rana.  This was a much needed break from the hustle of grad school.  I felt my energy recharged and I was excited for the upcoming season at Tell el-Timai.  The archaeological Tell (mound) is located in the […]

Digging square holes underwater (in low visibility) can get a little ridiculous – it is, however, achievable. To simplify the process, we used an excavation frame built by Jim Dunbar. The design is ingeniously simple. The frame is a two meter by three meter metal grid that can be raised or lowered on poles. Divers […]

The most important aspect of archaeology is passing knowledge on. If you can pass it on your family, that is great luck. It was wonderful to take my nephews around Forest Canyon Pass, and get them excited about archaeology. It incredible to be in these high places and think of how people moved, hunted, and engaged the […]

We took a number of cores from Forest Canyon Pass to help reconstruct the saddle’s paleoenvironment. The small alpine ponds and wetlands have beautiful pollen records. The trick was to find one with deep enough sediments. We finished coring just in time. An afternoon storm came up over the pass, and we had to boogey. […]

I went hiking at Forest Canyon pass today. It is one of the most beautiful yet accessible places in Rocky Mountain National Park. The saddle dips between Trail Ridge and the continental divide. A dozen small tributaries join in the bottom of Forest Canyon and run southeast parallel the divide; these are the Big Thompson […]