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This is a very Mocnton-y weekend for me! I went on a random trip there yesterday with Shan and her sister, and scouted out frenchies. I got a few good things, like a nurse uniform, and a black velvet skirt. I am going to Moncton again tonight, this time with Shan and her sister and one of Shan's dance students whose name escapes me at the moment. This is for a dance party, where there will be performances and live music and just lots of dancing :D I am excited, wooh! I could have performed, I tihnk, if I hadhad anything ready. i think I should get some songs that I am really ocmfortable with so that if I ever get last minute opportunities like this again, I won't have to pass them up. Tomorrow, I am giong to Moncton to visit my grandparents, too. lots of driving. Lots of Moncton.... which is a bit odd, since I *hate* Moncton, generally. But less than I used to. It does have many good thrift shops ^-^
The other thing I did in Moncton yesterday was to buy a new router to replace the one that was stolen in Montreal. I charged it, naughty me! But I very rarely use my visa, so I think I can handle the minimum twenty dollar payments for the next month or so, if that ;p Now I just need to get either a whole new computer (wishful thinking), or an ethernet card for the ancient Packard Bell that we have here. And maybe another keyboard and mouse. That would be the simpler option. We do have an extra monitor.
Other news... Oh yes! I had a Very barbie Morning today. by which I mean, *I* got to play at *being* barbie... I went to Hazel's bridal boutique as she brought dress after dress for me to try on ^-^ Very fun. Many pretty dresses, but Hazel also had me try on a right hideous one, with a horrible giant bow on it. A little girl there whose mother was also trying on dresses declared it to be 'terrible'. We all concurred ;) there were some very pretty ones, though. i know I am repeating myself, but they were *really* pretty. I take about a size ten wedding, with some alteration needed. The busts tend to run huge in dresses, I think because they are easier to alter. some of the fit perfectly thouhg. We also determined (at my insistance), that hazel is *not* a huge oaffish pig, as she is in fact about an inch tinier than me in most dimensions (waits and hips). So there!
And finally, behind a cut, a badly formatted update on the Scarborough incident... Formattting twitches because I just cut and paste a letter from the mailing list. It is from Dr Marti Latta, who was the curator of the artifacts.
To all my friends in the OAS and beyond,
First, thanks to all of you who have sent messages of support. It's
times like this that one really recognizes how many friends one has, and
how important every friend is!
Second, what's going on.
a) There is no chance of recovering the artifacts and associated papers.
None.
Quite briefly, the Crawford Farm Landfill, in Michigan, receives
30,000 tons of garbage daily (multiply this times the number of days
since May 3, the probable date of disposal). All garbage is compacted.
Once in the fill, the company pours a potent mixture of raw sewage and
selected chemicals down bore holes to speed deterioration of the
garbage. Even if we could locate the artifacts in the dump, even if they
hadn't been crushed to powder, they would be toxic.
We may have an excellent archaeological site there in about 400
years!
b) I've met with the Principal of the U of T Scarborough, Paul Thompson,
on several occasions. He has offered to fund the publication of site
reports from the destroyed sites, so that the information which they
contained will not be lost. He has also begun a process of establishing
a much better set of disposal procedures.
I am pressing the University of Toronto, as a whole, to establish
such procedures and to create a secure repository as well, but that will
take time. The U of T, like the mills of the gods, grinds exceeding
slow.
c) Paul Thompson and I met with representatives of the Ministry of
Culture last week, to discuss questions which have been raised by many
of you! They are to make a report to the Minister concerning the why,
where, how, when, etc. of the events. I sensed that they are in general
agreement that the disposal was truly an accident (if a lamentable
example of administrative efficiency in a university with a huge Faculty
of Management). Whether there will be a public statement from the
Ministry is, of course, up to the Minister.
d) I confess that I had completely overlooked the implications of the
Import-Export Act. Thanks, Karolyn, for bringing this to my attention!
Of course, we can't invoke that act without getting into the knotty
problem of market value for the artifacts, a problem which the Canadian
Archaeological Association has chosen (wisely, I think) to avoid.
Nevertheless, it represents yet another issue to be considered,
particularly since two of the sites were on federal land.
e) Many of us have been in contact with representatives of First
Nations, whose concerns in this matter surely weigh as heavily as those
of the archaeological community. My response to everyone is to express
my deep regret that it ever happened, to explain the situation at
present, and offer to come to the reserve to answer questions if this is
desired. I can reassure them, at least, that there were no burials in
the disposed collections. If you get questions from any aboriginal
peoples, please direct them to my email address. I'll answer as soon as
possible.
latta@utsc.utoronto.ca
Finally, what was lost:
1) Prehistoric sites, virtually entirely lost (* extensive surviving
collections elsewhere)
Beeton BaGw-1
* Boyd AkGv-3
Cleary BbGw-10
Elliott AkGt-2
Fletcher ?
MacLeod AlGr-1
* Parsons AkGv-8
* Robb AlGt-4
Tiny Twp Survey 1969 BeGx-6, BeHa-7,BeHa-8
* Woodbridge AkGv-2
2) Prehistoric sites, partial loss (mostly plain sherds, faunal bone,
botanic remains and unworked stone)
Auger BdGw-3
Cedar Point BeHa-6
Charlebois BeHa-5
Deschambault BeGx-4
* Draper AlGt-2
Farlain Lake BeGx-5
* Maurice BeHa-2
Robitaille BeHa-3
* Thomson Walker BeGv-3
3) Historic sites, extensive loss
Brown (aka Log) Tavern BhFw-3
Log Farm BhFw-2
I agree with several correspondants that this was an accident which
could easily have happened in almost any institution, particularly in
circumstances where reduced staff are pressed to handle increased
responsibilities. Even institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution,
which have extremely sensitive and well-defined procedures, have
occasionally experienced unforeseen lapses. I could write a book at this
point, containing (anonymously, of course) all the examples of similar
errors (archaeological and otherwise) which haunt the memories of my
various correspondants. Mine is just a particularly egregious example of
a general problem which is rife in bureaucracies. (Just ask City Hall!)
Let me conclude by saying that I have spoken with Bill Donaldson,
longtime member of the OAS and the individual who was directed the
excavations of many of these sites. Bill took the news philosophically,
saying that he'd seen similar things happen before. He invites all his
friends to visit the Sarnia museum and see the last two surviving pots
from the Cleary Site, which he fortunately borrowed from me last year.
For some reason, Yahoo won't let me sign onto the OAS-L list. I'll keep
trying. In the meantime, if anyone want more specific information,
please contact me directly at the address given above.
Hope your summer is good!
Marti Latta
University of Toronto at Scarborough
The other thing I did in Moncton yesterday was to buy a new router to replace the one that was stolen in Montreal. I charged it, naughty me! But I very rarely use my visa, so I think I can handle the minimum twenty dollar payments for the next month or so, if that ;p Now I just need to get either a whole new computer (wishful thinking), or an ethernet card for the ancient Packard Bell that we have here. And maybe another keyboard and mouse. That would be the simpler option. We do have an extra monitor.
Other news... Oh yes! I had a Very barbie Morning today. by which I mean, *I* got to play at *being* barbie... I went to Hazel's bridal boutique as she brought dress after dress for me to try on ^-^ Very fun. Many pretty dresses, but Hazel also had me try on a right hideous one, with a horrible giant bow on it. A little girl there whose mother was also trying on dresses declared it to be 'terrible'. We all concurred ;) there were some very pretty ones, though. i know I am repeating myself, but they were *really* pretty. I take about a size ten wedding, with some alteration needed. The busts tend to run huge in dresses, I think because they are easier to alter. some of the fit perfectly thouhg. We also determined (at my insistance), that hazel is *not* a huge oaffish pig, as she is in fact about an inch tinier than me in most dimensions (waits and hips). So there!
And finally, behind a cut, a badly formatted update on the Scarborough incident... Formattting twitches because I just cut and paste a letter from the mailing list. It is from Dr Marti Latta, who was the curator of the artifacts.
To all my friends in the OAS and beyond,
First, thanks to all of you who have sent messages of support. It's
times like this that one really recognizes how many friends one has, and
how important every friend is!
Second, what's going on.
a) There is no chance of recovering the artifacts and associated papers.
None.
Quite briefly, the Crawford Farm Landfill, in Michigan, receives
30,000 tons of garbage daily (multiply this times the number of days
since May 3, the probable date of disposal). All garbage is compacted.
Once in the fill, the company pours a potent mixture of raw sewage and
selected chemicals down bore holes to speed deterioration of the
garbage. Even if we could locate the artifacts in the dump, even if they
hadn't been crushed to powder, they would be toxic.
We may have an excellent archaeological site there in about 400
years!
b) I've met with the Principal of the U of T Scarborough, Paul Thompson,
on several occasions. He has offered to fund the publication of site
reports from the destroyed sites, so that the information which they
contained will not be lost. He has also begun a process of establishing
a much better set of disposal procedures.
I am pressing the University of Toronto, as a whole, to establish
such procedures and to create a secure repository as well, but that will
take time. The U of T, like the mills of the gods, grinds exceeding
slow.
c) Paul Thompson and I met with representatives of the Ministry of
Culture last week, to discuss questions which have been raised by many
of you! They are to make a report to the Minister concerning the why,
where, how, when, etc. of the events. I sensed that they are in general
agreement that the disposal was truly an accident (if a lamentable
example of administrative efficiency in a university with a huge Faculty
of Management). Whether there will be a public statement from the
Ministry is, of course, up to the Minister.
d) I confess that I had completely overlooked the implications of the
Import-Export Act. Thanks, Karolyn, for bringing this to my attention!
Of course, we can't invoke that act without getting into the knotty
problem of market value for the artifacts, a problem which the Canadian
Archaeological Association has chosen (wisely, I think) to avoid.
Nevertheless, it represents yet another issue to be considered,
particularly since two of the sites were on federal land.
e) Many of us have been in contact with representatives of First
Nations, whose concerns in this matter surely weigh as heavily as those
of the archaeological community. My response to everyone is to express
my deep regret that it ever happened, to explain the situation at
present, and offer to come to the reserve to answer questions if this is
desired. I can reassure them, at least, that there were no burials in
the disposed collections. If you get questions from any aboriginal
peoples, please direct them to my email address. I'll answer as soon as
possible.
latta@utsc.utoronto.ca
Finally, what was lost:
1) Prehistoric sites, virtually entirely lost (* extensive surviving
collections elsewhere)
Beeton BaGw-1
* Boyd AkGv-3
Cleary BbGw-10
Elliott AkGt-2
Fletcher ?
MacLeod AlGr-1
* Parsons AkGv-8
* Robb AlGt-4
Tiny Twp Survey 1969 BeGx-6, BeHa-7,BeHa-8
* Woodbridge AkGv-2
2) Prehistoric sites, partial loss (mostly plain sherds, faunal bone,
botanic remains and unworked stone)
Auger BdGw-3
Cedar Point BeHa-6
Charlebois BeHa-5
Deschambault BeGx-4
* Draper AlGt-2
Farlain Lake BeGx-5
* Maurice BeHa-2
Robitaille BeHa-3
* Thomson Walker BeGv-3
3) Historic sites, extensive loss
Brown (aka Log) Tavern BhFw-3
Log Farm BhFw-2
I agree with several correspondants that this was an accident which
could easily have happened in almost any institution, particularly in
circumstances where reduced staff are pressed to handle increased
responsibilities. Even institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution,
which have extremely sensitive and well-defined procedures, have
occasionally experienced unforeseen lapses. I could write a book at this
point, containing (anonymously, of course) all the examples of similar
errors (archaeological and otherwise) which haunt the memories of my
various correspondants. Mine is just a particularly egregious example of
a general problem which is rife in bureaucracies. (Just ask City Hall!)
Let me conclude by saying that I have spoken with Bill Donaldson,
longtime member of the OAS and the individual who was directed the
excavations of many of these sites. Bill took the news philosophically,
saying that he'd seen similar things happen before. He invites all his
friends to visit the Sarnia museum and see the last two surviving pots
from the Cleary Site, which he fortunately borrowed from me last year.
For some reason, Yahoo won't let me sign onto the OAS-L list. I'll keep
trying. In the meantime, if anyone want more specific information,
please contact me directly at the address given above.
Hope your summer is good!
Marti Latta
University of Toronto at Scarborough
Gah!
Sweet Zombie Christ, if I kill Joel, how long will it take for you to come out of mourning and be available?
-- Rum
Re: Gah!
(no subject)
A lot of people (obviously not you, Lan) do not realize how many digs result in reports simply being filed away in some professor's cabinet and left to rot, inaccessible to everyone (as in all these cases). Without publication, the archaeologists may as well have just taken a backhoe to the site, since without the contextual information contained in the report, the artifacts are of dubious evidentiary value.