Press Coverage

At the end of the week, we spent time with reporters from the regional newspaper and TV stations.  The first article has appeared in The Spectrum, the regional paper that covers St. George, Cedar City, and southwest Utah.  The Spectrum also published a story about opening of Potters of the Gathering: Clay Work in Early Utah at the Iron Mission State Park Museum.  Nur Kausar wrote both stories and I have received emails that remark on how much people enjoyed her writing.

A reporter/camerawoman also came from KCSG, the regional NBC affiliate.  We don't have a TV in our field camp, so we don't know if they broadcast the story yet.  Stephanie told us to watch the website, so I'm keeping an eye on things and will post the link if they story appears.  The NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City might run that story, so I'm also keeping an eye on KSL.com.

If you are just visiting this blog for the first time, you can read about the excavations at the Davenport Pottery by clicking here.  This research is a public archaeology project and is entirely funded by tax-deductible donations.  Even small donations will help our work-- $20 buys one sample of clay or ceramic isotope fingerprinting, for example.  Please give by clicking here.  If you would like to see a list of needs and a summary of how the fieldwork was sponsored, please click here.

The press exposure and spreading with word of mouth in town has meant that we've had many more people coming out to visit the dig and see our discoveries for themselves.  I think everyone who visits the dig leaves impressed-- the tremendous detail in what we have discovered impresses them.  We welcome people to come to the site whenever we are present.  If you are planning a trip to the area and would like to see our dig, I published the work schedule here.

Several people in town have adopted my students, bringing them occasional treats during visits.  In the picture below, the students are all enjoying cold sodas brought over by our neighbor Mr. Denhalter.  We appreciate all the cookies, muffins, and other treats.  This may be the first dig on which I've gained weight while working!

Everyone on the project wants our readers to know what a warm and wonderful town Parowan is and how much we are enjoying our time here.  Yesterday was the town's classic car show.  The entire community is getting ready for a huge glider festival during June and July.  We are starting to see gliders arrive on trailers and are excited to entice the people who love the sky with the allure of what we find underground!

Preservation and Stimulus

Today is our last work day before the students and team members get a three day holiday break to do their wash, rest from our hard work, and explore some more of beautiful southern Utah.  I will post a summary of the week's discoveries later today.

Someone emailed me today with some questions about preservation, archaeology, and economic development.  I have been talking to many people about how public archaeology can be an ally of economic development.  Here in Utah and most western states, archaeology and cultural resource management are often seen as obstructions to development.  While I don't expect that archaeologists and developers will agree on everything all the time, I believe  strongly that archaeology can be a key ally to economic development.  I've written about this before.

Today, the Society for Historical Archaeology and other similar organizations are making the case for historic preservation as part of economic stimulus funds. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has posted a set of articles that show the benefits that preservation have for economic development and growth.  You can find the links to these studies here.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation is collating information from many professional societies and organizations.  You can find it all organized here.

Press Release

Michigan Technological University's media relations office has put a story out over the wires about the Utah Pottery Project. It is brief, but will perhaps point people to this blog where they can learn more about our research and discoveries!

This is the story:

http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/news/media_relations/845/

Besides the intellectual interests shared by researchers in the Utah Pottery Project (studying the works and lives of the nineteenth century potters), I am also trying to develop a community-based approach to archaeological scholarship. I want to link research, and the support for research, with local concerns and needs ranging from education to development. The Venn diagram below illustrates the point. Community-based archaeology has always been an important part of historical archaeology in the United States, where local research at local historical sites met local needs and interests. Recently many more archaeologists are coming around to this research style, which they call "socially-engaged" or "action archaeology."

If this is your first visit to the Utah Pottery Project Blog, you can read a bit about the research collaboration in these posts:

The first blog post is here

A Slideshow about what we hope to learn

The Davenports in England, 3/25 update