Wish List, 5/26

Hi everyone,

If you have just discovered this blog and the Utah Pottery Project, you may not be aware that you could help support the archaeological fieldwork and research!

We can always use donations of cash (fully tax deductible, of course!) which we use as scholarship funds and as matching funds for institutional grants.  If you'd like to donate money to support this summer's field work and the subsequent analysis, you can go to the Utah Pottery Project donation page here:

http://www.social.mtu.edu/faculty/Scarlett/Research/UPP/UPPsupport.htm

There are lots of opportunities to support the project through gifts of badly needed supplies.  I include a list of some examples below.

This first list includes material urgently needed for this summer's excavation of the Thomas and Sarah Davenport pottery site in Parowan, Utah.  You can have materials sent to the Iron Mission Museum in Cedar City, and they will hold them until someone from the project team can pick them up:

Utah Pottery Project/Attn: Scarlett
Iron Mission State Park
635 N. Main St.
Cedar City, UT 84720-2127

Photo supplies and archive:
We need color slide film and archival storage materials.  35 mm color slide (transparency) film serves the critical purpose of high-quality backup of digital excavation photos.  Our digital photos are of high enough quality that we no longer shoot black and white print film as part of regular excavation recording.
 
B&H Photo wishlist for the Utah Pottery Project:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/WishList/A27DDACA5&BI=1239
 
www.bhphotovideo.com
420 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10001, USA
800-606-6969
212-444-6615
 
Non-archival Storage Boxes::
All the artifacts are “Bagged and Tagged” in the field.  We put all the bags into boxes to transport them to the lab.  In the field we use regular boxes, but once cleaned and processed, everything must be put into archival storage boxes for long-term storage.
 

OfficeMax Storage Boxes, 10/pk, Item # 20151540
http://www.officemax.com/omax/catalog/sku.jsp?skuId=20151540&searchString=archival%20storage%20boxes&category_Id=null

This list includes items we will need during analysis and for permanent archive of the artifacts and excavation records.  These items can be shipped to:

Michigan Tech Univ/Scarlett

Archaeology Lab/Soc Sci/AOB 209

1400 Townsend Dr.

Houghton, MI 49931

Needed supplies:

Archival Storage Boxes:
Hollinger Metal Edge, Inc.
Unbuffered Record Storage Boxes with Separate Lids
250#C Corrugated Board, White, 7.5 pH
 
Record Storage Box - 15" x 12.5" x 10" with Separate Lid
 
10760$7.95, 5/$32.20, 10/$58.60, 25/$141.75, 50/$249.50
http://www.genealogicalstorageproducts.com/recstorbox15.html
 
 
Archival Storage Bags:
We “Bag and Tag” everything recovered during excavation.  We use paper bags in the field while everything is dirty, but we transfer everything to archival bags once the artifacts are cleaned and prepared for lab analysis and transfer to the museum to be archived.
Archival bags can be found here:
http://www.genealogicalstorageproducts.com/arpoba.html
 
Useful sizes include:
 
2" x 3" - 4 mil Polyethylene Bags - Pack of 100 Bags 
100/$4.60
 
3" x 5" - 4 mil Polyethylene Bags - Pack of 100 Bags
100/$11.50
 
4" x 6" - 4 mil Polyethylene Bags - Pack of 100 Bags
100/$12.65
 
5" x 8" - 4 mil Polyethylene Bags - Pack of 100 Bags
100/$16.10
 
6" x 9" - 4 mil Polyethylene Bags - Pack of 100 Bags
100/$19.55
 
9" x 12" - 4 mil Polyethylene Bags - Pack of 100 Bags
100/$28.75
 
12" x 15" - 4 mil Polyethylene Bags - Pack of 100 Bags
100/$33.35
 
13" x 18" - 4 mil Polyethylene Bags - Pack of 100 Bags
100/$37.95
 
6 Mil Polyethylene Bag - 12" x 18"
20/$8.80,  50/$21.00
 
6 Mil Polyrthylene Bag - 14" x 24"
20/$12.80, 50/$30.00
 
6 Mil Polyethylene Bag - 14" x 30"
20/$15.80, 50/$37.50
 
6 Mil Polyethylene Bag - 16" x 16"
20/$10.40, 50/$24.00
 
6 Mil Polyethylene Bag - 16" x 24"
20/$14.60, 50/$34.50
 
6 Mil Polyethylene Bag - 18" x 18"
20/$12.00, 50/$28.00
 
6 Mil Polyethylene Bag - 20" x 24"
20/$16.80, 50/$40.00
 
6 Mil Polyethylene Bag - 24" x 30"
10/$12.60, 20/$24.20, 50/$58.00
 
 

Field School Travel and Rendezvous

Students and project Team Members have begun making travel plans, so I thought I would put up the planned schedule.

1. Travel with the Michigan Tech Caravan:

The project vehicles will depart MTU the morning of Friday, May 8th.  All people riding in the MTU vehicles can ride for free, room permitting, so long as they help Jessica and Andy load the inventoried equipment into the truck and van.  The drive from Houghton to Parowan takes about 28 hours of road time, or two 14 hour days.  Anyone planning on riding in the vehicles should let me and Jessica know as soon as possible.  There will be a reasonable volume limit on luggage.  The caravan will need to arrive in Parowan by 10 am on Sunday, 5/10, so that we can unload the van and head to the Las Vegas airport to pick up more people.

2. Travel by Airplane:

Those traveling by air should make their own plans, but you will need to arrive in Las Vegas, Nevada, in time for a rendezvous at 3 pm on Sunday, May 10th.  This will give us time to pick everyone up and drive back to Parowan while still leaving enough daylight for everyone to set up camp before dark.

I will let each traveler know where at the airport they should expect to meet us.  You should email your flight itinerary to me when you make your reservation.  Airlines are offering some pretty good deals right now.

The MTU van will only make this trip once.  If you are flying but can not arrive by the appointed time, you will have to catch a public bus from Las Vegas to Parowan and we'll meet you at the bus stop.

3. Travel by Personal Car:

However you drive and on whatever schedule, you should expect to arrive in Parowan by 4 or 5 pm on Sunday, 5/10.  This will give you a few hours of daylight to set up your camp and settle in before dark.  We will set a specific time and place to meet in town for those who want to follow the MTU van and truck to the campground, but I will be sure everyone has detailed directions in case of schedule changes.

4. Trains, Buses, and others:

Contact me about those travel plans.

5. Final Departure:

The field school ends on June 26th and that will be our last day of work.  You should expect to depart after that.  The MTU van will make a shuttle run to the Las Vegas airport on the afternoon of Friday, June 26th, arriving there at about 4 pm.  Depending upon when they return to the campsite, the entire caravan will depart either that evening or early in the morning of Saturday, June 27th.  Caravan members should be back in Houghton in time for Track B classes to start on Monday, June 29th.  If none of the caravan riders need to be back for Track B, the return trip may be extended by another day, but that will be determined during departure preparations.

I will post a note in the near future that will include the daily work schedule as well as the expected days off during the project.  This will allow everyone to plan travel and vacation time during May and June.