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AND FEEDING OF YOUR ARCHAEOBOTANIST Analysts of special data sets usually are
not on-site for excavation and often are not consulted during the
research design formulation stage of a project. We need your help
in understanding the sites and contexts of our samples. RECOMMENDATIONS: First, include specialists in writing appropriate
research design questions. This has the potential of expanding and
enhancing the level of your research, often within the same budget.
Also, collaboration at this level allows expansion of archaeobotanic
sampling, when warranted. If you involve your specialist for an
extended period of time (more than a phone call for a quick review)
and if you request a written copy for input into the research design,
consider paying your specialist just as you would one of your employees
for writing the research design. Include specialists in developing a sampling
design appropriate for your research design. This might seem like
a strange request, but the best sampling strategy is not always
obvious to excavators, particularly not on a hot day when visions
of shade and water dance through their minds. Often specialists
can answer questions concerning sampling designs fairly rapidly,
providing guidelines for sampling features, floors, and stratigraphic
control columns, among other proveniences. Package your samples well enough to travel
to your specialist. Remember that UPS and the US Postal Service
both ship many boxes and are not able to keep yours right-side-up
at all times. Sometimes we think that there must be a "boxball"
championship out there on the carriers and that your box was the
"boxball" of the day. If what you are shipping is heavy
(soil or rocks) pack it solidly so that it doesn't move in the box.
These heavy items will squash packing peanuts, which are full of
air, and are not good packing material for heavy samples. Also,
remember to tape your box closed. This is important in keeping those
pesky contents inside the box, when they'd rather be outside playing. Provide your specialist with a list of the
samples sent. Don't forget the provenience information
either at this stage or a little later. Superman might have "x-ray"
eyes, able to see long distances to your individual sites. We are
not similarly equipped and rely on you to be our "eyes",
reporting to us valuable information about your sites. We need to
know where the sample was collected to interpret the archaeobotanic
record. "Where" is often relative to a work surface or
bottom of a pit, in addition to depth below surface. We've progressed
beyond the "laundry lists" churned out in the early days
of archaeobotanic work by encouraging a partnership between archaeologists
and archaeobotanists. We cannot alter our data to fit your prize
research design, so don't worry that by sharing information you
are biasing our work. Some days we take an absolutely perverse delight
in proving a theory wrong. This becomes much more satisfying when
we know what the original theory was. Of course, you might be right
in your hypothesis, and we'd like to be able to point this out also. Seriously now, ... Payment. Remember that you have a business
to run and so do we. If you pay your utilities, rent (or mortgage),
and employees on a regular schedule, you need to pay your specialist
within 30 days of invoice. All of the above companies and people
get paid every In addition to information about local vegetation
at the time of excavation (this relates to contamination, among
other We Accept Visa, MasterCard,
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30
days, at least. Imagine what would happen at your company/institution
if you paid your utility bill when you got paid for your project.
No computers, no lights -- or you'd be running your company on solar
collectors and energy storage batteries. What would happen if you
didn't pay your employees each month? Revolt! Mutiny! Please don't
make us last on the list by saying "when we get paid, we'll
pay you within 30-60 days after that". We did not set out to
become archaeobotanists so that we could float the cost of analysis
for our clients; nor did we agree to do your work on a contingency
basis. If we are required to take on your financial burdens, we
might go the way of all good dinosaurs.
things),
if you suspect vegetation was significantly different during occupation,
such as when working in a developed area, please tell us that and
what you think the vegetation might have been. Some of you are working
in cities and we'd like to know about the vegetation outside the
concrete landscape. I've traveled extensively, but somehow just
don't have complete notes about the vegetation every place that
I've been.
