Note: This is the first entry in a series of posts in which I will share my thoughts on every bimonthly edition of the Archaeology Magazine by the Archaeological Institute of America. More information is available in the description of the ARCHAEOLOGY Magazine Discussion.
This is one of the first publications of Archaeology that I’ve personally read in depth. In the November-December issue, Ghost Tracks of White Sands, Karen Coates describes prints left by early animals over ten millennia ago in the White Sands National Park in the Tularosa Basin, New Mexico.
Today, the geography of White Sands is remarkably drier than in prehistoric times. According to Karen Coates, the area used to be submerged in Lake Otero, which evaporated 10 millennia ago. During this brief period in time, much of Tularosa Basin’s landscape became boggy and impressionable; the movement of many of the region’s inhabitants left accurate tracks which were then recorded in the ground as Lake Otero dried. From these remnants, Matthew Bennet of Bournemouth University and his team were able to gain a glimpse into the lives of several creatures. For instance, archeologists were able to study the strides of a giant sloth and an early human who was chasing it at a mildly rapid speed. The longer journey of a mother and her child were also recorded, as well as evidence of a group of children jumping and sloshing around in the mud, and a wandering mammoth. More details are available in the article itself.
As valuable as the White Sands tracks sites are, their tracks are quickly being lost to environmental factors.
This article raises the Issue of fragility. Although new tracks are being revealed by wind and erosion, other tracks are rapidly being lost. To combat this rapid degradation of archeological artifacts, archeologists document tracks as quickly as they can. To locate artifacts both above and below ground, Magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar are used to find all possible tracks. Plaster casts and 3d-models are then used to preserve these valuable tracks both physically and digitally. The strategies used to generate 3d-models are not stated. However it is possible that they used photogrammetry — a method of creating 3d digital depictions using photos — which I discussed in a previous blog.
Besides the issue of environmental change causing the loss of potential artifacts, Coates also mentions another important concept in archeology. In many instances, archeological sites take place on the land of and handles the property of people whose culture is entangled with the excavation. In the example of the White Sands Tracks, the National parks service works in conjunction with the Acoma Tribal Historic Preservation Office board to consider indigenous peoples who may be affiliated with the tracks; Interestingly, through this connection, archeologists are able to not only better preserve and respect the assets of these peoples, but consult them as well to gain a more sophisticated understanding of a location. This provides a fascinating mutualistic relationship that benefits the knowledge of all parties.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this issue of Archaeology. Besides Ghost Tracks of White Sands, the articles were geographically diverse and discussed really interesting periods of history. My favorite aspect of the Magazine were the numerous labeled photographs of archeological artifacts which offered visual glimpses into various pockets of history. The article as a whole was well structured in a clear and interesting way, providing unique sections rather than article after article of entries. I am happy to write more about this particular article in the future.
