Massachusetts Archaeologist

Hi, my name is Craig and I’m an archaeologist. I figured that I would start this blog as a way of letting everyone know what sites we are working on. Now, to start off with, I am a professional contract archaeologist, which essentially means that developers, historical societies and towns hire me to perform archaeological excavations under permit from the Massachusetts Historical Commission. I follow the state guidelines for conducting archaeological surveys and excavations and I operate under professional and ethical standards. People ask me-“Why is archaeology important? Why bother?“ Ultimately, I do archaeology not for the money (there is not much) or the fame (there is even less of that), but because it is the way that I feel that I can make a contribution to society and help foster an understanding and appreciation for humanity’s small place in the overall big scheme of things. As a result, I look at my short life as a mere drop in the proverbial bucket of time and archaeology is my momento morte, my reminder of how short each person’s time is on the Earth and how we need to do A) what we want to do (not what we have to do to be rich and own a million dollar house and an iphone), and B) something that is in the big scheme of things worthwhile and justifiable at the end. I also love finding stuff and investigating mysteries of the past.
Because archaeological sites are so fragile and sensitive, I will not be identifying he specific locations of the sites that I talk about on this blog. Some people equate archaeology with treasure hunting and think that the things we find are worth money. In the big scheme of things, they aren’t. Archaeologists search for facts, data and information, not treasure or Truth. We will never find truth because Truth is in the eye and the imagination of the beholder, but we can find the facts of what happened in the past. When someone lived somewhere, what they did and how they left their mark on the land.

I will be posting pictures of finds and interpretations of what we have discovered. These interpretations may change over time as new facts come to light as a result of our work and research so don’t accept them as the final word. Also, don’t take my word on anything you read here, cogita tute- think for yourself- and challenge my interpretations with some internet research and self interpretation. I don’t know everything and archaeology is all about interpretation.

The site that I am currently working on I will refer to as Site A, cause it’s the first one I will talk about.