Brad wearing his new custom-made bogu

Thanksgiving at my mom's house

Our dogs (all of them!) have made the 2007 Tales of the Tundra Siberian Husky rescue group calendar (September's photo): http://www.siberescue.org/HowHelp/Calendar2007.html

This is a photo of everyone swarming Kit (our newest addition). In the pic, she looked a little overwhelmed, but has since adjusted to life in the dog pack. I will post some photos of the little one here soon.

Phase III excavation, Hale Eddy, NY

Opening three 1x1m units as part of a block excavation:

















Just a little bit rocky:

Phase I survey, Chester, NY

This last parcel of farmland is soon going the way of the bulldozer to make way for development, like everything that is around it:
















Matt contemplates the wisdom of having to dig in obvious wetlands:
















More photos from this project to come - I need to scan 'em in!

Phase I survey, Cohocton, NY

Digging shovel tests in a field high on a mountain:

















Enjoying October autumn weather, while it still lasted:


















Strange advertisement painted on the wall of a general store
for sandwiches in town:

Archaeological monitoring project, Mt Morris, NY

These are photos from an archaeological monitoring project in Mount Morris, NY. I'm used to projects where we are digging on the side of the road, but in this case, we were actually looking for features under the road.














Mapping a feature, and preparing to bisect it:













Excavation two 1x1m units in proximity of a prehistoric Archaic fire pit feature:

Phase II excavation, Verona, NY

Here are pics from a Phase II excavation I was recently on near Verona, NY. We were working on the grounds of a 19th century farmhouse:













Working alongside the "corn house":














Some of the units were placed in between the old smokehouse and privy:

I think I'm the only person in the planet who didn't have a MySpace account, so I set one up last night. If you are on MySpace, drop me a line!

http://www.myspace.com/archaeologistjen

We recently decided to remove the top of the Land Rover Series IIa 88, aka 'Spencer'. This would have been more fun a few months ago. Nevertheless, we have something to look forward to in the spring!

Music

Just thought I'd provide a quick look into what's on my Ipod right now... a bit of an eclectic mix, some old, some new stuff...

Random archaeology photos

I was recently cleaning files off my computer's hard drive and decided to publish a random mix of archaeology photos from the last 10-12 years of my career. There are currently almost 100 photos online, and more to come. These projects span many locations from New York to Florida to Arizona and many places in between.

http://photos.yahoo.com/jpalmer_archaeologyfieldwork

Land Rover - BBC greatest car of all time

This is a short video (< 5 minutes) about the Land Rover marque, and some nice footage of a vintage Series I.

Lake Tahoe

This is a short video clip showing a visit to Lake Tahoe in April 2005. There are some photos from this visit on my blog at the following link: http://archaeologist-pa.blogspot.com/2005_04_01_archaeologist-pa_archive.html

Dogfest

Just a short video clip of my dogs playing in our yard from last spring...

Archaeologist Tired Of Unearthing Unspeakable Ancient Evils

A few pet photos

I haven't been posting much to this blog lately, as my computer has been acting up. I thought it was a goner there for awhile, but now it seems to be working again(???).

Here are some recent photos of our pets...


Natasha looking very comfy on the loveseat




The Husky puppies playing in a snowstorm...
They love the snow!




Sitka, the youngest of the dog pack




Sebastian Meow, enjoying a rare moment of quiet

History in decay

This morning I received an interesting web link to a slide show on decaying structures - http://www.slate.com/id/2129660/?nav=navoa (thanks Amanda!). It led me to think that a photographic essay was in order for the decaying structures in my own neighborhood. Camera in hand, I ventured out, hoping none of the neighbors would question what the hell I was doing... The first photo is of a vacant house next door, a really nice brick Queen Anne. We've been monitoring the decay of the chicken coop for about a year now.

There are a number of garages in the neighborhood which have seen better days. This is one of them. It appears that there were items stored inside before the roof collapsed, though I've never gotten close enough to investigate (you know, trespassing and all). When I take the dogs for a walk, they are always very curious about this yard.








It's difficult to see clearly in this drive-by photograph, but there is another collapsed garage/structure in the background. From what I am able to see from the road, it appears that this garage was more sizable, perhaps a barn or a garage with an addition. This is located behind the garage in the previous photo, and may be on the same lot as the house in the next series of photographs.






This is a likely an early to mid-1800s brick structure of a simple 3-bay symmetrical design, with several additions. At one point, my husband and I were interested in possibly purchasing this house to restore, as it was painful to see it deteriorate over the years. However, the owner refused to even consider its sale, and by then it was likely too far gone anyway. Large sections of the brick have caved in on the second floor, parts of the roof have completely collapsed, and there is scaffolding surrounding the house that appears to be historic in its own right.




This is a closer look at the aforementioned weather-beaten scaffolding. We've always wondered what happened to this house. Apparently someone began to fix it up many decades ago, and abandoned the project. Did the money run out? Was there a death in the family? What were the circumstances that led to this house being left to rot it place? This is likely one of the older houses still left (barely) standing in the neighborhood, and probably has many stories to tell.






The brick house has a long porch addition which is also historic in age. From what I have been able to see through the windows, it appears that the porch is filled with building materials and items such as doors, perhaps also dating from the house's last renovation effort.








This is a view of the entry. Note the porch roof rotting in place.

One of the neighborhood children told me of their experience sneaking into this house to check it out. They said that the floorboards inside had deteriorated so much that it was possible to fall right into the cellar upon walking through the door.

Watching the decay of a historic house is sad for someone with a preservation mindset. However, I'm still glad that the house is here. Someday it will inevitably get bad enough for the wrecking ball, and I'd rather watch its demise, however depressing, than stare at a vacant lot.