Source: A Fellow Archaeologist, Melinda or Jo (I'm not sure!)
Recently I headed out to do some survey in the San Joaquin Valley, the fruit basket of the United States. The valley also happens to be a prime location for oil, as you can see above. Those are brand-spankin’ new oil pumping units.
You may ask, “Why were you in an oil field?”
The short answer: Section 106 and CEQA and many other regulations that the United States and California have implemented in order to protect their cultural (historic and prehistoric) resources. That was not such a short answer… Here is a book to read all about Section 106 and those other laws. It’s written by Tom King who is an amazing writer.
I guess a shorter answer would be: I was looking for historic and/or prehistoric artifacts. There were none. Often, in CRM, you don’t find anything, but we always have to look!
Source: archaeofieldtech
I took a photo of the ground for you- that’s where you look for artifacts. And here is a classic survey pose:
Source: archaeofieldtech
Walking with your head down. Staring at the ground, looking for interesting things. There was a ton of chert sitting on the ground out there, sort of interesting. It was non-cultural, and not very good quality- not knappable.
Source: paleoplanet
The darker brown points in this image are chert (the internet failed me- this is the best photo I came up with). In this image they call this stuff agate. I’ve heard it called both chert and agate- they’re both classified as crypto-crystalline silicates (CCS). I will have to find the chert I saw and get some photos of it.
One final note about surveying in oil fields: you need an H2S monitor, otherwise you might DIE! Archaeology can be a dangerous business.
