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Show BOOK REVIEWS From Hunters to Homesteaders: Recent Encounters with Past Communities in Utah's West Desert, edited by Heather K. Stettler and Matthew T. Seddon. Published by Kern River Gas Transmission Company, SWCA Envi-ronmental Consultants and Alpine Archaeological Consultants, Inc. 2005. ISBN 1- 93 1901 - 14- 7. 128 pages with many maps, photographs and an interactive CD ROM. Reviewed by: Ronald J. Rood, Antiquities Section, Salt lake City, UT 84101 The science of archaeology is a publicly funded pursuit here in North America. When you put gas in your car, pay your water bill, buy a lift ticket at your favorite ski area, or pay your natural gas bill, a bit of that money goes to funding archaeological work. That is just the way it works under our current laws pertaining to cultural resources. The recent Kern River natural gas pipeline through Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California encountered hundreds of prehistoric and historic archaeological sites. Major excavations were completed at a number of sites in Utah by archaeologists from SWCA Environmental Consultants of Salt Lake City and Alpine Archaeological Consultants of Montrose, Colorado. Their technical reports on these excavations include volumes of detailed descriptions, analysis and inferences they have made about the prehistoric peoples of Utah and the places they lived. In " From Hunters to Homesteaders" archaeologists from SWCA and Alpine have put these thousands of pages of detailed information from the technical reports into a format that the general public will appreciate, understand and use. Producing a document for the public at large is no easy task but editors Stettler and Seddon of SWCA have pulled an amazing amount of material together in Hunters to Homesteaders detailing the archaeo-logical work completed along the Kern River pipeline through Utah. This volume provides the reader an attractive, well- written, jargon free, and informative narrative about the project, the pipeline, the archaeology, and why the archaeology was done and why that is important. There is a detailed section about the federal and state laws that pertain to archaeological resources, and then detailed sections about the particular sites that were investigated during the project. No stone is left unturned in this volume with well constructed discussions about what was previously known, why some sites are excavated and why some were not and yes, why and how some sites are considered to be important or significant and why others are not. Ctuh Archueology 2001 55 Hunters to Homesteaders provides the amateur archaeologist, the professional and the lay- reader a far reaching and encompassing view of the world of cultural resources management, and the science of archaeology. Step by step, the reader is introduced to the concepts of time, prehistoric cultures, how sites are found, how they are professionally excavated, how the material remains are analyzed and how the archaeologist derives informa-tion about the past from the artifacts recovered from the site. All aspects of archaeology are covered and special attention is paid to the long processes of laboratory work and curation and why those aspects are so terribly important. The personal touch of the essays within the volume " A day in the life of an archaeologist," and " A day in the life of a Pr' present the reader with the real- world view of the daily grind of a large- scale CRM project. Clint Lindsay's essay called " How archaeological sites get their names" is an informative and funny look inside the mind of the field archaeologist and the sometimes- twisted sense of humor archaeologists develop after months and months in the field. For the avocational reader or the person reading about archaeology for the first time, it is clear that archaeology is a whole lot of fun and archaeologists, while learning about the past in a scientific manner, generally have fun doing it. The section entitled " Excavation, data analysis and reporting" provides the reader with the nuts and bolts of archaeological research. It is an excellent chapter. Complete with detailed descriptions and excellent photographs, the reader is walked through the process of doing archaeology. The methods are explained and the types of artifacts are described in detail with easy to understand text, line drawings and photographs. The final chapter " What we learned" gives a summary of the conclusions and inferences drawn from the work and it appears we learned quite a bit. Questions about raw materials used during prehistoric times, settle-ment patterns, paleoenvironments, house styles and interactions between different cultures are discussed. The archaeological record from historic sites in the west desert demonstrates the economic diversity needed by Euro American settlers to survive. The story of the Hansen's at the Wellington Town site brings clearly illustrates how artifacts, when found in context and interpreted with other artifacts and sources reflect human behaviors. Hunters to Homesteaders comes with an interactive CD ROM that provides excellent information about the science of archaeology ( Archaeology 101) and games that will appeal to kids and perhaps some adults too. Teachers will especially find the cross- words and word games useful in social studies curriculum and vocabulary lessons and these are especially appropriate for 4' h grade lessons where students get a taste of Utah's prehistoric past. My favorite game on the CD is the " concentration" game modeled after the old TV Game Show. Although I was terrible, it might be a fun way to introduce artifact types to kids and the behaviors they represent. I strongly Rook Reviews recommend Hunters to Homesteaders to 4tha nd 7'" grade teachers who focus on archaeology in their lessons. At the same time, the writing style and prose of this volume makes it appropriate for adults, avocational archaeolo-gists and yes, even the professional. The editors provide an extensive list for further reading and this is subdivided into useful categories like " General Archaeology" or " Ceramic Analysis." There is abundant information and internet links provided on the laws that govern archaeological resources, archaeological sites to visit in Utah, information on jobs and careers in archaeol-ogy ( Shovelbums. org) and links to archaeological societies like the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society ( utaharchaeo1ogy. org) and the Utah Rock Art Research Association ( utahrockart. org) where people interested in ' archaeology can learn more and most importantly, get involved with archaeology. These types of information are especially important and unfortunately are often lacking in archaeological reports prepared for a lay audience. I may have had some professional qualms about the implementation of the treatment plan for the Kern River Project and the site selection process, but that aside; I found nothing to grouse about with Hunters to Homesteaders. I liked it and strongly recommend it to avocationals and professionals and especially to profes-sionals tasked with producing a public document for any CRM project, large or small. I'll go so far as to say that Hunters to Homesteaders, along with works by Wright and Silversmith ( 2001) and Janetski ( 1997) should serve as templates for further public products. The information in the book and on the CD ROM is a great resource for teachers and I'll be passing this volume out to every 4' h grade teacher I can contact in Utah. Kern River, SWCA and Alpine are to be congratulated for an excellent contribution to public archaeology. References Cited Janetski, J. C. 1997 The Archaeology of Clear Creek Canyon. Museum of Peoples and Cultures, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah Write, A. and D. Silversmith 2001 Archaeology in Washington County: A Student Workbook. Office of Public Archaeology, Brigharn Young University, Provo, Utah |
