00:01.50 Bill White Okay, welcome back. We're in the final segment of episode two seventy nine of The Crm Archeology Podcast we just talked about great holiday gifts for folks um to use out in the field. But now you know, maybe it's. We're getting close to the end of the year I think it might be a good time for us to kind of talk about some of the projects or some of the sites that we heard about or worked on or maybe some of the things that we did in the last year that you know we really like we're inspired. We want to learn more and that they were really interesting and we're proud of doing them Andrew has a site. Or a project. He wants to talk about I'll let him go first. 00:35.66 archpodnet Sure, um, so I reflected and thought about this a little bit and I have to be honest for for this year um the favorite project that I was a part of was actually the lpr project which is in Belize right? So um. And the reason for this is many fold but the short backstory is the lpr is a large maya site in Belize. It's actually on the belize Guatemala border right? where ah, most of it's in Belize. But some of it's in Guatemala and it does have that. Appeal of a huge Maya City in the jungle right that whole thing a bit difficult to get to right? all that. But it was the very first project that I worked on in 9093 the very first time I ever dug a 1 by 1 was on the lplr project. But of course since then since being a field school student. Went onward I worked on different things and you know just continued my career in different places at different times. But in the last handful of years I got in touch with the original archeologist Annabelle Ford who works at lpr and I've been working with her. Um once a week. Go up to Santa Barbara and I've been working on the lpr material and I think we all know as archeologists you know there's there's certain things that we just do day to day or week by week. They're part of the job and they're still fun and they're still worthwhile and they still make us feel good. 02:02.67 archpodnet But every so often you get to work on a project where man it's just inspiring you know and that's what the lpr project is for me, it's I look forward to my once a week when I go and a lot of the times. It's just real minutiae stuff. In the lab right? dealing with the old artifacts from from the past like two decades or so of research has been done there dealing with the old paperwork. The maps. It's really bringing everything together to tell the story of lpr so as I get to do it. I get to like reminisce every so often I'll find a piece of paperwork that I filled out in like 1996? Yeah, like it's just it's a time where I can let my mind wander and really just get the joy from archeology you know and just be like wow. I'm working on a classic period maya site. This is awesome and even again even though I'm just sitting at a table like sorting some shirts or or I'm on a computer like going through some paperwork I still there's that connection of that wonder and that joy the reason we got into this stuff in the first place. So. That's my vote just working on. Um the research aspect of the lpr ah project from Belize there you go. That's mine. Yeah. 03:22.63 Bill White Yeah, man, that's awesome Heather Do you you want to go next or should I. Okay yeah I mean those those kind of projects they're ultra rare to you know, come across and it's really cool that you had fond memories and then you come back and you still actually. 03:27.80 Heather So yeah, go ahead, you go. 03:34.35 archpodnet Yeah, yeah. 03:40.45 archpodnet Yeah, it's funny and I'm like a different person you know because it's been like 20 years it is it's I'm like an old man looking at a young man's thing and going. Oh he didn't do too bad. Yeah serious it's it's very interesting. 03:40.94 Bill White Have those same memories right. Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 03:50.95 Bill White Ah, ah, all right I mean I Hope you're talking about your other people's paperwork not just your own right? Like oh they're all rubbish but Wow look at this look at this genius here. You know? oh yeah now. 04:01.14 archpodnet Oh yeah, no, all the rest of them are terrible. Yeah, no, no yeah I mean mine were the best. No they weren't it's in seriousness one 1 thing that really made me happy. 04:07.97 Heather Ah, Bill you are talking about Andrew Ray okay yeah 04:10.39 Bill White Ah, yeah I know and he's in charge of grade in people's papers. And yeah. 04:18.81 archpodnet Is as a whole when I look through these were my fellow students I'm like man all this stuff is really good. We really tried you know like you can see a bunch of young people who. 04:25.48 Bill White Yeah. 04:30.00 archpodnet Really gave it their best shot. So I'm I'm very proud of that group of people who did that stuff at that time. So it's It's very. It's very enjoyable. Um, yeah. 04:35.74 Bill White Yeah that's that's really cool to see that and to hear that too the the one that I'm thinking of right now is we just finished the last year of excavations out of state little princess in the virgin islands the society of black archeologists and I and this was you know the fourth year and. It wasn't the easiest year but we had some great you know discoveries. It was worth it to go back for yet another year. Um, and then you know just to think about the over the last few years that was a project that we started before the pandemic and it was like when the pandemic began and we couldn't go to the field anymore we were kind of like so are we ever going to finish this thing I mean we. Had plans to come back and do things but we didn't know for 2 years if we were ever going to come back and if that was going to be it. But fortunately we were able to come back last year and finish up this year and so it's 4 years of work and some of the folks who worked on the project. They. Went into crm they went and got graduate degrees not because it's a field school not all the people went into archeology but it's really cool to see that folks who started in the very beginning are now like abd almost going to finish their dissertation and it came from that project but also just really cool to. You know work with people that I like that I had a great time with my colleagues there and you know that we're still buddies and that didn't break everything to pieces just by hanging out with each other in the you know caribbean sun for days and days right? that we still like each other after four years I I haven't been on a project like that before where. 05:55.73 Heather I. 06:08.90 Bill White It folks grew and enjoyed it and we moved through and we found a lot of really great stuff and you know connected with people that I'll have friends for as long as they'll have me and you know it's the kind of project like you were saying that is why I got into archeology and why I like doing it and so those are. That's just kind of a bittersweet end to this project. You know I don't know what the next thing is going to bring I know that I won't be running into field school but I'll work on someone else's field school I'll work with on Andrew's field school but I don't know about me running it anymore man it was just it was. 06:39.30 archpodnet No no work on yours. Okay, no I work on yours. It is. 06:44.18 Bill White It's a lot. It's a lie you know and and I'm also kind of realizing that I should transition more to like having that kind of thing happen in class and then just hire students to do survey you know so that it's a job because it gets more mileage than the field school thing and anyway just really, that's the project that I think of in 2023 that 06:52.67 archpodnet Um, yeah, totally understandable. Yeah yeah. 07:03.80 Bill White You know that's the one that I'm proud of and that I enjoyed being on. Yeah yeah. 07:03.94 archpodnet Totally That's cool pulls it to heartstrings in the best possible manner like I love those. It's great. Yeah. 07:07.79 Heather Miracle law. Yeah well for me. Um, it's tough from a sira m perspective I think this where we we have um you know confidentiality issues. So I can't. Ah, share probably my my most favorite but um I will say that it's 1 experience that I had where there was a site that you know I think a lot of people have put in their mind as that's where they would like to work and. Um, it's in the Santa Barbara channel region and I was very excited to have the opportunity. Um that there was a project or a construction going on. Um within this known site and so being able to do a data recovery? Um I'm just trying to be careful. but um but being ah being able to do a data recovery and I think that it was a really good lesson in as archeologists when we build up certain sites in our head as being the end all be all of what we're going to. You know that we're going to experience something really neat and. Um, it ended up being a real dud. So so the reason I'm bringing this up is because it didn't end up being exciting at all like there was so much disturbance it was not in an area where which is good. That's a good thing right for the. 08:31.20 archpodnet Oh no. 08:32.37 Bill White Oh ah. 08:36.35 archpodnet Yeah. 08:42.41 archpodnet Um, right. 08:44.85 Heather Resource That's a good thing but I hear I had built this up in my head because it's one of the premier sites anywhere I mean like people would give their left arm to work on this site and it literally came out like but it was yeah. 08:53.27 archpodnet Right? I I Love that story though I love it. We've all done it. Oh my God What a bummer though. 09:04.20 Heather And yeah it. But then we had a surprise it was just one of those it was just a residential project and it was within a site. It's a very large site coastal site in Santa Barbara County and 09:05.60 Bill White Whoa. 09:21.19 Heather Really, there's been a lot of work done there and so it was kind of going through the motions not on my end. But for people in general just the agency and everything. Oh yeah I got to do a data recovery and and it was a supplemental data recovery right? because there's so much information known but we actually found some amazing. 09:37.67 archpodnet Um. 09:38.58 Bill White Wow. 09:39.83 Heather Stuff there and so I think it's a really good. It's it's a it's a good reminder that you never know what you're going to come across. Um, ah we had a couple years ago we had another like unbelievable, unbelievable find which. Eventually I'll publish on and I think it's going to be incredible really will add to the to the area's knowledge. But it's um, you know it's just a reminder. Don't. Don't just have in your head. What you think something's going to be and you know did we still learn something from that project that was kind of a dead we did because what isn't there is still contributing right? So um, it's just not that sexy stuff. But then a few months later. 10:20.13 Bill White Yeah, exactly totally. 10:28.69 Heather Or ah earlier I had had gotten that sexy type projects that I had not expected so you know I think that always keeping your mind open and and never assuming and that is 1 thing especially with data recovery is that you know you just. 10:30.86 Bill White Yeah. 10:31.54 archpodnet Right. 10:46.46 Heather You can't assume that you're going to find something especially when you're working in the known site. You always have to come in fresh um with no expectations. Although as people were going to do that but try to keep them at Bay Um, because it will bias the way you ah work. So but anyway. 10:56.29 Bill White Yeah. 11:04.70 archpodnet Um, core. 11:06.00 Heather So that's my story. 11:06.68 Bill White Yeah, yeah, well I mean this is it's great to kind of have this I think we'll have 1 more episode before the end of the year but it's good to kind of see this thing you know move full circle you know, understanding that it's never super easy to be an archaeologist but um. There is reasons why we're doing it in in every year you know since I've been doing this There's always been some kind of museum I went to or some kind of you know thing I read that I heard about a site that I had no idea about that I was super interested in or even when I was doing archeology I was out in the field I actually was in a site and we found really cool stuff. So. There's just always more things to motivate you to keep going on further and you know the the tools that you have out there. The things that you get for archeologists their their tools their presence but they also help maintain that that dream that whole goal of us finding these really cool sites working at really cool places. And just keeping it moving forward and I do think that at the end of the day. That's why we're doing all that stuff because we're the ones who really want to be there. We want to make those discoveries and it's not going to happen if you're not in the right place which is why you you know stick with archeology until you're you're done doing it right. Think that this is ah a good place to end the show I appreciate everyone listening ah till the end of the show if you have any questions if you have any more Christmas present suggestions right? because we don't know all the stuff that exists out there. What are you using in the field and what do you enjoy? What did you like getting as a present and what do you like to give to other people for the holidays. 12:40.73 Bill White As a gift. Um I think this is a good way to end here. So I'm just going to say goodbye until the next episode. 12:44.36 archpodnet Um, yeah. 12:50.37 archpodnet See you guys next time. 12:54.46 Heather Goodbye. Yeah, that's where Chris comes in crystal rachel I guess Rachel is the one who's editing high rachel. 12:56.75 Bill White Ah I never know how to end it and exactly ah they'll just dub over our sloppy ending. Thank you? ah. 12:56.87 archpodnet I Know it's always me too. It's so tough. Yeah. 13:07.53 archpodnet Um, yeah, that one was nice dude that was like that was that was like it was just heartwarming and cool here I'm going to stop recording. 13:12.10 Heather Yeah, it was. 13:12.59 Bill White Yeah.