Aug 16Dr. Mary Ownby, Desert’s resident ceramic petrographer, discusses her recent ceramic characterization study in northeastern Colorado, which was published this summer in the Plains Anthropologist journal. When we think of ancient pottery making, we often picture a person sitting quietly, enjoying their craft near their house in a small village.…
May 7Dr. Mary Ownby, Desert Archaeology’s ceramic petrographer, discusses the ways petrographic analytical techniques can be applied to samples from very different times and places around the globe. It may seem that pottery in the Southwest and from Egypt would have very little in common beyond the fact that both areas…
Dec 29Desert Archaeology president Sarah Herr spent a week in early December as a guest at the Shanghai Archaeology Forum. A little over two years ago Bill Doelle asked me if I had a passport, and if I did, did I want to go to Shanghai in 5 weeks to represent…
Jul 14Resident ceramic petrographer Dr. Mary Ownby returns to the blog this week to report on a recent petrography workshop co-sponsored by Desert Archaeology. My April 7 blog post, Petrography and Archaeology: Microscopic Fun with Pottery, introduced the field of ceramic petrography and how it has been employed at Desert Archaeology…
Feb 3This week's blog is by Mike Brack, Desert Archaeology's mapping director and licensed UAV airman. I am fascinated with the technological change I have witnessed over a 25-year career of archaeology, cartography, and land surveying. From plane table and alidade to transit to electronic total station to the modern standard…