Nice Work!

Hello everyone! Amber is back after a week hiatus from the blog. Things have been busy on St. John, both in the office and out in the field. Last week, I served as surface support for Susanna and Ken while they dived to a depth of 73 feet to investigate historic metal objects. Preliminary conclusions are that it is marine-related, but more underwater time will be needed to further identify the objects. Surface support is important for dangerous dives such as these, the danger being both the dive depth and a site location in the middle of a busy channel. Also last week, Ken prepared for a presentation about Hassel Island to the St. Thomas Historic Trust. I wrote earlier about this island’s historical importance and funding is sorely needed to begin the processes of survey, stabilization of the ruins and conservation of the wonderful metal artifacts.

This week has also been productive. In the office, a monumental cataloguing project has been undertaken by yours truly, and it definitely feels good to get all our artifacts organized and documented correctly. Ken also went over the talk with me that he prepared this week for the Science in the Park Conference. This was kind of a first for Ken to prepare a paper for biologists(see his title slide with a Indian and Jellyfish above). He said it made him look at the island’s archaeological record differently, not just from an anthropologist’s view point. He explained to me how the 3000 years of history in the archeological sites also preserves, for the biologist, time capsules waiting to define our inherited natural environment.



In the field, the team (Ken, Susanna, and I) completed a snorkel survey and found some interesting artifacts. In a historic context, Susanna found a worked mammal bone in a concretion of coral and rock…definitely worthy of placement in the future museum. (And a nice thing to find before she heads off to the Grand Canyon for two weeks of NPS Fundamentals Training.)
Aside from archaeological project advancements, I have officially become comfortable driving on the left [pat on the back]. It’s really not as hard as I thought/ feared! OK, well this is all she wrote for now. I’ll write next week with the latest from the Cultural Resources Management Division here at St. John. ‘Til then:)