Sunday, October 18, 3 to 4:30 p.m., Eastsound Fire Station
— from Clark McAbee, Orcas Island Museum —
A presentation by Russel Barsh
There are hundreds of archaeological sites in San Juan County. Why are there not more research digs? What could future archaeological research tell us about the islands’ past that we don’t already know? How useful are new technologies such as stable isotope spectrometry and sequencing ancient DNA? Who benefits from archaeology now, and who should benefit in the future?
In celebration of National Archeology Month join us Sunday, October 18th, 2015 3:00 to 4:30pm for the Orcas Island Historical Museums’ History Matinee at the Eastsound Fire Hall, 45 Lavender Lane, Eastsound.
Russell Barsh studied paleontology, human ecology, and law at Harvard, taught at the University of Washington’s American Indian Studies Center. He co-founded the conservation biology nonprofit KWIAHT and has published widely on Salish Sea ecology and ethno history, and contributed to recent research excavations in the islands.
For more information contact the Orcas Island Historical Museum at 360-376-4849 or email curator@orcasmuseum.org.
To dig or not hopefully will include exploring the rich resources hidden in our swamps and peat bogs.Significant discoveries have been discovered on Orcas alone much less on the other San Juan islands dating back far beyond the 17 th and 18 th century…..like 14,000 years ! way before recorded history when early man first came here as nomadic hunters/gatherers…..what else is out there waiting to be discovered…should be a very interesting lecture.
Well heck, coming back to the recent l9th century, a friend with a metal detector last week unearthed quite a collection of metal objects, which leads me to believe a farm shed once stood out front and burned down in a hot fire, leaving behind charcoal and fused glass lumps. I’ve uncovered numerous objects just digging plant holes, recently a medicine bottle indicating the contents “CURES DYSPEPSIA LIVER COMPLAINT AND CONSUMPTION”. And by the way, if you’ve seen that tractor picture in Peter’s gallery? I’ve got the wheels ! That’s about all the archeology I can deal with at my age…..