Lithics: What is it anywy?

The Social Media Hanbook by Nancy Flynn Book Report

The book I chose to do a report on is ‘The Social Media Handbook: Policies and Best Practices to Effectively Manage Your Organization’s Social Media Presence, Posts, and Potential Risks’. The title may seem a bit wordy, but the actual book is much more precise. Author Nancy Flynn presents the information in a unique way that lends itself to use by groups both large and small.

The introductory chapter of this book explains the unique way in which the data will be provided. Unlike a normal book that reads chapter-to-chapter, each often building and referencing to the last. ‘The Social Media Handbook’ is more of a choose-your-own-adventure for creating a social media policy for the workplace. Chapters are broken into topics such as “Blog Risks and Compliance Rules” and “Writing Effective Social Media Policies” each of which re broken into sub chapters that give details on the chapter heading. A user may never have an issue with blogging and skip straight to Social Media Policies. This book becomes more of a reference tool than just a how-to book. Although the title and chapter names are a bit wordy, the actual data presentation is concise and presented in an easy to understand way. In many ways the wordy chapter names make it much easier to jump right to the piece of information that you are looking for. Data is often given in a top-ten list of steps on what needs to be done, issues to be aware of, or examples of problems that can be encountered. Government regulations are also discussed in-depth. Policies such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the U.S. Patriots Act are covered in regards to social media policies and issues that may be encountered. Also included is a chapter that provides sample policies that the reader can use to establish their own companies policies. Any of these samples could be modified to work with your individual company’s needs. If you don’t like the first sample that you see? You can simply review on of the other samples. For example, the Social Media Policy sample has 3 separate design choices. The first is an eleven point list of regulations that employees should follow. The second is designed as a definition list and then bullet points of accepted use of social media. The last sample is setup as a breakdown of issues and accepted policies that the company expects everyone to follow. Some other samples are almost completely ready to print and distribute to the employees, including an area to sign and date for filing.

The drawback of this book is its scope of audience. I wouldn’t recommend this book for the casual reader curious about creating policies and regulations. This book is most effective for a small to medium sized Human Resources group. Even though this book does discuss some of the legal issues that may be encountered, I would suggest running any created policy by either your company’s legal advisor or an outside lawyer. Going through the trouble of establishing a policy or procedure and then having it turn back on you would be possibly worse than having a less than effective policy in place.

Sloan Canyon: Hidden Treasure

Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area is a little knownsurprise right off Las Vegas Boulevard. I actually do mean right off of Las Vegas Boulevard. The road to the site runs along power lines near the I-15 exit on Southern Las Vegas Boulevard. A somewhat rough road leads to a place full of petroglyphs and some unusual rock formations. The opportunity that I had to first visit this site was when my wife had left town to visit relatives with her mother. I packed up the kids and the dogs for a nice hike. The beginning of the hike is down a gravelly creek bed. One of the most difficult part of the trail is the waterfall. it is bordered on both sides by rock walls so we had to have one of us scramble up, and then pass the dogs up. The sand at the bottom of the falls, a giant bowl, was pretty wet even in mid-summer. The payoff, for me at least, was the tremendous number of petroglyph panels. Large and small panels covered with designs, people, and animal representations. Well worth the hike to see a place that most Las Vegans have no idea is so close to town.

http://www.flickr.com//photos/archaeospot/show/

The subject of repatriation has been discussed alot lately in museums and collections around the world. The basic definition of repatriation is the act of returning something back to its original owner or descendants. Many countries, including Egypt, China, and Nigeria. The repatriation of native american artifacts began with the passing of NAGPRA (Native Americans Grave Protection and Repatriation Act) passed in 1990. This law gave native tribes the right to reclaim human remains and culturally significant items if they could prove a relation to the tribe of origin. Museums around the world are being asked to return many objects to their country of origin. The idea being that if you want to see an Egyptian mummy you wil leither have to travel to Egypt or visit a museum with an exhibit sponsored by Egypt. What do you think? Would you really want to visit an American museum that only contained American items and reconstructions of foreign items? Or would you travel abroad to see the real thing?

My Best Discovery

The most amazing thing I have ever excavated is actually the icon I use for this blog. While excavating a woodland era site near Canton, Illinois, we found two beautiful owl effigy pots. Let me explain my jargon before I lose too many of you.
The woodland period was from 3,000 years ago to 1,000 years ago. A time when agriculture and pottery blossomed throughout North America. Effigy pots are ceramics formed to mimic the look of animals.
The pots were sitting side-by-side in the soil, one taller and more detailed, the second smaller and more basic. The taller one is the icon I use and is on display at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, Illinois. The pots are so well preserved that the the original makers fingernail and fingerprints are still visible.
The final analysis showed the larger pot held grains of a primitive corn and the smaller held Ochre. Ochre is a natural mineral that can occur in red and yellow throughout the country. The pigment wthe theas used for painting and religous body decorations.
The fingerprints gave me an instant human connection across centuries. Secondly the beauty of the art created by a "primitive" people living in the woods.
Have you ever found something old that amazed you with it's beauty or advanced design?

Mrs. Jesus?

A recent article discusses a tiny piece of papyrus that suggests that Jesus had a wife. This discovery, though important, may not be that much of a revelation. Much of the bible was altered by Emporer Constantine in 325 AD. Several gospels were removed including those of Judas and Mary Magdelene according to many scholars. Is it really that big of a stretch to believe that someone with the obvious charisma of Jesus at the age of 33 was married? Only future discoveries will be able to confirm or deny.

Introduction

Every item you touch and see on a daily basis will one day day become a fascinating artifact. The definition of an artifact is any human made or modified item that is no longer in the human context. That means that if you walk out your door and throw a penny into the yard, it has become an artifact. These artifacts, when discovered decades or centuries later, tell the stories of what happened at the location and who lived there. Amazing things are hidden around us everyday: under the corner store, in a field behind your home, or even beneath your feet right now. Archaeology finds these items and reveals the stories of humanity.