qmackie

A Museum Devoted to Everyday Items Mexico City is home to an institution that’s right the Inconspicuous Consumption wheelhouse.

A Museum of Inconspicuous Things www.inconspicuous.info/p/a-museum-d...

Dr. Roy Carlson

Statement from @sfuarchaeology.bsky.social on the passing of Professor Emeritus Roy Carlson www.sfu.ca/archaeology/... 🏺 @b-thom.bsky.social @uvicanthro.bsky.social

Image of a stereotypical glowing alien holding a laptop type device standing in front of Stonehenge, probably A.I. generated

Today in history #archaeology 🏺

Screenshot showing Roy Carlson and the text: ust heard the very sad news that Prof. Roy Carlson passed away this morning. Roy was the founding chair of the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University, and a major figure in BC and Canadian archaeology. An unfailingly kind, supportive, and intellectually stimulating colleague, he will be much missed. RIP Roy and thanks for everything."

According to Mark Collard on Twitter, SFU Professor Emeritus Roy Carlson, a stalwart of NW Coast Archaeology since the early 1960s, has passed away. @sfuarchaeology.bsky.social 🏺

“We did this. People did this.” How Canada’s rarest mammal was pulled back from the brink of extinction | Discover Wildlife Canada’s rarest mammal was on the brink of extinction but, in a remarkable conservation success story, it is on the road to recovery

The fall and rise of the Vancouver Island marmot:

www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...

More info on Dr Der:

anth.ubc.ca/profile/lind...

🏺

“Safeguarding for whom? An evidence-based examination of the use of digital technology as a conservation tool for Tadmor (Palmyra)" Thursday, February 26th , 3:30 pm PST Abstract: "In an era of technological proliferation, digital technologies are being deployed in heritage contexts at an unsurpassed pace. These technologies have been largely embraced by universities, museums, governments, and both intergovernmental and non-profit organizations. In places of armed conflict, their use has been especially heralded for their ability to be rapidly deployed and to mitigate the destruction of cultural heritage. Rather than take digital technologies as a foregone conclusion, my research is an evidentiary-based assessment of their implementation in cultural heritage applications. This seminar shares the results of research evaluating the 3D reproduction of the Triumphal Arch of Tadmor, also known as Palmyra. A foreign intervention, this reproduction was purported to preserve and draw attention to Syrian cultural heritage after its destruction at the hands of DAESH. Using interview and survey data, this paper discusses the reactions, desires and opinions of different groups, including Syrian diaspora communities in Canada and the general public in the United Kingdom. The data suggests that far from being a resounding success, reception has been mixed, with the majority of people considering the replica arch an inadequate substitute for the original."

SFU Archaeology in person / zoom tomorrow (Thur Feb 26) at 3.30 PST featuring Dr Lindsey Der: Safeguarding for whom? An evidence-based examination of of digital technology as conservation tool for Tadmor/Palmyra @sfuarchaeology.bsky.social

Register ahead for zoom: sfu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

🇫🇮👈

a garbage can with the word garbage written on it is sitting in front of a building . Alt: Oscar the Grouch sticks his head out of his garbage can and says GARBAGE!

I know it's not a new observation that facebook is dead, but I just logged on for the first time in forever and the first 23 things it showed me were things it thought I should see, number 24 was from a group I actually belonged to.

Two stick figures talking: Left: carbon dating is second nature to us Archaeologists, so it's easy to forget that the average person probably only knows the Libby half life of 14c" Right: "And INTCAL20, of course Left: of course. At bottom, "Even when they're trying to compensate for it, experts in anything wildly overestimate the average person's familiarity with their field.

Make your own here 🏺⚛️🦖: marshdeer.github.io/xkcd2501-gen...

🧪🏺 Update - authors have new paper showing how useless gen- #AI is for archaeological illustration.
All 400 images were multiply inaccurate (physically, socially, technologically, environmentally), even with improved prompts.

JUST USE HUMAN EXPERTS & ARTISTS

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

An all time lives taken to ink expxended ratio

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

J-Lo is a really outstanding reporter. I always read to the end because he often stashes some great background nuggets down there.

The State of Canada’s Birds Report Canada’s birds have stories to tell. See how they are doing, how their populations have changed, and what you can do to help.

There is both good and bad news for Canada's bird populations in this attractive document with really good figures and graphs naturecounts.ca/nc/socb-epoc... #birds #birding 🦆🦉🪺

U of A looks to remove EDI from hiring policy | CBC News The University of Alberta is proposing to eliminate Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) from its hiring policy, a year after the school initially said it was moving away from the term.

University of Alberta seeks to drop its IDE (DEI) hiring policies:

"While the current policy includes aspirational language about fair recruitment and the removal of barriers, [UofA] has found in practice that qualified candidates may still face barriers.." #highered www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Truth before reconciliation: 8 ways to identify and confront Residential School denialism Residential school denialism is the rejection or misrepresentation of basic facts about residential schools to undermine truth and reconciliation efforts.

Links to written perspectives from Dr Carleton of @umanitoba.bsky.social

theconversation.com/truth-before...

theconversation.com/confronting-...

theconversation.com/we-fact-chec...

Truth Before Reconciliation: How to Identify and Confront Residential School Denialism YouTube video by SFU Archaeology

Dr Sean Carleton, U.Manitoba, ( @seancarleton.bsky.social ) speaks to @sfuarchaeology.bsky.social re: Residential School Denialism

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnfE...

‘Now We Have a Voice’: Indigenous Architects Redesign Canada

Some interesting examples of a new wave of Indigenous Canadian Architecture (ungated)

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/r...

Flyer with photos of archaeological fieldwork. Flyer text: Indigenous Methodology: Southern Oregon University Summer Archaeological Field School SOAN 375, 23 June - 15 July, 2026 Spend the Summer doing the archaeology on the Oregon Coast! This Field School is an intensive four week, 4-credit course (SOAN 375, 4 credits, + $250 fee) where students participate in archaeological investigations on the beautiful Oregon coast. The Field School will introduce students to archaeological method and theory, remote sensing, survey, excavation, GPS use, artifact identification, stratigraphy, and public and Tribal outreach through fieldwork, field trips, and guest speakers. Students will learn about collaborative work, and the use of low-impact and decolonizing methodologies developed and favored by Oregon's Tribal people. Work will take place in Coos and Curry County in two, 10-day sessions on either side of the 4th of July weekend. Students will participate in archaeological test excavations, geophysical survey, and pedestrian survey. For more information, contact: Mark Axel Tveskov, PhD Professor, Sociology and Anthropology Department tveskovm@sou.edu

Flyer text: Additional information: Participants will camp together during the field school. The project will take place in two sessions: June 23-July 2, and July 6-July 15, with a break in between for the 4th of July weekend. Participants will live in tents at a field camp on the rainy Oregon coast, so students should be prepared for inclement, wet, and muddy conditions. Food will be cooked communally and the camp maintained by all participants. Transportation to and from Ashland at the beginning and end of both sessions is provided, but students are welcome to bring their own transportation as well. Students will need to provide their own camping gear and field clothing (including boots), but food and archaeology gear will be provided. The area provides many amazing opportunities for hiking and exploration. All participants must be able to meet the strenuous physical and social demands of archaeological excavation and hiking under rugged field conditions in the rain and mud of the Oregon coast. All participants will be working and living together in close quarters, and the ability to get along with others is essential. The class is open to students of any background, with the only prerequisites being an interest in archaeology and an ability to work hard as part of the team. All participants are expected to understand and follow Southern Oregon University Student Code of Conduct All students must obtain instructor approval to enroll in the class. Enrollment is limited. Students should contact Mark Axel Tveskov at tveskovm@sou.edu for an application The deadline for priority acceptance is May 1, 2026

I'm helping run an archaeological field school on the Oregon Coast this summer! Please share with any interested students! 🏺

BC legislators passed the law UNANIMOUSLY in 2019, when EVERY MLA from EVERY party voted for it as a route to reconciliation. Eby's plan to rewrite DRIPA and have the Supreme Court put limits on it is a shameful betrayal of First Nations and an unacceptable return to the colonial status quo.

Screenshot from the article of text and a picture of Kgasi sitting on an exposed bedrock outcrop, the text reads: "He did clerical work. He tried his hand as an auto mechanic. Then, on a whim, in 2000, he applied for a job as a fossil digger in the Cradle of Humankind. "I just picked it up as a random job," he says. Kgasi was joining the ranks of the numerous Black men who, over the years, dug out fossils for white researchers (some from South Africa and others from overseas) who examined and identified them — and then took credit for them.

Profile of South African paleontologist Lazarus Kgasi. How many Indigenous BC archaeologists have similar untapped potentials? And could advance in the profession parallel to a traditional academic pathway?🏺

www.npr.org/2026/02/04/g...

Harvard Proposes Capping A’s to Curb Grade Inflation

Over half of grades at Harvard are an "A", Profs to vote on a proposal to limit these to 20% of grades. (open link) #highered 👩‍🎓

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/u...

Sorry Not Sorry—It’s Our Moral Imperative To Eat Sea Urchins Foraging on the coast, as Japanese American families in California have done for generations, is increasingly important for the environment.

"Beyond our family’s cultural roots in Japan, where people eat 9,000 tons of sea urchin roe every year, the overpopulation of this less-than-cuddly sea tribble tells a very California story of ecological urgency that is tied up with Japanese American history, too."

sfstandard.com/2023/02/06/s...

best of internet right here 🎹🐈

Line graph showing a very close [spurious] correlation between two variables measured from 2008-2022. The two variables are "Distance between Saturn and Earth" and "number of Walmart stores worldwide"

R-squared of 0.981 is hard to argue with, really.

Source: tylervigen.com 〽️📉

Images of Indigenous people attending the Metzabok community meeting re proposed aerial lidar mapping in their territory

Another piece on ethics of airborne lidar for archaeological purposes: informed consent, and mapping as a colonial process.🏺 @b-thom.bsky.social (open access in American-Antiquity)

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Comment: B.C. archeological sites are not a ‘misfortune’ The Heritage Conservation Act is in urgent need of reform.

Dr Brian Thom @b-thom.bsky.social of @uvicanthro.bsky.social weighs in on the current controversies in BC Archaeological practice and offers a useful comparison to Japanese practice 🏺🇯🇵 #archaeology

www.timescolonist.com/opinion/comm...

Aerial lidar mapping can reveal archaeological sites while overlooking Indigenous peoples and their knowledge Aerial lidar raises ethical questions because it can collect data remotely without the knowledge or consent of Indigenous and descendant populations that are on the ground.

The darker side of LiDAR: overlooking or erasing Indigenous people theconversation.com/aerial-lidar... #archaeology #lidar 🏺