Field Safety Part III: Man-Made Horrors

As frightening as nature may seem at times, humans introduce a variety of man-made dangers to their own environments. Vehicles, heavy machinery, utilities, and noxious chemicals all pose a threat to field archaeologists.

Driving

The most dangerous thing that any archaeologist does on a daily basis is driving, which is a danger we share with members of every profession, even office workers who never go outdoors. Many motorists don’t seem to understand this danger, which makes the roads more hazardous for the rest of us.

Heavy Machinery

Though most archaeologists don’t operate heavy machinery themselves, we often have to monitor construction projects where backhoes and bulldozers are present. In Texas, many archaeologists use backhoes to test alluvial soils for deeply buried sites; if we aren't operating the machinery ourselves, we generally have to stand near the trench to keep an eye on the soil. This puts us at risk of injury if we’re not careful around the machines. As a general rule, wear a hardhat around these machines, and make sure the operator can see you at all times.

We also survey a lot of agricultural fields, and farmers harvest these fields with combines. It is extremely dangerous to be in a field while a farmer is driving a combine harvester through it, especially if the crops are so high that the farmer can’t see you. In my home state of Illinois, corn usually grows much taller than human height before it is harvested, and anybody walking around in the corn is virtually invisible. If a farmer accidentally runs into you with a combine, the demise you will meet is far more gruesome than I want to think about. If you have to survey a field, but the farmer is harvesting that day, the solution is simple: don’t survey it that day. It can wait, and any employer who says otherwise is not worth working for.

Utilities

We spend a lot of time digging holes, and that means we risk hitting buried utilities. Some utilities are more dangerous than others. If you break a buried water line with your shovel, that’s a problem, but it won’t kill you. If you strike a buried electric line with your shovel, the current could electrocute you.

Figure 1. Junction box connected to buried electric cable. The buried cable provides the power feed to an irrigation control system. The buried cable is not marked, and a misplaced shovel test could come into contact with it.

Gas pipelines can react explosively if broken, but fortunately for field archaeologists, it’s very difficult to penetrate a gas line with a shovel. The pipes are typically made of metal or very thick plastic. This means that you probably won’t blow yourself up by digging a shovel test over a buried gas line, but you shouldn’t do that anyway.

However, sometimes we monitor heavy machinery, and backhoes can easily damage gas lines or other utilities. If a backhoe breaks a gas line, that could be fatal for everyone in the vicinity. If a backhoe comes into contact with an overhead power line or buried electric cable, the result will probably not be immediately fatal, but it could quickly become fatal if people make bad decisions. If this happens, the operator should stay in the cab. Nobody in the vicinity should walk within about 30 feet of the machine, because the ground all around the machine will be energized. Simply walking towards the backhoe could cause you to be electrocuted.

Pesticides and Fertilizers

You should not be walking in an agricultural field while the farmer is having fertilizer sprayed. Many farmers in the United States use anhydrous ammonia fertilizer to replenish the soil with nitrogen. Ammonia fertilizer can severely irritate or burn skin upon contact. Inhalation of ammonia can make it difficult to breathe. If you are sprayed with fertilizer, this will probably be a medical emergency.

Farmers also treat their fields with chemical pesticides. One of the most commonly used pesticides is Roundup, the main ingredient of which is glyphosate. Roundup can irritate skin upon contact, but that isn’t the real danger. Glyphosate is now known to be a carcinogen that can lead to lymphoma or leukemia.

Fencing

We often have to climb over fences as we move from one parcel to the next within our survey areas. On many farms and ranches, the preferred form of fencing is the barbed wire fence. These are not difficult to cross, but a mishap can leave you with an open wound or twisted ankle. The sharp barbs on a barbed wire fence can puncture your skin or even tear large gashes in your flesh. Recently, I was climbing a fence as I’ve done many times before, but this time, my foot got caught as I tried to swing my leg over the top of the fence. As a result, I twisted my ankle and body slammed myself onto the ground.

Some farmers also use electric fences. These can be uncomfortable to touch, but are not life-threatening, because farmers do not put enough amperage through the current to kill someone.

Hunting

Many farmers and ranchers hunt on their property (and many poachers hunt on the property of others). Hunters don’t always pay attention to where their bullets will land if they miss their quarry. If you are surveying during hunting season, the best advice is to wear an orange vest.

The Healthcare and Insurance Industries

It’s no secret that healthcare in the United States is a mess. The cost of healthcare is absurdly high, but employers are required by law to provide workmen’s compensation for injuries incurred at work. Many employers would find it difficult to pay these medical costs out of pocket, so they need insurance. To get insurance, they have to enact the policies that the insurance companies want.

The problem is that insurance agents have no idea what archaeologists actually do, and they tend to lump us in with whatever industry our clients belong to. That means, if you are conducting an archaeological survey for a gas pipeline, the insurance company (and your employer) will want you to follow the same safety rules you would expect for a pipeline welder, even though the work we do is completely different. We don’t face the same dangers that pipeline welders or construction workers face. The dangers we face are just as real, but they are very different. This is irrelevant to most insurance companies, which expect us to wear hardhats all the time, even in wide open fields where there is nothing that can fall on our heads. I once had a client that expected me to wear fire-retardant clothing in the field all day, which actually made my job more dangerous. Since I was not doing any "hot work" (cutting or welding metal), there really wasn't any need for FR clothing, but it did make it a lot more likely that I would overheat while trekking through the mountains all summer.

This is the comical reality of corporate “safety.” Corporate safety rules require us to take measures that are completely unnecessary for the work we do, while overlooking the very real threats we face. Such as angry bulls—no hardhat will protect you from belligerent rough stock. There have been times when I have had to deliberately disobey inane corporate safety rules because I knew that compliance would, at best, make my life much more difficult without making me more safe, or, at worst, actually make my situation more dangerous. I won't name the corporations that made these absurd demands, at least not in this blog post, but I will make it clear that I won't work for them again.

This is all the more reason to know how to handle yourself in the back country. All too often, the people in charge of your “safety” at the corporate level have no idea what you actually do for a living, so you need to be able to trust yourself and your own judgment when the mountains are getting steep and rugged, and lightning starts to flash across the sky. You are responsible for taking care of yourself and looking out for your colleagues.

Closing Thoughts

If you are injured, that doesn’t mean you’re a bad archaeologist, or that you don’t belong in the field. It happens to everyone who does difficult fieldwork. Even if you’re not physically able to perform the duties of a field technician, that doesn’t mean you can’t be an archaeologist. If you’re wheelchair-bound, for example, you can’t realistically participate in an archaeological survey, which comprises most of the paid work in CRM archaeology. But there are other jobs you can do. There are lab technicians who analyze and curate the artifacts found in the field, and GIS technicians who work with the geospatial data. There are even jobs in academia, but to be honest, these are scarce and highly competitive (deciding to become an archaeology professor is probably about as realistic as deciding to be a successful rockstar). If you have the brains to understand the subject matter well, I hope I can welcome you into the world of archaeology, regardless of whatever physical disability you might have. I think every profession could use a little more gray matter.

I don't want to undermine the role that physical prowess plays in CRM fieldwork, but I still wish field techs were valued more for their thinking skills than their digging prowess. This is partially because I was valued more for my physical strength than my cognitive skills for most of my career (at risk of sounding arrogant, I am arguably stronger then most people, and I have personally dug thousands of shovel tests in addition to performing other physically demanding tasks, which made me an asset to my employers during my long career as a field tech—but I would like to think that I had more to offer than just physical strength). We are supposed to be scientists, first and foremost. Crew chiefs are supposed to cultivate knowledge and understanding within their field techs. But the sad truth is that many field techs and crew chiefs barely know the basics, and when they do try to impart information to the younger generation, it is often completely wrong (The man who taught me how to shovel test at my first CRM job had a PhD, and still managed to spread more misinformation than legitimate knowledge).

Safety, fitness, and knowledge are all closely linked. You can't be safe in the field without a certain level of fitness, nor can you be safe in the field without a certain level of knowledge about the dangers you face, and how to react appropriately to those dangers. The job is not worth your life, and your safety should be a higher priority than doing "good archaeology." But at the same time, the whole point of archaeology is knowledge, so if you're not going to do it well—with a solid understanding of the subject matter and the science behind it—it sort of defeats the purpose of doing it in the first place.

Updated April 11, 2024

Field Safety Part II: Dangerous Flora and Fauna

While Part I of this post focuses on the hazards of climate and weather, including extreme heat and cold, the second part will focus on dangerous plants and animals encountered in the field.

Dangerous Wildlife

Dangerous wildlife is not as common in the United States as it once was, as humans have driven grizzlies and bison from their former habitats. But in some places, there are still wild animals that can kill you.

Venomous snakes are common across the United States. The most iconic may be the rattlesnake. There are many different species of rattlesnake, which can be found from coast to coast. If you do fieldwork long enough, you will probably startle a rattlesnake at some point and provoke it into shaking its tail. All species of rattlesnake are highly venomous and their bites are potentially fatal to humans. The eastern diamondback rattlesnake, found only in the Southeast, is the most venomous snake in North America. The Southeast is also home to the copperhead, water moccasin (cottonmouth), and coral snake, all of which are venomous. Of the three, the copperhead is the most innocuous, as its bite is seldom fatal to humans. A bite from a water moccasin or coral snake is much more likely to be fatal if left untreated.

In the event of a venomous snake bite, go immediately to the hospital. If possible, take a picture of the snake so the hospital staff can identify the species and know which type of antivenin to administer. If you have a long drive to the hospital, you may want to tie a tourniquet around the bitten limb to prevent the venom from circulating around your body. The lack of circulation may cause you to lose the limb, but most would prefer that to death. Trying to “suck out the poison” through the wound will achieve nothing.

Snakes are not the only venomous animals in the field. Certain spiders or scorpions can also bite or sting you with potentially harmful (but seldom fatal) venom. The most common venomous spiders in the United States are the black widow and brown recluse. Their bites may hurt like hell but they probably won’t kill you. The same can be said for the tarantula, which has very weak venom, but its bite still hurts because its fangs (chelicerae) are so big. The most venomous scorpion in North America is the bark scorpion, whose sting is incredibly painful, but seldom results in death for adult humans.

Venom is not the only means by which a wild animal can harm or kill you. Some fauna apply trauma more directly—sometimes in an attempt to prey on you, or sometimes in an attempt to defend themselves from you.

The American alligator is one such animal. They occasionally kill and eat people, though they are not as likely to do so as Hollywood would have us believe. They are not as aggressive as the crocodiles of Africa or Australia, and are generally timid around humans. They will probably not pursue you on dry land. But if you wade or swim in water where alligators live, they may see you as an easy meal, and consequently kill and eat you. What you should take away from this is that, if you are doing fieldwork in gator country, stay on land (or in a boat), and refrain from swimming in ponds, canals, or bayous.

The mountain lion is another animal that occasionally stalks and eats humans, though not very often. They are common in the Western states, and though the eastern subspecies of cougar is almost extinct, young western cougars have been found wandering far to the east (as far as Connecticut) in search of mates.

The bear is a creature that is often maligned by pop culture as being more dangerous than it is, but make no mistake—all bears still have the potential to be dangerous to humans. There are three species of bear in the United States. The polar bear can be found in northern Alaska. It actively hunts humans and is very aggressive. You will not survive a polar bear attack, but you will almost certainly not have to worry about that, unless you are one of the few archaeologists who does fieldwork in the Arctic. The grizzly bear (a subspecies of the brown bear) can be found throughout Alaska, and in some small pockets of the lower 48 states, such as Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Grizzlies occasionally prey on humans as well, but most field technicians in the United States do not work in places where grizzlies live. The only other subspecies of brown bear found in North America is the Kodiak bear, which lives on Kodiak Island in Alaska.

The vast majority of field techs in the United States don’t need to worry about polar bears, grizzlies, or Kodiak bears. For most of us, the only bear we will encounter in the field is the American black bear. The American black bear is much smaller and more timid than the grizzly, Kodiak, or polar bear, and it seldom attacks humans for any reason. When they do attack, their attacks are typically not motivated by predation. Black bears feed mostly on bugs and vegetation, and raid dumpsters when they get a chance. When humans approach them, they usually flee.

In short, the black bear is basically an over-sized raccoon, but keep in mind that even a raccoon would be dangerous if it weighed 300 lb. Black bears are unpredictable, and capable of immense violence when the mood strikes them, which could be at any time. I know a man who was attacked by a black bear that ate his leg while he was still alive (we once had a contest to see who had the highest tolerance for pain, and he won). So respect the black bear, and try not to surprise and provoke it, because it can still kill and eat you if it wants to do so.

In general, large carnivores are not as dangerous to humans as large herbivores are. Mountain lions and alligators don’t often prey on people, and black bears don’t really see humans as food; if they attack at all, it is usually because they think they are defending themselves against a threat. But large herbivores such as moose, bison, and elk can be highly aggressive and territorial, especially when in rut.

Bison were once common across the Great Plains, but today they live wild in only a few pockets of the United States, such as Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, or Custer State Park in South Dakota. Most field archaeologists will not encounter a wild bison. However, many ranchers now raise captive bison for beef, so it is still fully plausible for the average archaeologist to survey land where bison are present. I have personally surveyed a couple of bison ranches myself, and the bison that lived there were decidedly unfriendly. If a bison starts snorting at you and approaches you, get away from it. It doesn’t want you to pet it. It’s thinking about trampling you to death.

Moose and elk still live wild in the northern parts of the United States. Moose, in particular, are very dangerous during their mating season. It is very plausible for archaeologists to encounter an angry moose in the north woods of Maine, Michigan, or Minnesota.

In the South, invasive feral hogs are common, and their range is growing. They generally do not attack humans unless threatened, but when they do attack, they can gore and kill people with their tusks.

The animals I’ve discussed above all pose realistic threats to field archaeologists, but the average archaeologist won’t encounter them every day. Keep in mind that even something as small and ubiquitous as a wasp or bee can be fatal to some. A wasp sting may be a minor annoyance to most, but it can kill someone with an allergy. And allergies can onset at any time in life. I was stung by bees and wasps many times when I was young, with no ill effects, but shortly before I turned 32, a wasp sting put me into anaphylaxis and nearly killed me.

If you have a life-threatening allergy of any kind, you should carry a pair of EpiPens (or some other brand of epinephrin injection device) into the field with you. Unfortunately, EpiPens are not meant for excursions into temperatures exceeding 86˚ F, while fieldwork often requires that we spend eight hours a day in temperatures up to 100˚ or more.

In my opinion, the most dangerous animal that most archaeologists will encounter almost every day in the field is the humble tick. The tick’s bite is not life threatening or even painful on its own, but it can transmit any number of debilitating diseases. The most infamous of these is Lyme disease, which is conveyed by the bite of the deer tick. But ticks can infect you with far more than Lyme disease, and every species of hard tick in the United States is a disease vector. In case you think these diseases are not so bad, untreated Lyme disease can lead to arthritis and permanent neurological damage. Alpha gal allergy, which can be caused by the bite of the lone star tick, is a permanent allergy to red meat (meaning you can’t eat steak or cheeseburgers anymore).

Here is a list of some of the tick species in the United States and the diseases they carry:

Deer Tick or Black-Legged Tick (Ixodes scapularis)

• Lyme disease
• Anaplasmosis
• Babesiosis
• Powassan virus
• Ehrlichiosis
• B. miyamotoi disease

Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)

• Ehrlichiosis
• Heartland virus disease
• Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI)
• Bourbon virus disease
• Tularemia
• Alpha gal allergy

American Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis)

• Tularemia
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

• Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Groundhog Tick (Ixodes cookei)

• Powassan virus

Gulf Coast Tick (Amblyomma maculatum)

• Spotted fever

Rocky Mountain Wood Tick (Dermacentor andersoni)

• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Colorado tick fever virus
• Tularemia

 Western Black-Legged Tick (Ixodes pacificus)

• Lyme disease
• Anaplasmosis
• B. miyamotoi disease

Soft Tick (Ornithodoros)

• Tick-borne relapsing fever

Ticks are not born with the pathogens that cause these diseases. After hatching, the larvae can become infected with these pathogens when they feed on the blood of infected vertebrates. Then, after growing into nymphs, they can spread these viruses or bacteria when they bite new hosts (including people). Field archaeologists are always walking around in dense thickets or brush where tick nymphs and adults are waiting to latch onto passing animals, and we frequently find ticks crawling on us by the end of the day. Unfortunately, tick nymphs are so small that they can bite you, feed for a while, and be on their way before you even realize they’re attached to you. You can be infected with Lyme disease or some other pathology without knowing you’ve even been bitten by a tick.

If you are bit by a tick, remove it with tweezers, trying to keep the mouthparts intact (rather than letting the mouthparts break off and remain in your skin). Keep the tick’s body in case you need to identify it later, or in case you need to prove you were bitten while at work.

Dangerous Livestock

Domesticated livestock can be as dangerous as the wild herbivores I’ve discussed above, and they are much more common. Every field archaeologist will have to survey a field full of cattle at some point.

Cows are generally as docile and easy-going as any large mammal can be, but many ranchers and farmers will graze bulls alongside their cattle, at least for part of the year. Bulls are not very nice. A bull attack will probably be fatal for you, if you fail to find shelter before it gores or tramples you. And there is often no shelter on the open range.

Even female cows can be unfriendly during calving season (springtime), because they are protective of their newborn calves. If you get too close to a calf, a female cow may charge you. I’ve been charged by a cow during calving season. If that happens, don’t run. In general, don’t turn your back on any livestock that might charge you (especially goats). If a cow charges you while you have your back turned to it, turn to face it and stand your ground. If a bull charges you, standing your ground isn’t going to work.

Even horses can be dangerous to the uninitiated. Horses are not known to be as violent or aggressive as bulls, but a kick from a horse can still be life-threatening. Field archaeologists who are unfamiliar with livestock can absent-mindedly stand behind a horse and take a hoof to the head if something provokes the animal. Even an attempt to feed a horse can result in broken fingers if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Dangerous Plants

Most of the plants you will encounter won’t be able to kill you, unless they’re poisonous and you decide to eat them. I’m not going to discuss the various poisonous plants and mushrooms that you might encounter in the field, because that’s an entirely avoidable hazard. Just don’t eat strange plants you find in the wild.

However, even if you don’t eat them, many plants can still cause irritations or minor injuries.

One of the most infamous is poison ivy. Poison ivy, like its cousins, poison oak and poison sumac, produces an oil known as urushiol, to which many people are allergic. If you are allergic to poison ivy, the urushiol will cause severe itching after coming into contact with your skin. If you accidentally come into contact with poison ivy, you can spare yourself a future of skin irritation by washing away the oil before your skin reacts to it. Tecnu is specifically designed to wash the urushiol from your skin, but ordinary dish soap can be effective as well. Keep in mind that the itching is not caused directly by the plant; it’s caused by your immune system, as it reacts to something it perceives to be a threat. You don’t really build up an immunity to poison ivy because your immune system is the problem; that’s what an allergy is. Even if you’re not allergic now, you can become allergic after repeated exposure.

Figure 1. Poison ivy

Poison ivy is a part of life for field archaeologists, especially if you work east of the Mississippi. You can’t avoid it, even in winter, when all the plants around you seem dead. The leaves of the poison ivy plant may be senescent, but the roots and vines contain urushiol as well, and you can dig up the roots while shovel testing and rub the urushiol all over your hands while screening the soil. If all the leaves are dead, you may not even realize that there is poison ivy in the vicinity, unless you see the telltale red, hairy vines growing on nearby trees. This is yet another reason to wear gloves while working.

Poison ivy is ubiquitous in the eastern half of the United States, but it won’t cause any severe harm. For most, it’s a mild annoyance. Other plants pose a more severe threat.

Giant hogweed and wild parsnip are two invasive weeds currently spreading across the eastern half of the United States. Both produce a sap that will severely burn your skin if it comes into contact with your skin under direct sunlight. Both are extremely harmful, but hogweed is more so. A giant hogweed burn will be painful for several months, and your skin will remain sensitive to sunlight for years to come. This burn is not caused by an allergy. Everyone is vulnerable to giant hogweed and wild parsnip.

Not all plants rely on saps or oils to induce pain in humans. The many species of cactus plant in the United States have sharp spikes that can easily impale clothing and skin. Many other trees, shrubs, and vines—such as the hawthorn, locust, bois d’arc, mesquite, brier, and bramble—have sharp thorns that can also puncture skin (or your eyes, if you are particularly unlucky). As of the time of this writing, I have had the tip of a hawthorn tree’s thorn imbedded in my right leg for over a year.

Figure 2. Prickly pear cactus in west Texas

All the plants I’ve described above can be painful or irritating, but they seldom induce fatalities in human beings. However, dead trees and branches can fall on people and kill them. A dead tree that has been weakened by rot or fire, or perhaps made unstable by the erosion of the soil beneath it, can be at high risk of falling over. If you are beneath a large tree when it falls, it will kill you. Even healthy trees will have dead branches hanging precariously in their canopies, ready to fall on an unsuspecting head at any moment. These dead branches are known to foresters as “widow-makers.” A walk through any forest may reveal dead trees or branches in unstable positions, and field archaeologists should be wary of them at all times.

Figure 3. Dead tree leaning into the branches of a live sycamore. As this dead tree continues to decompose, it will become more unstable, until it falls to the ground.

I wish I had advice on how to treat the victim of a falling tree, but the truth is that if a large tree falls on you, it will probably be fatal. As I’ve been taught by wildland firefighters, the only safe tree is “no tree.”

Updated on April 9, 2023

Field Safety Part I: Strenuous Work in Harsh Conditions

When I wrote the first iteration of this blog several years ago, I included a post about field safety, detailing the various hazards and perils faced by many archaeologists during the course of their everyday duties. That post was a lot more popular than all my others, but it had a fatal flaw—while I had described the various safety incidents that are likely to occur in the field, I failed to explain what to do after those incidents inevitably occur. And no matter how cautious you are, health and safety incidents are going to happen. So I decided to rectify that mistake with a newer, better post about the dangers of cultural resources management (CRM) archaeology.

After a decade of experience in the field, I’ve found that the one aspect of professional archaeology for which new field technicians are the least equipped is the matter of field safety and physical fitness. Physical fitness is inextricably linked to field safety, because CRM archaeology is physically demanding, and technicians cannot attend to their duties without a certain level of fitness. For many anthropology students, who might imagine fieldwork to entail gingerly brushing dirt crumbs away from fragile potsherds and bones, the level of physical fitness required by professional archaeology may be surprising. To be fair, that kind of delicate fieldwork does happen (and is rewarding), both in academic archaeology and CRM archaeology. But the fieldwork usually seen in CRM archaeology is far more strenuous.

Many anthropology students and new field technicians fail to appreciate the strenuous and dangerous nature of professional archaeology. And so do their parents, many of whom seem to think they are paying tuition so their children can “play in the sand” all day.

Academia does little to prepare students for the physical rigors of professional fieldwork. In fact, I suspect that many archaeology professors are unaware of the physical rigors of professional archaeology outside academia, given that they spend most of their time doing academic work, and when they do engage in fieldwork, it often tends to be of the “brushing dirt away from delicate potsherds” variety. Even professors with CRM experience tend to focus on the cognitive aspects of archaeology—because, well, that is the entire point of archaeology. Whether you work in academia or CRM, the whole purpose of your profession is to use your brain to gather new information about the people of the past. I’m not trying to undermine the cognitive aspects of archaeology. I think field techs should be more engaged with the cognitive aspects of their profession, which is why I decided to start writing this blog in the first place. But you can’t perform the intellectual duties of your position if your physical duties injure or kill you, and many students and field techs don’t understand how much of a concern this is.

So let me explain what professional archaeology in the United States actually entails. Professional archaeologists in the United States spend most of their time surveying tracts of land for previously unrecorded archaeological sites. Some of these surveys can extend for hundreds of miles, across all manner of rugged terrain and treacherous vegetation, from steep mountains to sweltering swamps, and from dense woodlands to open prairies. Archaeologists must walk across their survey areas—on foot—while carrying all the food, water, and equipment they need for the day.

Figure 1. Equipment you should be able to carry by yourself in remote, rugged terrain, including a shovel, screen, tarp, and pack full of food, water, and other supplies

Many surveys require some form of subsurface testing, usually in the form of shovel testing, which means that the archaeologists periodically stop to dig holes by hand and sift the excavated soil through hardware cloth screens. They have to carry their shovels and screens with them as they trek across their survey areas.

If you want to become a professional archaeologist in the United States, this is what you can expect as part of your routine duties: you will have to walk for miles, over various kinds of terrain—including up and down steep mountains—while carrying all your food, water, and shovel testing equipment (shovel and screen) on your person. You won’t have access to shelter. You may have to walk miles away from your work truck, and if you are injured or have some kind of health emergency, you will have to walk back to that truck before driving to the nearest hospital. You will be exposed to whatever hardships nature has to offer on that day, whether that be extreme heat, extreme cold, rugged terrain, dangerous weather, dangerous animals, dangerous plants, and other miscellaneous hazards.

Throughout all of this, you still have to be a scientist, so you must maintain the mental wherewithal necessary to conduct scientific research. Physical fitness should not be the true measure of an archaeologist. But if you can’t handle the physical hazards of the job, the job can kill you.

Now, it’s time to examine these hazards in greater detail, and find out what to do when you encounter them.

Strenuous Labor with Hand Tools

Sometimes I forget that this is an issue for a lot of students and newer field techs. I spent my college years working as a machinist and welder in a fabrication shop, and I had to use a variety of hand tools and power tools well before adulthood. But if you’re not experienced with tools, or physical labor in general, you should understand that you will have to know how to use a shovel—safely—to do your job. These shovels are often sharpened so they can penetrate roots and sod more easily, but this also makes it more likely for you to cut yourself. Even if you use your tools correctly, you will probably get blisters at some point. Gloves help prevent blisters, but when you do get blisters on your hands, there’s not much to do but apply an antiseptic, bandage them, and wait for them to heal.

Rugged Terrain

Archaeological surveys cover all kinds of terrain. You will have to walk up mountainsides and trek across open deserts and agricultural fields. If you trip and break a bone, you will have to find a way to walk back to your truck, or at least, to the nearest spot that is accessible by vehicle (we often have to hike into places that are not accessible by vehicle).

Many companies and agencies recommend (or require) boots with ankle support to prevent injuries on uneven terrain. These boots can help prevent you from rolling your ankles, but keep in mind that they make your ankles weaker, because you don’t have to use your own strength to maintain stability. I’ve taken to wearing hiking shoes with no ankle support and found that this has made me less likely to injure my ankles in the long run (of course, this is against the rules in many places, but I’ll talk more about that later).

If the terrain is rugged enough, you’re at risk of doing much worse than simply rolling your ankles. You could fall off a cliff or roll down a steep mountainside if you’re not careful. Even on flat terrain, you can trip over stumps, logs, or fallen branches.

Figure 2. Rugged terrain where I've done fieldwork in northeastern Wyoming

Extreme Heat, Dehydration, and Sun Exposure

To office workers, summer heat can be little more than an inconvenience encountered while walking to and from their cars. But to an archaeological field technician, outdoor heat can be life threatening.

As of the time of this writing, a young archaeologist has recently died while participating in fieldwork in Louisiana. Her death was heat related. The dangers of heat are not hypothetical—heat has killed people, and will continue to do so. However, I hope that a greater awareness of the dangers of heat in CRM archaeology—and knowing how to treat heat exhaustion and heat stroke—might prevent some future tragedies.

Extreme heat is not limited to Louisiana or other parts of the Deep South. When I lived in Belle Fourche, South Dakota—which is a lot closer to Canada than it is to Louisiana—summer temperatures often exceeded 100˚ F. The best way to prepare yourself for the heat is to acclimate yourself. It doesn’t matter where you live—if you spend all your time in air conditioning, you simply won’t be prepared to spend eight hours a day in extreme heat with no shelter.

Once you’re in the heat, you need to remain hydrated. You will sweat a lot, and you will need to replace the water you’re losing. Keep in mind that you will probably need to carry all your water for the day on your back, because you won’t be near your work truck. If you run out of water in the field, miles from your truck or the nearest water source, you could die. So this may be the most important lesson to take from this post—always carry enough water. You could die without it.

Many older field techs will say that the most important rule of the field is never to get separated from your lunch, but I would argue that it’s more important to make sure you always have water. You can last about a week without food, but in some environments, you will die in a few hours without water. You may have to work in those environments. I always carry at least four liters of water, and sometimes more, and I’ve found that on long, hot days, I end up dehydrated even after drinking four liters or more.

Keep in mind that, as you sweat, you lose more than water. You lose electrolytes (specifically sodium and potassium), and you need to replenish them. Electrolyte drinks can help, but it’s also useful to eat salty snacks in the field.

Extreme heat in humid environments poses different threats than extreme heat in dry environments. To understand why, you need to understand that your body’s cooling mechanism relies on the evaporation of sweat from the surface of your skin. But in humid environments such as the Southeastern United States, your sweat may not evaporate because there is already so much moisture in the air. No evaporation means no cooling mechanism. No cooling mechanism means potential overheating.

Figure 3. Typical humid environment in the Southeastern United States

In my experience, the best way to cool down your core body temperature in humid environments is to drink cold water. When I was a child, I was taught that drinking cold water on hot days will make you sick, but as an adult, I frequently do so with no ill effects, as does everyone else I know. You won’t have access to a refrigerator in the field, but you can refrigerate your water before you go into the field (or freeze it, if your hotel room has a freezer), and you can keep water in a cooler in your truck so you can drink it at the end of the day.

In dry environments, such as deserts, your sweat will evaporate very quickly, so your body’s cooling mechanism should work (in theory). The downside is that dry weather dehydrates you more quickly, so you may need to carry a lot of water, and you might die if you run out. Deserts tend to have fewer trees than humid environments, resulting in less natural shade. In fact, deserts and prairies typically offer no shade at all. This means you will have full exposure to the sun all day.

Figure 4. Typical desert environment in the Southwestern United States

Full exposure to the sun makes it more difficult to stay cool, because it’s usually cooler in the shade. It also introduces you to the threat of a painful sunburn—and eventually, skin cancer. To avoid sunburns (and skin cancer), it’s advisable to cover as much skin as possible, by wearing long sleeves, a wide-brimmed hat (I find cowboy hats useful), and possibly a bandana on the back of your neck. One of the benefits of long, loose-fitting sleeves is that they can keep you cool when they become drenched with sweat (long sleeves also protect against thorns and other hostile plants, but that’s another topic).

It’s also advisable to use sunblock or sunscreen, which are not the same thing. A sunblock sits on the surface of your skin and physically blocks solar radiation. A sunscreen is absorbed into your skin and undergoes a chemical reaction with the solar rays that penetrate your skin. Sunblocks protect against Ultraviolet B (UVB) rays and sunscreens protect against Ultraviolet A (UVA) rays. Both UVA and UVB rays contribute to sunburn and cancer, but UVB rays are more powerful, and are thus the main cause of sunburn and melanoma. If you’re looking to prevent sunburn or skin cancer, a sunblock designed as a barrier against UVB radiation might be the better option. Whether you’re choosing sunscreen or sunblock, you should pick SPF 30 or higher, but there’s probably no need to go as high as SPF 100. SPF 50 blocks 98% of the sun’s rays, so SPF 100 is only slightly more effective.

Extreme heat, dehydration, and sun exposure are closely linked with one another, and as such, many of the same protections can be applied against them: drink plenty of water (with electrolytes), stay in the shade when you can, and cover your skin. But even after taking these precautions, you and your co-workers may find yourselves suffering from dehydration, sunburn, or a heat-related illness. This is how you treat those conditions when they occur:

Sunburn

Sunburn is fairly evident to most people once they have it, but sunburn looks different on different skin tones. People with pale skin will turn red after being burnt. People with dark skin won’t see their skin turn red, but they will feel the discomfort and sensitivity associated with damaged skin. Once you feel the discomfort, your skin has been burnt, and peeling is likely to follow. If you have sunburn, take cold baths and apply aloe products to the skin.

Heat Exhaustion

Symptoms:

• Headache
• Dizziness and confusion
• Loss of appetite and feeling sick
• Excessive sweating and pale, clammy skin
• Cramps in the arms, legs, and stomach
• Fast breathing or pulse
• High temperature of 100˚ F or more
• Being very thirsty

Treatment:

• Rest in a cool place (you won’t find any air conditioning in the field, except in your truck, but you might find shade under some trees)
• Drink cool fluids (no soda or alcohol)
• Try cooling measures (soak towels in cold water and apply to skin, or sit directly in a cold stream)
• Loosen clothing

Heat Stroke

Symptoms:

• Confusion, altered mental state, slurred speech
• Loss of consciousness
• Hot, dry skin or profuse sweating
• Seizures
• Very high body temperature
• Death

Treatment:

• Call 911 immediately (but be aware that it takes time for emergency responders to reach remote areas)
• Apply ice packs to patient’s armpits, groin, neck, and back (you may not have ice packs in the field, but you should have some ice in a cooler)
• Immerse patient in cold water
• Be aware that unconscious patients cannot safely be given water to drink

Extreme Cold

Fieldwork can occur in extremely cold weather as well. I’ve assisted with a magnetometer survey in a windy field in eastern Iowa in the January of 2013, when the wind chill temperature was -20˚ F (not an exaggeration), and I’ve dug countless shovel tests in cold, wet snow.

When it’s cold, the best advice is to bundle up. Wear layers, so you can remove some articles of clothing as you get warmer. Wear a coat, hat, gloves, and waterproof boots. Keep extra socks and gloves with you in case a pair gets wet from the snow.

One of the hazards of fieldwork in cold weather is often overlooked—we often have to remove our gloves to write on our field paperwork or use our GPS devices. Removing your gloves exposes your hands to the cold and increases your risk of frostbite.

Exposure to extreme cold can result in frostbite or hypothermia (or both). The symptoms and treatments for these conditions are detailed below:

Frostbite

Symptoms:

• Cold skin and prickling feeling
• Numbness
• Changing skin color
• Hard or waxy-looking skin
• Clumsiness due to joint and muscle stiffness
• Blistering after re-warming

Treatment:

• Soak skin in warm (not hot) water (105-110˚ F) for 20 to 30 minutes
• Don’t apply direct heat (such as a stove)
• If frostbite is severe enough, the patient will need professional medical help

Hypothermia

Symptoms:

• Shivering
• Exhaustion or feeling very tired
• Confusion
• Fumbling hands
• Memory loss
• Slurred speech
• Drowsiness

Treatment:

• Call 911—unlike frostbite, which only requires professional medical attention when moderate to severe, hypothermia is always a medical emergency
• Be gentle; do not massage or rub the patient or cause sudden, jerky movements
• Move the patient out of the cold
• Remove wet clothing
• Cover the patient with blankets, but leave the face exposed
• Insulate the patient's body from the cold ground
• Monitor breathing
• Provide warm beverages (no alcohol or caffeine)
• Apply warm, dry compresses to the neck, chest wall or groin (never to the arms or legs, because this will force cold blood back to the core and cause the core body temperature to drop)
• Don’t apply direct heat

Dangerous Weather

Weather is unpredictable, and if you work outdoors eight hours a day or more, you will get caught in bad weather. Sometimes bad weather is inconvenient, but it can be dangerous. You could be caught in a thunderstorm, hailstorm, blizzard, or tornado.

In the event of a thunderstorm, the greatest threat is lightning. If you see lightning, find shelter. Go to your truck if you can. At the very least, don’t stand in a wide open field or on top of an exposed mountaintop. The heavy rain that accompanies many storms can be dangerous if it causes a flash flood. If the rain is coming hard and fast, don’t stand in a stream channel at the bottom of an arroyo or canyon. Seek high ground.

For other advice about saying safe in the field, please see the following two posts.

Updated on April 9, 2023

Compass Reading

Figure 1. Sighting compass

 

Multiple people have recommended that I write a post about using a compass. I was reluctant to do so at first, for a couple reasons. The main reason is that reading written instructions in a blog is not the best way to learn how to use a compass. The best way to learn how to use a compass is to hold a compass in your hand and figure it out on your own, not read about it online. The other reason is that one of the main purposes of this blog has always been to provide field techs with useful information they are not likely to get from their crew chiefs or university professors (I started this blog with a post about geomorphology because all my former crew chiefs have had a severe lack of understanding about the topic, and when they did try to teach younger field techs about it, all they did was spread misinformation). But most crew chiefs can teach you how to use a compass perfectly well. And it would probably be more effective to have your crew chief teach you in the field, rather than try to learn from this blog post.

But the archaeologists who have recommended that I write a post about compasses are more seasoned than I am, and I still learn new things from them. So I will defer to their judgment and honor their request.

For the uninitiated, let me back up and explain why archaeologists use compasses. Archaeologists survey parcels of land for archaeological sites by following arbitrary transect lines across their survey areas. We use two main survey methods: shovel testing and pedestrian survey. During a pedestrian survey, we walk across the parcel and look for artifacts on the surface. Shovel testing entails that we search for subsurface artifacts by digging small holes at regular intervals and sifting the excavated soil through hardware cloth.

Both methods may require the use of transect lines, especially on relatively flat terrain. During a pedestrian survey, each field technician will follow a transect line across the parcel, and these transect lines will typically be parallel to one another, spaced apart at regular intervals. This means that the technicians are spaced apart from each other, walking in the same direction along imaginary lines. The interval between each transect line varies by state—in my home state of Illinois, pedestrian survey transects must be spaced no more than five meters (16 feet) apart, but in many Western states, such as Nevada and Wyoming, these transects are spaced about 30 meters (100 feet) apart.

In areas that require subsurface testing, such as a forest or pasture, the technicians will place their shovel tests at regular intervals along imaginary transect lines. In Illinois, and many other states, these transects are spaced about 15 meters (50 feet) apart. Western states such as Wyoming and Nevada don’t really have standards for shovel testing transects because archaeologists in those states don’t use shovel testing to find new sites (they only shovel test after the sites have been found).

You don’t always have to use arbitrary transect lines to conduct a survey. On rugged terrain, many archaeologists prefer to conduct landform-based surveys, in which they follow natural features of the landscape. In mountainous areas, I’ve found that it’s much more effective to walk along the ridgetops and look for artifacts there, rather than single-mindedly follow imaginary lines up and down steep slopes and over treacherous cliffs and gullies.

In the field of statistics, a transect-based survey and a landform-based survey correspond to different sampling methods. Setting up arbitrary transect lines across your survey area is an example of systematic sampling. A landform-based survey is an example of judgment sampling.

I prefer judgment sampling, when it’s applicable, and I think it’s important to know how ancient people used the landscape in different ways. I like to inspect arroyos for bison traps, and I often walk along rock faces in search of rockshelters or petroglyph panels. Even when I’m supposed to be part of a transect-based survey, I frequently wander off my transect to walk up an arroyo or follow a rock face, much to the consternation of my crew mates and supervisors. When I’m supervising other archaeologists, I don’t care much about the precision of transect lines myself.

But some landscapes are so flat that a landform-based survey is basically impossible, and you have to follow transects. In these cases, one of the main challenges for any field tech is staying on transect. That’s not always an easy task, given that transects are completely imaginary lines.

There are two ways to follow an arbitrary transect line in the field. The easiest and most effective is to use a GPS receiver to keep your bearings. A Garmin GPS unit can tell you your current UTM coordinates, which makes it easy to follow a transect line, as long as that line is following a cardinal direction. Tablets and smart phones have internal GPS receivers as well, and they can download a variety of navigational apps, such as Avenza. Avenza is the bane of my existence, but it is very useful because it allows you to draw transect lines at weird bearings that don’t follow cardinal directions.

The more traditional method of following a transect line is to use a compass to follow a bearing. This is essential for all archaeologists (and other outdoorspeople) to know how to do. You may not have access to a GPS, or your GPS receiver may end up lost or broken.

Some archaeologists will berate younger field technicians for making errors while reading compasses. I don’t think this is always fair. Some environments are not conducive to following a compass bearing, and it’s not reasonable to expect one person to stay close to an imaginary line over the course of a mile or more. I’ve used a compass to follow transect lines through dense pocosin forest along the North Carolina coastal plain, where I could not see past 20 feet through the foliage in any direction. It was not possible to sight my compass along something in the distance; I was wobbling randomly through the woods. On at least one of my transects, I’m pretty sure I placed my last shovel test far, far away from the transect’s projected endpoint—possibly on the wrong property. I’ve also participated in a survey in the mountains of northeastern Wyoming, where my transect lines were interrupted by steep slopes and sheer cliffs. Fortunately, I was issued a Garmin GPS receiver, which allowed me to end each transect line at the correct spot.

I should also point out that many older archaeologists are not as skilled in orienteering as they would have the younger generations believe. In the old days, before the availability of accurate GPS equipment, archaeologists used compasses and topographic maps to plot sites on maps by hand. They usually plotted these sites in the wrong spot. I’m not saying I could have done a better job; I’m saying that orienteering with nothing but a topo map and compass is very difficult.

To give you an idea of how difficult orienteering is, I want to draw your attention to the boundary between Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota, not far from where I live. If you zoom in close, you can see that the western boundary of South Dakota is crooked, where Montana meets Wyoming. It is often said that this is due to a surveying error in the 1800s. One team of surveyors was working their way south, and another was moving north, and they were supposed to meet in the middle. But they missed each other by about a mile, so they drew a crooked boundary where they were supposed to meet. I’ve never been able to find a reliable source to prove this story is true, but I think it probably is. I don’t think the surveyors would have made the boundary like that on purpose. And keep in mind that these surveyors were working in teams, and they were probably equipped not only with compasses, but also theodolites and survey chains. Now imagine what it’s like for a field technician, walking alone on a transect line over rugged terrain and through dense vegetation, with only a compass as a guide. That transect line is not going to be perfect.

Figure 2. Survey error along South Dakota's western border

With all that being said, you still need to know how to use a compass, for professional reasons as well as for safety. So let’s get started.

Reading a Compass

Every compass that we use in the field is what is called a sighting compass. To understand how a sighting compass works, imagine you are standing in the middle of a circle, and the circle is divided into 360 degrees. If you are facing magnetic north, your bearing is 360 degrees. If you turn around and face south, your bearing is 180 degrees. East is 90 degrees and west is 270 degrees. Choosing any number out of 360 will allow you to follow any possible bearing, not just the four cardinal directions. For example, a bearing of 210 degrees will send you towards the southwest.

Some models of compass have an azimuth ring that must be manually adjusted and aligned with your magnetic needle.

Look at the compass below. Let’s say you’ve been instructed to follow a bearing of 280 degrees. But right now your compass looks like this:

 

Figure 3. Sighting compass with azimuth ring oriented towards 360 degrees

So the first thing you do is manually rotate the azimuth ring, so that the mark for 280 degrees is aligned with the notch at the top of the mirror:

 

Figure 4. Sighting compass with azimuth ring oriented towards 280 degrees

But the azimuth ring is not aligned with the magnetic needle, which is facing magnetic north. So you must hold the compass out in front of you at arm's length and turn your body until the azimuth ring is aligned with the needle, as such.

 

Figure 5. Sighting compass with azimuth ring oriented towards 280 degrees and aligned with magnetic needle. It can now be used to follow a bearing of 280 degrees in the field.

Now, you can look past the compass and see that the notch at the top of the mirror is aligned with an object in the distance. That object is at a bearing of 280 degrees from you. You can walk towards it so that you stay on your transect line. You are “sighting” off that object. It helps to bend the mirror towards you at a 45 degree angle, so that you can see the azimuth ring and magnetic needle reflected in the mirror while you try to sight off an object in the distance.

Not all environments are suitable for sighting with your compass. Some are vast and featureless, like the rolling plains of western North Dakota. Some are so densely vegetated that you can’t see 20 feet in front of your face. In these environments, you may need to “back-sight”—that is, you may need to orient yourself from something behind you.

That’s why it is often useful to have someone else shovel testing on your transect with you. If you are shovel testing across a featureless landscape, you can back-sight off the person behind you on your transect.

That’s one model of compass. Here’s a cheaper compass that’s easier to use. The degree markings are attached to the magnetic needle, so they all spin together; you don’t need to manually align them. Just hold the compass in front of you and sight along whatever bearing you need to follow. Unfortunately, the design of this compass prohibits you from adjusting for declination.

Figure 6. Sighting compass with azimuth ring attached to magnetic needle

This model of compass includes a magnifying glass rather than a mirror. To read the bearing on the azimuth ring while you have the compass stretched out in front of you, you look through the magnifying glass, as shown below:

Figure 7. Sighting compass with magnifying glass adjusted for reading degree marks.

Compass Declination

Every compass points towards the magnetic north pole, but most maps are oriented towards the “true” north pole. “True north” is a term that refers to the place where the earth spins on its axis. This is not in the same location as “magnetic north,” where the earth’s magnetic field is pointing downwards. The magnetic north pole is constantly moving. When I was born, it was located somewhere in northern Canada, but it has been consistently moving towards Siberia over the past three decades.

The angular disparity between true north and magnetic north is known as “compass declination.” At most locations on the earth’s surface, true north and magnetic north will be located at different angles from where you are standing.

For example, I’m currently writing this in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. The compass declination here is about eight degrees east (technically, about 7.5 degrees east, but I’ve rounded up to eight). That means magnetic north is oriented about eight degrees east of true north, relative to the spot where I’m standing. My compass needle faces magnetic north, so if I want to face true north (towards the earth’s axis), I need to face a bearing that corresponds with 352 degrees on my compass (360 minus 8).

It can be difficult to add or subtract your compass declination all the time, so it’s nice to have a compass that allows you to manually adjust for declination. Take a look at the first compass I showed you. Right now, the red arrow outline is facing directly at the 360 degree mark. This is adjusted for a declination of 0 degrees, in which true north and magnetic north are in line with one another. 

Figure 8. Sighting compass that has not been adjusted for declination

You can use a key to turn this red outline towards eight degrees. Now, when you align this red outline with your magnetic needle, the 360 degree mark on your azimuth ring is actually facing true north.

Figure 9. Sighting compass that has been adjusted for a declination of eight degrees east

How do you know what the compass declination for your area is? You can find your location on an isogonic chart, which is specifically designed for showing compass declinations. You can also find that information online, on a website run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Using the Right Map

Not all maps are intended to be used for navigation. Different maps use different projections. You cannot perfectly represent the earth’s round surface on a flat sheet of paper, so every two-dimensional map must introduce some distortion. There are different kinds of map projections that distort the earth in different ways, to allow for some technical usages, but not others.

A conformal projection can be used for navigation, because it preserves angular integrity at the expense of areal integrity. It shows locations as being at the correct angle from each other, so you can use a compass bearing to navigate between two points on the map. The angle between any two points should correspond with a compass bearing you can follow in real life, assuming you always adjust for declination. However, these maps do not show units of land as being the correct area. Every variation of Mercator projection is a conformal projection, including the UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) projections. This includes all the quadrangle maps made by the U.S. Geological Survey. Historically, archaeologists have used these quadrangle maps for their surveys. This is largely because these maps were designed to be used with compasses for navigation.

Figure 10. Conformal projection showing contiguous 48 states. This projection can be used with a compass

An equal area projection shows units as being the correct area, but the angles between points are distorted. If you try to use an equal area map to navigate, you might get lost, especially if you are navigating between points that are far away from each other. Most archaeological surveys take place at a fairly small scale, so you shouldn’t have to worry about this too much.

Figure 11. Equal area projection showing the contiguous 48 states. This projection cannot be used with a compass.

An azimuthal equidistant projection is possibly the least effective projection you can pair with a compass; it won’t work at all. An azimuthal equidistant map shows all points on a map as being the correct distance from a single spot in the center of a map. It cannot show these points as being at the correct bearing from one another, or even from the map’s center. Most people don’t see or use these maps all that often. They are mainly used by radio operators or fire watchtowers.

Figure 12. Azimuthal equidistant projection centered on north pole. All points on map are correct distance from north pole. This projection cannot be used with a compass.

Closing Thoughts

Try to remember that the goal of any archaeological survey is to observe and record real things in the field, not to follow imaginary lines for their own sake. Don’t get too caught up in what is arbitrary, and focus on what is real. There’s no reason to follow a transect line perfectly if you’re missing artifacts or features in the process. And there’s no harm in deviating from your transect line to find something you otherwise would have missed.

Updated on April 9, 2023