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So, I picked a general topic for my master's thesis, which really just goes to show how "unfocused" my academic interests are; ever since I joined this graduate program, I had figured on doing a thesis about prehistoric stuff. Lithic technology, to be specific (rock tools). I'd always thought that stuff was cool, partly because I hadn't had much exposure to it and wondered how lithics experts were able to learn things from projectile points and broken rocks. I still think that's cool, and I'm finally taking a class on prehistoric artifact analysis, but for my thesis, I've chosen to work with an artifact collection from an historic town in the region that was founded in the first half of the 19th century and abandoned around 1940.
Why? Several reasons. One reason is that I spent much of my life believing that history was less interesting to study than prehistory because we already had a lot of information about it. Less mystery = less to study. But as any proper student of history knows, that's not true. There are always gaps in the documentary record, and just because a thing is written down does not mean it is accurate. It's real detective work, figuring out what was actually going on in the past, and I find that intriguing. Another reason is that I typically haven't enjoyed working with historic artifacts because they make me feel ignorant. There's so much more stuff left behind by people in historic times, particularly once you hit the industrial revolution, and my lack of knowledge about so much of it was frustrating and made me less inclined to want to work with it. But archaeology is replete with historic artifacts, and I do myself no favors by trying to hide from it. Grab the bull by the horns, as it were. Another big reason is because the artifact collection is already here, housed by the university, and in use by another grad student, so I will have no issues with gaining access to the stuff. The collection has never been properly cataloged, so between myself and the other student, there's a good chance that we can finally take care of that little problem (15 years after the excavation!). Basically, I'm working on it, in the words of George Mallory, "because it's there."
But picking a collection is only the first step. Now, I have to figure out what research questions I want to make my thesis about, and that's where I'm currently a bit stuck. I've always fancied myself a storyteller. I want to tell the story of this town, but first, I have to figure out what that story is, and how I can get at it from the artifacts. The trouble here is that I don't know anything about the town. Nobody really does. So on the one hand, it's a big, blank open book that I can write in. On the other hand, where the heck do I start?? I need to have a 500 word thesis statement ready to go by next week. Eeep.
Why? Several reasons. One reason is that I spent much of my life believing that history was less interesting to study than prehistory because we already had a lot of information about it. Less mystery = less to study. But as any proper student of history knows, that's not true. There are always gaps in the documentary record, and just because a thing is written down does not mean it is accurate. It's real detective work, figuring out what was actually going on in the past, and I find that intriguing. Another reason is that I typically haven't enjoyed working with historic artifacts because they make me feel ignorant. There's so much more stuff left behind by people in historic times, particularly once you hit the industrial revolution, and my lack of knowledge about so much of it was frustrating and made me less inclined to want to work with it. But archaeology is replete with historic artifacts, and I do myself no favors by trying to hide from it. Grab the bull by the horns, as it were. Another big reason is because the artifact collection is already here, housed by the university, and in use by another grad student, so I will have no issues with gaining access to the stuff. The collection has never been properly cataloged, so between myself and the other student, there's a good chance that we can finally take care of that little problem (15 years after the excavation!). Basically, I'm working on it, in the words of George Mallory, "because it's there."
But picking a collection is only the first step. Now, I have to figure out what research questions I want to make my thesis about, and that's where I'm currently a bit stuck. I've always fancied myself a storyteller. I want to tell the story of this town, but first, I have to figure out what that story is, and how I can get at it from the artifacts. The trouble here is that I don't know anything about the town. Nobody really does. So on the one hand, it's a big, blank open book that I can write in. On the other hand, where the heck do I start?? I need to have a 500 word thesis statement ready to go by next week. Eeep.
