Photographs

Summary

Photographs are one of the few remaining ways to examine the now inundated archaeological sites in the DAP. Photographic images add context to specific aspects of Anasazi life in the DAP area; in a sense, DAP photography "provides the investigator with ways to understand the spatial integration of households and communities" (Wilshusen et al. 1999:115). Only a fraction of all photographs taken during the project can be found in the published series of DAP reports. Individuals wishing to access the remaining collection should start here, treating the photography dataset as a digital catalog. Photographs were absolutely necessary in documenting the excavation process at several intervals; beginning with each context's natural, or pre-excavation state, to the removal of non-cultural overburden, and its final appearance following the removal of associated cultural deposits (see Kane and Robinson 1984). Stratigraphic profiles were also recorded in this fashion. Images of graffiti, and vandalism can also be found among the DAP photographic records; other photographs taken include publicity shots that depict archaeologists at work. The quality of photographs is not noted in the dataset and it should be kept in mind that, for the most part, archaeologists are not trained photographers; individuals can access each film roll's negatives at the Anasazi Heritage Center to determine quality prior to pulling and printing an image.

The coding protocol used in organizing the photos dataset is efficient, albeit difficult to describe; it consists of variables with a floating set of values that are only meaningful when considered in relation to other variables. The theme variable, for instance, indicates whether photographs were taken using the coding guidelines of a particular form that corresponds to a laboratory, survey, or excavation setting. Photographs taken with a bipod will also be indicated by this variable. Some photographs may have been taken in a context other than a laboratory, but are nonetheless considered laboratory photographs because they have been coded using a laboratory coding form. It is important to keep in mind that the meaning of six other variables in this dataset (PURSUT, FSSUNUM, MATSURT, CATSURN, SSFETYPE, and SSFENUM) depend on whether a photograph was coded with a laboratory form.

Similarly, the CCODE variable describes the general subject matter of a photograph and puts the values of the OTYPE variable in meaningful context. Thus, a single OTYPE value, which provides a more detailed description of a photograph's content, will mean different things, depending on the value of the CCODE variable. The ONUM variable in turn, depends on the values of both the CCODE and OTYPE variable.

Unfortunately, the dataset provided here does not follow this coding structure. Instead, dependent variables have not been translated from their original coded value. Users may, however, cross-reference the FSSUNUM and SSFENUM values in this dataset with field specimen numbers, study unit numbers, feature numbers, and special specimen numbers in other datasets since these variables do not code for other values.

Variables in the photographs dataset have been described by Wilshusen et al. (1999); for further clarification of the unique coding structure of this dataset consult the section entitled "Photographs" by Brian Yunker in Chapter 4. In most cases, his descriptions are suitable for use as metadata and have been repeated almost verbatim here. Selected resources from the collection of published and unpublished DAP reports may have been used for clarification in some cases and will be appropriately referenced.

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Bureau of Reclamation(s): 8-07-40-S0562

Source Collections

DAP collections are curated at the Anasazi Heritage Center, Dolores, CO.

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