Utah’s former state archaeologist says that the state’s rich cultural heritage has lost its voice with the firing this week of three archaeologists as a cost-cutting move.
David Madsen, now a private researcher based in Texas, articulated a view shared by many of those familiar with Utah’s archaeological resources.
“You have to have somebody,” he said, “who can speak up on behalf of all of us.”
For scores of Utahns and archaeology enthusiasts around the world, eliminating the positions will have significant impact.
Margene Hackney, twice the past president of the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society, was “horrified” to learn of the layoffs of State Archaeologist Kevin Jones, his deputy, Ronald Rood, and physical anthropologist Derinna Koop. She doubts the feasibility of the state’s plan to hire one person to do the jobs of three. Rood and Jones, she said, built a small army of volunteer archaeology enthusiasts that now helps “save the past for future generations.”
Rood helped Hackney, a schoolteacher, with “Mammoth Mania,” a youth project associated with the excavation of a 15,000-year-old skeleton in Huntington Canyon.
“We do not know where we are going to fit in, if at all,” Hackney said of the 250-member society. “We can’t do anything without an archaeologist.”
State officials said the layoffs were strictly driven by the budget. They denied any connection between the eliminated positions and the antiquities team’s role in many delicate issues — from the excavation of the Mountain Meadows Massacre site in southern Utah to the relocation of a planned commuter-rail stop and mixed development on an ancient village site in Draper.
Author: Judy Fahys | Source: The Salt Lake Tribune [June 22, 2011]
David Madsen, now a private researcher based in Texas, articulated a view shared by many of those familiar with Utah’s archaeological resources.
“You have to have somebody,” he said, “who can speak up on behalf of all of us.”
For scores of Utahns and archaeology enthusiasts around the world, eliminating the positions will have significant impact.
Margene Hackney, twice the past president of the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society, was “horrified” to learn of the layoffs of State Archaeologist Kevin Jones, his deputy, Ronald Rood, and physical anthropologist Derinna Koop. She doubts the feasibility of the state’s plan to hire one person to do the jobs of three. Rood and Jones, she said, built a small army of volunteer archaeology enthusiasts that now helps “save the past for future generations.”
Rood helped Hackney, a schoolteacher, with “Mammoth Mania,” a youth project associated with the excavation of a 15,000-year-old skeleton in Huntington Canyon.
“We do not know where we are going to fit in, if at all,” Hackney said of the 250-member society. “We can’t do anything without an archaeologist.”
State officials said the layoffs were strictly driven by the budget. They denied any connection between the eliminated positions and the antiquities team’s role in many delicate issues — from the excavation of the Mountain Meadows Massacre site in southern Utah to the relocation of a planned commuter-rail stop and mixed development on an ancient village site in Draper.
Author: Judy Fahys | Source: The Salt Lake Tribune [June 22, 2011]