Shovel Bum: Comix of Archaeological Field Life
Shovel Bumtakes a humorous look at the trials and tribulations of American field archaeologists. Some of the episodes will have you in stitches; others will have you in tears. It's all great fun (in retrospect) for old hands and an education for aspiring archaeologists. (Michel, MarkAmerican Archaeology)I sat down to flip through your mags again--jumping up when I realized that I had forgotten all about the time--and breakfast was hopelessly burned!Shovel Bumis that good! (John Porcellino)Trent (T-Bone) de Boer's comic book for AltaMira Press, calledShovel Bum, is a terrific introduction to the grimy world of the archaeological field technician...A shovel bum's life is an exciting, dull, difficult, hot, cold, dangerous, precarious, thrilling existence...Begun in 1977 as a way to explain how the job works, Shovel Bum the [fanzine] developed a small but very dedicated following of fans...AltaMira's book is a collection of the first few years of Shovel Bum, and it includes a wide range of comic drawings from various contributors...the book speaks for itself...Shovel Bummust be an invaluable source of amusement and advice for the working gal and guy. Wish I had it when I was in the field. (K. Kris HirstArchaeology.About.Com)In a day and age when some archaeologists are beginning to think they really are rocket scientists, while others take themselves so seriously that they have forgotten archaeology is supposed to be fun,Shovel Bumputs it all back in its appropriate context. (Herbert Maschner)De Boer makes the life of shovel bum both amusing and arresting to the uninitiated archaeologist.Shovel Bumrepresents a valuable expression of the worker's point of view. The book succesfully provides much needed insight in the nature of our industry and is accessible to readers of many different backgrounds. (Lithic Technology)Trent (T-Bone) de Boer's comic book for AltaMira Press, called Shovel Bum, is a terrific introduction to the grimy world of the archaeological field technician...A shovel bum's life is an exciting, dull, difficult, hot, cold, dangerous, precarious,thrilling existence...Begun in 1977 as a way to explain how the job works, Shovel Bum the [fanzine] developed a small but very dedicated following of fans...AltaMira's book is a collection of the first few years of Shovel Bum, and it includes a wide rangeof comic drawings from various contributors...the book speaks for itself...Shovel Bum must be an invaluable source of amusement and advice for the working gal and guy. Wish I had it when I was in the field... (K. Kris HirstArchaeology.About.Com)Providing 'human context' is one of the things that zines do best, andShovel Bumis no exception. Recommended. (Jeremy P. Bushnell)The book is an exemplar of its kind, useful to material cultural specialists and archaeology or material culture teachers-- not just for its information on Rockingham ware but also for its detailed explanation of methodology and its use of patterns in analysis...Claney does a great service by writing about the value of using artifacts and documents interactively to get full use of both sources.  This book is a terrific resource and a good example of data-driven research. (Industrial Archaeology)