This document summarizes Robert Chapple's blog post about photographing archaeologists' desks as they are to provide a glimpse into their workspaces and lives. Chapple was inspired by a photo of Albert Einstein's desk taken on the day of his death. He asked archaeologists and others to photograph their desks as-is in one snapshot without cleaning up. Over 30 people from various countries responded quickly with photos of their messy, cluttered, and organized desks, giving insights into their work and personalities. Chapple compiled the photos and background information on each contributor in his survey of archaeological desks.
A great business book especially for anyone in sales or that has to work with the public. In other words, a great book for everyone. From the folks over at GVLN, Gloucester, Virginia Links and News website. Visit us for more incredible content.
A great business book especially for anyone in sales or that has to work with the public. In other words, a great book for everyone. From the folks over at GVLN, Gloucester, Virginia Links and News website. Visit us for more incredible content.
Chapple, R. M. 2014 Review - Rewriting the (Pre)history of Ulster- A synthesi...Robert M Chapple
Chapple, R. M. 2014 Review - Rewriting the (Pre)history of Ulster- A synthesis of developer led excavation, monuments and earthworks 4300 to 1900 BC - Dr Rowan McLaughlin. Blogspot post
INTRODUCTION THE THINGSTHAT MATTERSherry TurkleI gr.docxnormanibarber20063
INTRODUCTION: THE THINGS
THAT MATTER
Sherry Turkle
I grew up hoping that objects would connect me to the
world. As a child, I spent many weekends at my grand-
parents' apartment in Brooklyn. Space there was lim-
ited, and all of the family keepsakes-including my aunt's
and my mother's books, trinkets, souvenirs, and photo-
graphs-were stored in a kitchen closet, ~t high, just
below the ceiling. I could reach this cache only by stand-
ing on the kitchen table that I moved in front of the
closet. This I had been given permission to do, and this
is what I did, from age six to age thirteen or fourteen,
over and over, weekend after weekend. I would climb
onto the table in the kitchen and take down every book,
every box. The rules were that I was allowed to look at
anything in the closet, but I was always to put it back.
The closet seemed to me of infinite dimensions, infinite
depth.
Each object I found in the closet-every keychain,
postcard, unpaired earring, high school textbook with
its marginalia, some of it my mother's, some of it my
aunt's-signaled a new understanding of who they were
and what they might be interested in; every photograph
of my mother on a date or at a dance became a clue to
my possible identity. My biological father had been an
absent figure since I was two. My mother had left him.
We never spoke about him. It was taboo to raise the sub-
ject. J did not feel permitted to even think about the
subject.
My aunt shared the small apartment with my
grandmother and grandfather, and sometimes one of
them would come into the kitchen to watch me at my in-
vestigations. At the time I didn't know what I was look-
ing for. I think they did. I was looking, without awareness,
for the one who was missing. I was looking for a trace of
my fAlher. But they had been there before me and got-
ten rid of any bits and pieces he might have left-an
address book, a business card, a random note. Once I
found a photograph of a man standing on a boardwalk
with his face cut out of the picture. I never asked whose
face it was; I knew. And! knew enough never to mention
the photograph, for fear that it too would disappear. It
was precious to me. The image had been attacked, but
it contained so many missing puzzle pieces. What his
hands looked like. That he wore lace-up shoes. That his
pants were (weed.
If being attentive to the details of people's lives
might be considered a vocation, mine was born in the
smell and feel of the memory closet and its objects.
That is where I found the musty books, photographs,
corsages, and gloves that made me feel connected. That
is where I determined that I would solve mysteries and
that f would use objects as my clues.
Years from then, in the late 1960s, I studied in
Paris, immersed in the intellectual world of French struc-
turalism. While f was away, my grandparents moved out
of their apartment, where the contents of the memory
closet had been so safely contained. Much of the closet's
contents were dispersed, sen.
Chapple, R. M. 2014 Review - Rewriting the (Pre)history of Ulster- A synthesi...Robert M Chapple
Chapple, R. M. 2014 Review - Rewriting the (Pre)history of Ulster- A synthesis of developer led excavation, monuments and earthworks 4300 to 1900 BC - Dr Rowan McLaughlin. Blogspot post
INTRODUCTION THE THINGSTHAT MATTERSherry TurkleI gr.docxnormanibarber20063
INTRODUCTION: THE THINGS
THAT MATTER
Sherry Turkle
I grew up hoping that objects would connect me to the
world. As a child, I spent many weekends at my grand-
parents' apartment in Brooklyn. Space there was lim-
ited, and all of the family keepsakes-including my aunt's
and my mother's books, trinkets, souvenirs, and photo-
graphs-were stored in a kitchen closet, ~t high, just
below the ceiling. I could reach this cache only by stand-
ing on the kitchen table that I moved in front of the
closet. This I had been given permission to do, and this
is what I did, from age six to age thirteen or fourteen,
over and over, weekend after weekend. I would climb
onto the table in the kitchen and take down every book,
every box. The rules were that I was allowed to look at
anything in the closet, but I was always to put it back.
The closet seemed to me of infinite dimensions, infinite
depth.
Each object I found in the closet-every keychain,
postcard, unpaired earring, high school textbook with
its marginalia, some of it my mother's, some of it my
aunt's-signaled a new understanding of who they were
and what they might be interested in; every photograph
of my mother on a date or at a dance became a clue to
my possible identity. My biological father had been an
absent figure since I was two. My mother had left him.
We never spoke about him. It was taboo to raise the sub-
ject. J did not feel permitted to even think about the
subject.
My aunt shared the small apartment with my
grandmother and grandfather, and sometimes one of
them would come into the kitchen to watch me at my in-
vestigations. At the time I didn't know what I was look-
ing for. I think they did. I was looking, without awareness,
for the one who was missing. I was looking for a trace of
my fAlher. But they had been there before me and got-
ten rid of any bits and pieces he might have left-an
address book, a business card, a random note. Once I
found a photograph of a man standing on a boardwalk
with his face cut out of the picture. I never asked whose
face it was; I knew. And! knew enough never to mention
the photograph, for fear that it too would disappear. It
was precious to me. The image had been attacked, but
it contained so many missing puzzle pieces. What his
hands looked like. That he wore lace-up shoes. That his
pants were (weed.
If being attentive to the details of people's lives
might be considered a vocation, mine was born in the
smell and feel of the memory closet and its objects.
That is where I found the musty books, photographs,
corsages, and gloves that made me feel connected. That
is where I determined that I would solve mysteries and
that f would use objects as my clues.
Years from then, in the late 1960s, I studied in
Paris, immersed in the intellectual world of French struc-
turalism. While f was away, my grandparents moved out
of their apartment, where the contents of the memory
closet had been so safely contained. Much of the closet's
contents were dispersed, sen.
Learn how to use the law of attraction for your success and wealth and development of the life you want.
Learn how to use this powerful method to your advantage and use to law of attraction today.
Gail Boyle FSA, Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives – Revealing ‘The Hidd...Museums Computer Group
Gail will share lessons learned from a recently completed Digital R&D Fund for the Arts collaborative research project which created and tested a mobile application for family and group visitors that made use of iBeacons. A key concern the Bristol project team hoped to address was that such applications often promote more interaction with the mobile device itself rather than direct engagement with each other, the museum or collections.
07050 Topic ArtNumber of Pages 3 (Double Spaced)Number o.docxsmithhedwards48727
07050 Topic: Art
Number of Pages: 3 (Double Spaced)
Number of sources: 3
Writing Style: APA
Type of document: Essay
Academic Level:High School
Category: Art
Language Style: English (U.S.)
Order Instructions: Attached
Transcript: Art Analysis PaperThis video is preparing you for one of your major grades this semester: an ar t analysis paper.Everything is under this week's content already that you need, and I'm giving you ample time to prepare for this. In this week's video, we're going through a step-by-step process of how to write this paper, and also how to encounter art more fully in general. The goal of a formal analysis is to explain the formal elements of a work of art, but also to consider the background and content of said work. In your paper, you'll be both interpreting a work of art and considering the formal elements. The frst step is a pretty obvious one. There's a topic list posted under the Analysis folder, labeled step 1. You'll choose one of these to write about. Also consider,do you want to write positive criticism or negative? Either is acceptable, and sometimes it's more fun to discuss why you dislike an artwork and why you think the worth of it is invalid. So once you've chosen your piece from the list, it's time to get started. This is all the information you'll need for your introduction. You ABSOLUTELY need to state the title, artist, date/period, and medium of the piece. This is also a good place to start discussing the artist or people who made the piece. If it's a work from an older period, you may not have an artist to discuss. That's fne. Instead you'll cover the people who made or commissioned the piece. You're giving it context. Art is never made in a vacuum. It's made in reaction to the world and values around it. This is also why it is important to consider why it was made, and who for. Was it created for a funeral? Was it commissioned by a cardinal or king? Is it meant to delight or intimidate? These are important questions to be able to answer. The example I chose to walk us through this process is Apollo and Daphne. I just gave you the title. Now I'll offer the rest of the basic information: It was created by Bernini, made between 1622-1625 out of marble. It stands 96 inches tall. Notice how I italicized the title of the piece? Unless it's a building, all work titles should be italicized. Always. I'm also going into a bit of Bernini's life here, talking about when he worked, where he was from, and why he made this piece. This piece was commissioned by the Cardinal Borghese of the Vatican during the Barque period. Think this is strange for a catholic cardinal to have a Greek myth in his home? The reasoning behind it can be found with this quote: “Those who love to pursue feeting forms of pleasure, in the end fnd only leaves and bitter berries in their hands.” The sculpture depicts the Greek myth of Apollo, the god of light, and Daphne, a wood nymph. Apollo fell in love with Daphne due to Cupid's a.
Wealth Generating Midas Manifestation Effect.
This is the secret principle that the elite 0.001% of the population use to alter their previously predetermined destiny…
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This technique taps into the hidden laws of the universe, and works every time. It doesn’t matter who you are or how old you are. It doesn’t take hours and hours of dedicated practice or training. It’s something you can do almost instantly.
Visitor-Centered: What Does it Mean to Walk that Talk?Peter Samis
Presented at the National Museum of Denmark to a mixed audience of Nationalmuseet curators, educators, and staff from other Danish museums. The presentation addresses responsiveness to visitor needs in developing interpretive components and gallery design. I followed the talk with a hands-on workshop in which participants wrote labels in new ways, observed visitors, and edited their galleries with visitor experience in mind. Part of a 2-day symposium organized by Mette Boritz of the National Museum.
Richard's aventures in two entangled wonderlandsRichard Gill
Since the loophole-free Bell experiments of 2020 and the Nobel prizes in physics of 2022, critics of Bell's work have retreated to the fortress of super-determinism. Now, super-determinism is a derogatory word - it just means "determinism". Palmer, Hance and Hossenfelder argue that quantum mechanics and determinism are not incompatible, using a sophisticated mathematical construction based on a subtle thinning of allowed states and measurements in quantum mechanics, such that what is left appears to make Bell's argument fail, without altering the empirical predictions of quantum mechanics. I think however that it is a smoke screen, and the slogan "lost in math" comes to my mind. I will discuss some other recent disproofs of Bell's theorem using the language of causality based on causal graphs. Causal thinking is also central to law and justice. I will mention surprising connections to my work on serial killer nurse cases, in particular the Dutch case of Lucia de Berk and the current UK case of Lucy Letby.
What is greenhouse gasses and how many gasses are there to affect the Earth.moosaasad1975
What are greenhouse gasses how they affect the earth and its environment what is the future of the environment and earth how the weather and the climate effects.
Seminar of U.V. Spectroscopy by SAMIR PANDASAMIR PANDA
Spectroscopy is a branch of science dealing the study of interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy refers to absorption spectroscopy or reflect spectroscopy in the UV-VIS spectral region.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy is an analytical method that can measure the amount of light received by the analyte.
DERIVATION OF MODIFIED BERNOULLI EQUATION WITH VISCOUS EFFECTS AND TERMINAL V...Wasswaderrick3
In this book, we use conservation of energy techniques on a fluid element to derive the Modified Bernoulli equation of flow with viscous or friction effects. We derive the general equation of flow/ velocity and then from this we derive the Pouiselle flow equation, the transition flow equation and the turbulent flow equation. In the situations where there are no viscous effects , the equation reduces to the Bernoulli equation. From experimental results, we are able to include other terms in the Bernoulli equation. We also look at cases where pressure gradients exist. We use the Modified Bernoulli equation to derive equations of flow rate for pipes of different cross sectional areas connected together. We also extend our techniques of energy conservation to a sphere falling in a viscous medium under the effect of gravity. We demonstrate Stokes equation of terminal velocity and turbulent flow equation. We look at a way of calculating the time taken for a body to fall in a viscous medium. We also look at the general equation of terminal velocity.
Toxic effects of heavy metals : Lead and Arsenicsanjana502982
Heavy metals are naturally occuring metallic chemical elements that have relatively high density, and are toxic at even low concentrations. All toxic metals are termed as heavy metals irrespective of their atomic mass and density, eg. arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, thallium, chromium, etc.
Observation of Io’s Resurfacing via Plume Deposition Using Ground-based Adapt...Sérgio Sacani
Since volcanic activity was first discovered on Io from Voyager images in 1979, changes
on Io’s surface have been monitored from both spacecraft and ground-based telescopes.
Here, we present the highest spatial resolution images of Io ever obtained from a groundbased telescope. These images, acquired by the SHARK-VIS instrument on the Large
Binocular Telescope, show evidence of a major resurfacing event on Io’s trailing hemisphere. When compared to the most recent spacecraft images, the SHARK-VIS images
show that a plume deposit from a powerful eruption at Pillan Patera has covered part
of the long-lived Pele plume deposit. Although this type of resurfacing event may be common on Io, few have been detected due to the rarity of spacecraft visits and the previously low spatial resolution available from Earth-based telescopes. The SHARK-VIS instrument ushers in a new era of high resolution imaging of Io’s surface using adaptive
optics at visible wavelengths.
Professional air quality monitoring systems provide immediate, on-site data for analysis, compliance, and decision-making.
Monitor common gases, weather parameters, particulates.
The ability to recreate computational results with minimal effort and actionable metrics provides a solid foundation for scientific research and software development. When people can replicate an analysis at the touch of a button using open-source software, open data, and methods to assess and compare proposals, it significantly eases verification of results, engagement with a diverse range of contributors, and progress. However, we have yet to fully achieve this; there are still many sociotechnical frictions.
Inspired by David Donoho's vision, this talk aims to revisit the three crucial pillars of frictionless reproducibility (data sharing, code sharing, and competitive challenges) with the perspective of deep software variability.
Our observation is that multiple layers — hardware, operating systems, third-party libraries, software versions, input data, compile-time options, and parameters — are subject to variability that exacerbates frictions but is also essential for achieving robust, generalizable results and fostering innovation. I will first review the literature, providing evidence of how the complex variability interactions across these layers affect qualitative and quantitative software properties, thereby complicating the reproduction and replication of scientific studies in various fields.
I will then present some software engineering and AI techniques that can support the strategic exploration of variability spaces. These include the use of abstractions and models (e.g., feature models), sampling strategies (e.g., uniform, random), cost-effective measurements (e.g., incremental build of software configurations), and dimensionality reduction methods (e.g., transfer learning, feature selection, software debloating).
I will finally argue that deep variability is both the problem and solution of frictionless reproducibility, calling the software science community to develop new methods and tools to manage variability and foster reproducibility in software systems.
Exposé invité Journées Nationales du GDR GPL 2024
Deep Software Variability and Frictionless Reproducibility
Stratified Desks | Stratified Minds | An archaeological Survey | 100th blog post
1. Stratified Desks | Stratified Minds | An archaeological Survey | 100th blog post
Originally posted online on 14 May 2014 at rmchapple.blogspot.com
(http://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/stratified-desks-stratified-minds.html)
Facebook, eh?
Don’t ya just love it?
Endless streams of Lolcats … ‘I’m doing this mildly amusing thing for charity’ events … ‘which
18th century Pope are you?’ quizzes (I got ‘Servant of God Benedict XIII’). I can't really
complain - I’m as guilty as anyone of contributing to this constant sensory bombardment. My
particular humour niche appears to be the Star Wars pun – especially if judged by what people
post to my Facebook wall saying ‘you’ll like this!’ (answer: yes, yes I do!). I hope that I post
enough links to solidly interesting, engaging, and though provoking material too to provide
temper and not alienate the entirety of my online friends and family.
Why do I mention this? Well … a little while ago I was trawling through Facebook … reading
an article here, looking at a funny video there … the usual stuff! Along the way there was a link
to ‘Rare Historical Photos’ on The Slightly Warped Website. I’ve seen so many of these over
the last few years, I almost didn’t click on the link to have a look. Seriously – there are only so
many times you can gawp in wonder at the set of circumstances that brought Alice Cooper
together with Colonel Saunders, the Eiffel Tower under construction, or even Bill Gates’ mug
shot from 1977. I had no reason to expect that this offering from Slightly Warped would be
anything different. In fairness, it wasn’t all that different … I’d seen the majority of them before
– some inspire awe and wonder every time I see them, some … less so.
In amongst all these little wonders there was an ostensibly ordinary photograph. A chair at a
desk. Some shelves and a blackboard behind. A few journals are neatly stacked, but a chaotic
spread of books and papers appeared to be the dominant theme. A smoker’s pipe lay as a
bookmark on an open page. The swivel chair at an angle, as though the occupant has just
stepped out, but will be back in a moment. I had never seen this one before. It caught my
attention precisely because it seemed so ordinary – so out of place in the company of some
rather breath-taking and inspiring images. In many respects, it is every bit as ordinary as it
looks. The notable features are that the desk belonged to Albert Einstein and that the
photograph was taken on the 18th of April 1955 – the day he died. When placed within these
contexts, the simple snapshot image takes on a much greater significance. As a record of the
personal writing and thinking space of the late, great physicist it has a very human resonance
– all the more so at the thought that he has died and that this place can never be used in this
way again by this person. Reconnecting this great mind of the 20th century with his physical
surroundings serves to personalise the experience. No one will understand his works with any
greater clarity for having seen this image, but many will – rightly or wrongly – feel that they
know him better for having seen where he sat. This was the place where he worked – it was
shaped by his physical and intellectual needs, desires, and circumstances. It is as much an
extension of his mind and imagination as his work in physics. While I’d not previously
encountered the photograph, I was instantly reminded of the well-known Einstein quote: ‘If a
cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?’
2. Albert Einstein | Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey | More Info
Let's get a couple of things straight: I’m no Einstein, and I certainly have no intention of
shuffling off this mortal coil any time soon. Nonetheless, this image gave me an idea. What do
our desks say about us? As archaeologists, much of our time is spent writing for wider
consumption – excavation reports, scholarly articles, books, magazine pieces, emails, lectures
… even the occasional blog post. In these ways we show part of ourselves to the wider world. I
think it’s time we showed slightly more!
To celebrate the 100th post on this blog I wanted to do something a little unusual and,
hopefully, a little special. To this end I have asked a group of archaeologists along with an
assortment of affiliated heritage professionals and enthusiasts, from various backgrounds and
specialisms, to take a simple snapshot of their desks as they are right now – no clean-ups, no
tidying (and conversely – no deliberate messing it up to look more interesting). I don’t think
for a second that anyone looking at these images will come away with a greater understanding
of our research, or the academic minutia that excite us, propel us and compel us. I do, however,
think that it may be an interesting piece of outreach to say to the wider world: ‘This is what
we’re like. These are the spaces and places that we have created. They are where we work,
where we think, where we write’. Mostly, I just thought it’s be fun!
My requirements were simple. Without changing anything about your desk, just go take a
picture right now … it can be arty, it can be a snapshot … anything so long as it’s in focus and
you’re pointing in the right direction. Email the same to me with your name, your location,
and a link to a bit about you.
I was remarkably heartened by the speed and willingness of the responses. Starting with my
own, I give you my survey of archaeological desks (click on any image to make larger):
3. Robert M Chapple | Belfast | More Info
Iestyn Jones | Cardiff | More Info
4. Marion Dowd | Dromahair | More Info
Monty Dobson | St Louis, Missouri | More Info
"I am editing a series about archaeology so my desk is all monitors and electronics at
present"
5. David Connolly | Luggate Burn, East Lothian | More Info
Maggie Struckmeier | Whittingehame, East Lothian | More Info
6. Doug Rocks-Macqueen | Edinburgh | More Info
Conor McHale | Dublin
"Chaos attached. I do tidy (occasionally) and often curse myself for being so unkempt."
7. Philip I Powell (Megalithic Monuments of Ireland) | Athy, Co. Kildare, Ireland | More Info
"If its messy desks your looking for, well I've got one big, hell of a mess. But, funnily
enough, I seem to know where everything is."
Stephen W Muller | Adelaide | More Info
8. Adam Stanford MIFA | Harrowfields, Eckington, WR10 3BA | More Info [and here |
and here]
"Taken yesterday before I read your email...."
Ed Lyne | Museum of Copenhagen | More Info
"And yes, its a mess!!"
9. Aoife Daly | Copenhagen | More Info
John Tierney | Kinsale | More Info [and here | and here]
"The archaeology we do today is community-led and strongly digital (www.eachtra.ie and
www.historicgraves.com). The large screen is for the desktop computer and the laptop is
used in the field/site office. There are two gps cameras on the desk with the most recent field
surveys being copied to the server and archiving folders. A standard Nokia phone cos my
smartphone charger is kaput and the Nokia is doing great. The Brother label printer (back
left) is key for proper labelling of analogue records. The black notebook is a Moleskine and
over 6 years old – still in use for passwords and contact details (great when digital contact
lists are not accessible). Back right-hand corner has plastic storage for 'funny' pliers and
spare keys. Also has stack of books and maps used for current projects. The folded sheet of
paper is notes from close of business yesterday reminding me what to continue with
today. Car keys are in the jumble reflecting the fact that we travel a lot on a weekly basis from
our West Waterford offices."
12. David Beard | Aschaffenberg, Germany | More Info
Patricia Furphy | Manchester | More Info
"This is my desk at 9.15am, more layers are deposited throughout the day, then scrapped
back at dinner time.
Harris matrix will be complete when PhD ends!"
13. Niall Gregory | Cashel, Co. Tipperary
"Looking forward to seeing the results - perhaps you Ghant Chart the results or create a
typological sequence through geographic location, sex, urban-rural locations, religion, race,
levels of clutter, etc!"
Philippa E Barry | Discovery Programme, Dublin | More Info
"It looks like I'm having an identity crisis!"
14. Michelle Comber | NUI, Galway | More Info
"you caught me as I'm about to start cataloguing some Caherconnell artefacts"
James Bonsall | Claremorris | More Info
"Had this been taken a month ago there would have been 50% more paper strewn around"
15. Eileen Reilly | Dublin | More Info
"Taken as it is right now - nothing moved or tidied!"
Laura Angélica Ortíz Tenorio | Mexico City | More Info
16. Rodrigo A. Islas | México, D.F. | More Info
Rodrigo A. Islas | México, D.F. | Other desk
17. Tiziana Talocci | Rome | More Info
"this is my desk..."
Isabel Bennett | near Slea Head on the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry | More Info
"The one at work is not much better, but is of the museum curator me, rather than the
archaeologist, so this is the better one."
18. Colm Moloney | Edinburgh | More Info
"Here is my desk in Edinburgh where I work most of the time now. It’s a disaster!"
Sue Carter | Perth, Australia | More Info
19. "I have just rearranged my office space so it is a bit tidier than usual, but the research folders
in the background will give you some hint as to the amount of work I am doing on Fortified
England, and that is not all the folders, I have more in the other room ;/"
Maura Barrett | Carrick on Suir, Co Tipperary | More Info
David Hunter | Melbourne, Australia | More Info
20. Duncan Berryman | Belfast | More Info
Here's a photo of my desk, I definitely didn't tidy it for you.
Lorraine Evans | Highlands/World Domination Mother-ship | More Info [and here]
"just rolled out of bed, grabbed the camera and here you are. One shot of my 'work station'
as is. Couldn't get any closer with the camera as my bed is a foot away from my desk!!"
21. Margaretha Marie-Lou McFarland Vlahos | Brisbane, Australia | More Info
"Here's a before and after of my desk at Uni. I'm usually a very organized person. But in
this case it's more organized chaos"
Margaretha Marie-Lou McFarland Vlahos | Brisbane, Australia | Other desk
22. Nigel J. Hetherington | Cairo, Egypt | More Info
Aurélien Burlot | Youghal, Co. Cork | More Info
"It's messy tho, but that's the rule."
23. Dr Jonny Geber | Post-doctoral research fellow, Department of Archaeology, University
College Cork | More Info
"I’m attaching a photo of my desk – where all the magic happens! You can tell that I am
Swedish just by counting the number of take-away coffee mugs!"
Ivor Kenny | Wicklow | More Info
"Amateur archaeological explorer/wishful thinker and renowned for ten unsuccessful years
searching for evidence of Bronze Age mining in Leinster, being mystified by stonecutters’
marks and being convinced that we know next to nothing about prehistoric life in the Irish
uplands."
Neil Jackman | North Kildare | More Info
"My desk is currently a right state, with books piled up in a sort of stratigraphy reflecting
the sequence of work over the last few days. To be honest it drives me mad and I regularly
24. clear it all up, but after two days it's back to mess again. I'm currently writing an
Audioguide for Swords and looking into the monastic site there, I suppose one of the things
I like best about creating audioguides and helping to promote heritage sites, is that you get
to see so much of the country and learn about lots of different periods and aspects of Irish
archaeology and history. I really enjoy the variety."
Stuart Rathbone | Achill Island | More Info
"Terribly dull and boring though. You should see me when I'm working at home and it
looks like a bomb hit a library!"
Terry O'Hagan | Dublin | More Info
25. Terence Meaden | Oxford | More Info
Brian Ó Donnchadha | Portland, Oregon | More Info
Brian Ó Donnchadha, Sagittarius. My turn-ons include inherited wealth, ownership of a
brewery and lose morals. And my dream in life is to cure world hunger through
interpretive dance.
This is my work desk at the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal entity HQ’ed in
Portland, Oregon in the US. I’m in the middle of some tribal consultation for a couple of
big projects, hence my desk is currently hidden under 2 ft. of field reports for
dissemination to all our consulting parties (mostly Native American tribes).
Overhead desk includes my reference library as well as compulsory Irish stickered hard-
hat, a collection of lithics picked up along the way, a sage medicine bundle from the Cowlitz
Indian Tribe and a slíothar imprinted with the Galway crest that I can throw at anyone who
needs a sudden jolt to the head.
26. Adam Slater | Blackfriars, Leicester | More Info
"This is my desk away from office at Blackfriars in Leicester"
Atsushi Noguchi | Tokyo, Japan
"Currently I'm occupying 3 desks. The first one has already lost its original function..."
27. Atsushi Noguchi | Tokyo, Japan
"The second one is for editorial works but almost kept by me..."
Atsushi Noguchi | Tokyo, Japan
"The last one is set up just yesterday. It should be kept clear for operating 3D scanner, but
I'm confident that it will be messy soon later."
28. David Mennear | North East England | More Info
"Always a copious amount of books by the bedside, although I hadn't realised how battered
the laptop looks!"
Markus Milligan | London | More Info
29. Stephen Mandal | Dublin | More Info
"I didn't cheat!"
Bairbre Mullee | Dublin | More Info
"its looking fairly tidy today…"
30. Judith Carroll | Dublin | More Info
JG O'Donoghue | Cork | More Info
JG O’Donoghue is an emerging illustrator and artist from Cork, Ireland, who creates
archaeological reconstruction illustration and heritage art. He finished his masters in
Illustration, at Hertfordshire university in 2010, previous to that his degree was in Digital
Design. Since then he has done a variety of illustration commissions, mostly archaeological
but occasionally story based, and his clients include the NRA(National Roads Authority)
and Fortified England. His work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, exhibitions,
seminars and various other media. His blog post about his studio space: here.
31. Katrien Janin | University of Leicester | More Info
"as you will see in my case my desk is not large enough and my research tend to spread out
over my flat. This is a normal occurrence when finishing a report."
Seosaimhín Bradley | University of Central Lancashire | More Info
"not as interesting as Einstein's, although he didn't have a knitted Star Carr frontlet"
32. Michael Gleeson | Leitrim | Mature (45) student at IT Sligo studying Applied Archaeology
"Decided on this profession post redundancy when my wonderful wife sat me down and
asked me "What would you like to do when you grow up?""
Edward Bourke, National Monuments Service | Dublin | More Info
"I spend one hour every morning testing this latest database. The idea is that we will get
interns in to read and set kewords for each file and to tie this into the SMR database so that
each file which is located to a monument will be searchable on that basis. Eventually
leading to a situation that if there is a file on a monument, the basic details will be available
online through our
system http://webgis.archaeology.ie/NationalMonuments/FlexViewer/ the hope is that
such a system could be up and running in about 2-3 years. The latest plan of many, but we
live in hope.
The file being added is Wexford, Templeshannon (Windmill on Vinegar Hill) -
Guardianship - NM No. 392" which is tied in to SMR WX0220-032----"
33. Caterina Pisu | Viterbo, Italy | More Info
Spencer Gavin Smith | Nannerch, North-East Wales | More Info
Let me talk you round it.
Chair: Bought by my great-grandmother from a bodger who called at her door sometime
before 1911. It has the letters JW carved on the underside of the seat.
Spotted Box: Paper archive of the two excavations I directed for a TV series in 2003 and
2004.
Picture above Desk: 'Goldfinch' Artist Unknown
Lamp: As close as I could get to an Anglepoise without breaking the bank.
34. Items on desk from left to right: Glass Paperweight / Lancia Stratos model car / Pen in the
shape of a Penguin / 'Spencer' train from Thomas the Tank Engine series / Alfa Romeo Giuila
Sprint Gta model car / Portable Hard Drive / Wireless Mouse (weirdly I use one at my desk)
/ USB Multiport / Mug coaster in the shape of a tropical fish / Unfinished thumbnail scraper
found in Lincolnshire / 'Spitfire' postage stamp.
Thomas Kador | University of Bristol, England | More Info [and here]
Brian Kerr | Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth
"It's got books, papers, files, plants, some art, and post-it notes. Quite a nice room, really,
in the officers' houses of 1862-3"
35. Gillian Boazman | Rosscarbery, West Cork | More Info
'I was finishing an article at the time but really it's seldom much different'
Tomás Pádraig Ó Niallagáin | Co. Laois| More Info
'while I run TheStandingStone I actually specialise in ancient literature and did my
doctorate on New Testament texts'
36. Robert Hensey | Glencar, Co. Sligo | More Info
'One thing that occurred to me while doing this was that the computer has now truly
usurped the desk - how much of Einstein's paper mountain from his famous desk picture
would now be on his computer desktop if photographed today? That was one reason I
focused more on my computer screens rather than the desk proper. The screen image on
the left is the second most famous waterfall in Glencar. It is known as ” Sruth in aghaidh an
aird ” which translates as ” Stream against the slope ” as it appears to blow upwards when
the wind blows hard from the south-west. The one on the right is of Clegnagh passage tomb
Co. Antrim'
Finally ... for all of you who have persevered and made your way to the end ... or even just those
of you who just scrolled to the end to see if there was anything here! I give you a bonus image
... a broad view of my desk within its office landscape setting.
If you’ve scrolled this far, you’ll have seen (if my math is correct) 64 desks from 60
archaeologists. Two have provided photos of their two desks, and one has three desks in
increasing levels of chaos. When I started this process, I had wondered if there would be some
easy commonalities that could be drawn from these images. I had presumed that we’d be a
pretty messy, disorganised-looking lot but with order beneath the apparent pandemonium …
which is how I like to imagine my desk appears. True, some of my correspondents lived up to
that stereotype … but many didn’t. Almost everyone had a computer of some kind … quite a
few even had two screens … but not all. A select few have shown an admirable attraction to
decorating their desks with skulls of various types and other archaeology-related
paraphernalia. Some of these places appear (to me) quite Spartan, while others are
sumptuous, rich, and inviting. I was interested to note that there is only one obvious smoker
in this number, with cigarettes clearly on the desk. Years ago I would have been the same – I
had a number of ashtrays on my desk and rarely ever sat to write without first lighting up.
37. While I was on the verge of lamenting my inability to find some thread that drew us all
together, I began to think back on how we as a group are regularly portrayed in the media. All
those stories that start ‘Archaeologists have found a …’ or ‘Archaeologists now believe that …’
where we appear to be a vast homogenous lump. Looking at these desks reminds me that we
may be united in our professional and personal interests in all things ‘heritage’, but we remain
a diverse bunch of individuals, with different specialisms, research agendas, and all that goes
with that. From a personal point of view, I know the contributors at different levels – some are
long-term friends and colleagues that I’ve worked with and drank with; some I know only
professionally – we’ve rarely, if ever, met in person, but I know and respect their published
works; some are known to me only through social media of one form or another – there’s even
one or two that were totally unknown to me, but heard about my project through a third party
and felt like joining in.
However they have come to be here, I thank them all for being willing to engage with this little
project. I would encourage anyone reading this post to go sample some of our collective
diversity by clicking on some of the ‘More Info’ links that accompany many of the images.
You’ll see how we represent a huge spread of approaches, thinking, geography, and time
periods. In that same spirit of thanks, I want to express my huge appreciation to all readers of
this blog. If no one had been interested to read what I put up here, this endeavour would have
quickly faded. But the readers came and so have guest bloggers – and I thank you all! Without
developing an audience this little blog would never have survived, and would certainly never
have come to celebrate its 100th post. Long may we continue together!
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all!
Robert M Chapple
Late Additions to the survey - please feel free to send me your pics!
38. Spencer Carter | London | More Info
I forgot to send these. Can I be grandfathered? They're not contrived.
They are of a moment. Lithicists-cum-Editors move slowly and systematically
Spencer Carter | London | Second Desk
Telizhenko Sergey | Kiev | More Info
Before annexion of Crimea I worked at Crimean branch of Institute of
Archaeology National Ukrainian Academy of Science (department of
prehistory archaeology). From April 1-st I working in Kyiv in Institute
of Archaeology in department of Crimean archaeology. Here you
can see my workplace when I came back from excavations of
39. Late Neolithic site Novoselivka-VI. Ceramics are everywhere.
Tom Gardner | Edinburgh | More Info
I'm a 4th year undergrad in archaeology at the University of Edinburgh.
On [the desk] are some papers on animal coprolites, and plans from the Bradford
Kaims site, which I supervise for the Bamburgh Research Project. Other than
that its a relatively empty desk, hopefully not evidence of an empty mind.
Candace Weddle | Greenville, SC | More Info
Mine is fairly organized, which is undoubtedly an indication of some sort of mental
illness. I like to say that I have CDO - It's like OCD, but in alphabetical order.
40. Genavie Thomas | Portland, Oregon
The wine bottle was from last nights binge reporting, and the coffee is this mornings cup.
I just got a new tool, note the auger on the guest bed.
Hanno Conring | Norden, Lower Saxony, Germany
41. Peter McCrone | near Poulton-le-Fylde
Current Count:
People: 67
Desks 72
Notes:
A notice of this post has appeared on the superb These Bones of Mine blog (here). It's a lovely
tribute to this piece, but quite a bit more eloquent and better written than mine. Another one
is to be found on the wonderful The Lorraine Evans Blog (here)
Bob Muckle at Capilano U in Vancouver (definitely worth a follow on Twitter - here) has, in a
parallel endeavour, shared his own desk, crammed with fantastic bits and pieces: here.
The most wonderful and interesting Ivor Kenny has sent me this very
engaging MindNode map of the desks in the survey (up to May 20th 2014).
Inspired by this post, the Rantin' and Rovin' blog has posted a lovely piece about how they
don't have a desk, but move from Starbucks to Starbucks with a laptop ... a lovely, lovely read
that I can't recommend highly enough! See it: here