Naming Chickens and Mapping the Sacred Geography of the Mundane

As archaeologists and cultural resource managers, how do we communicate the work we do and how might the stories of that work contribute to the value of public lands? We define archaeological significance in terms of process and how we identify those processes across the linear structure of a chronology, defining historical landmarks as temporal as opposed to spatial. Public lands present a unique opportunity to use archaeology to tell stories that are rooted in space since the landscape is conserved. With this conserved land, we can tell stories that are written across a landscape as though the landscape itself is a text that people can read. In so doing, we can tell stories about the past that create more intimate connections between people and our beloved public lands.