Letters
An End to the Vinland Map Controversy?
I was greatly interested in the News article “The Vinland Map: Genuine or Fake?” that appeared in the Summer issue of American Archaeology. I have been interested in the subject of Viking explorations in North America all my life, and ever since Yale published The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation, I have hoped the issue of its genuineness would eventually be solved. Now, perhaps it may be. Please keep your readers posted. Elizabeth Stewart Rochester, New York The Adventure of Archaeology
Your Summer issue had a superb article entitled “Archaeology Along the Mohawk.” There is so much to learn from American Indian village sites, and it must have been a thrill to unearth history from the Iroquois. The information that can be obtained around the Palatine Bridge is unfathomably rich. One of the most exciting moments for me was when I was 12 years old and living in Monterey. We were building a rock wall around our house, and during the digging we dug up two Indian arrowheads, which we donated to the Monterey Museum. Later on while digging, we dug up a whole cow skeleton with a cowbell. Of course, when we first saw the bones, we american archaeology
thought we had a dinosaur. You can say I was somewhat disappointed. Ever since then, I have enjoyed the adventure of archaeology through publications like yours. Paul Dale Roberts Elk Grove, California No Puffery, Please
I have delayed my membership renewal because I am greatly disturbed by the puff piece about Crow Canyon in your Spring issue. I was an enthusiastic member of Crow Canyon for years. I worked at Sand Canyon for three sessions with the person who began the excavations and finished them: Bruce Bradley. Sand Canyon is, was, and always will be Bruce Bradley, especially to anyone who actually worked there. When I need public relations/ marketing pieces such as the article in your magazine, I will start looking at my junk mail. I am greatly concerned about the veracity of the rest of your pieces, but I am renewing my membership under the premise that the good you do by preserving land outweighs the specious quality of some articles in your magazine. Joan A. Cameron Paris, Virginia
Editor’s Corner You might notice that our current issue has expanded to 48 pages. We chose to increase the page count because we wanted to broaden our coverage of the fascinating world of American archaeology and we simply couldn’t squeeze everything into our old 40-page format. But even with the extra pages, we were pressed for space. With the expansion of the magazine, we’re able to offer more feature articles and new, occasional departments. On page 33, we have a short feature on the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center, a growing nonprofit organization that has been doing important work for more than 20 years. On page 35, you’ll find the debut of one of our new departments, Legends of Archaeology, which features the exploits of Matt Stirling. In future issues we will bring you other new, occasional departments, including debates between prominent archaeologists concerning some of the field’s more controversial issues, and advice from professional photographers on how to photograph archaeological sites. Now that we have the extra pages, we intend to put them to good use.
Michael Bawaya, Editor
Sending Letters to American Archaeology American Archaeology welcomes your letters. Write to us at: 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 402, Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517, or send us e-mail at archcons@nm.net. We reserve the right to edit and publish letters in the magazine’s Letters department as space permits. Please include your name, address, and telephone number with all correspondence, including e-mail messages.
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