Preliminary survey thoughts

In the last 2 weeks I've done some preliminary "pilot" surveying. While my sample size is still quite small, I'm finding that people's understanding of archaeology and what archaeologists do is more detailed than I expected. So far, people in the Portland area also seem to have deep and complex feelings about the past and what its study means to society. From strong childhood memories of finding an artifact in a field, to making connections between archaeology and the stories of their grandparents, people are already saying some very interesting things!