Take Your Child to Work Day

Are you at work with your child in tow? 

To commemorate this day, our resident daddy blogger, Charles, is recounting his version of "take my daughter to work" day with his baby daughter D in a letter, which he hopes she'll treasure.

Dear D, You may not remember the first day that we visited an archaeological site together on April 7, 2013. You, 10 months old; me, still learning how to be a father. Our visit included a long and winding drive into the mountains overlooking the Santa Barbara coastline. As we made our way up the mountainside the road became slightly narrower.

First lesson, daughter: Most archaeological sites worth visiting are never easy to reach. This is part of the journey. As we made our way towards our final destination I took the time to teach you more. Second lesson: Be aware of your surroundings.

I point out the poison oak-leaves of three leave them be. (I said this to you in my best Yoda voice.) Remember, daughter, that a good archaeologist will know the hazards of the job. One day remind me to tell you the tales of my encounters with rattlesnakes and coyotes. There are many.

When we reached the end of our journey we came face to face with a part of California history that is unknown to many Californians: the Chumash Painted Cave. Named after the culture that occupied this region of California, the Painted Cave site is a rock art site that includes several beautiful images painted on the surface of the sandstone walls. The colors are vibrant and they catch your attention. Will you be hooked on sites like this like your daddy? Your mother, who also made the journey, asked me what the art meant. I told her that some believe they are images taken from Chumash cosmology. Others believe that they are the hallucinatory visions of shamans. When you're ready, I ask that you give me your interpretation. You speak in an unknown language, but you do it with confidence. I love it and I love that we could share this opportunity. I hope it will be the start of many more to come. Love, Papa, Archaeologist