Shovel Bum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shovel Bum #10 EXXXtreme Archaeology
Shovel Bum #10 EXXXtreme Archaeology

Shovel Bum is a zine about archaeological field life that was created by Trent de Boer in 1997 ([1]). Trent and Betsy de Boer used comics to help explain their archaeological field technician jobs to friends and family. Later issues included submissions from other shovel bums around the country. Various themes have been explored in the pages of Shovel Bum, including field vehicles, work on military bases, bad motels, food, monitoring, shovel bureaucracy, and extreme archaeology.

In 2004, AltaMira Press ([2]) published an anthology called Shovel Bum: Comix of Archaeological Field Life. The book collects the best of the first 8 issues of Shovel Bum.

The Archaeology Channel ([3]) hosts two Shovel Bum short videos featuring narration by Trent de Boer. "The Shovel Bum's Lot" and "The Texarkana Archaeology Blues" show the joys and frustrations of being a shovel bum in Arkansas.