Common Prairie Artifacts is a little 30 paged, 4.25 by 5.5 inch booklet that can be printed out on a standard computer printer and then cut and bound using an exacto or utility knife and standard stapler.

The booklet is designed to foster an appreciation for the artifacts that are surface collected on the tall grass prairie.  These artifacts, or to be more precise, these collections of artifacts, are priceless and irreplaceable documents of how and where people lived on the land and how they used their tools in their everyday lives.  These humble field grade artifacts are an important counterpoint to the extraordinary museum quality pieces from the 'marquee name' archaeological sites.

The irony is that because these artifacts are not like the museum pieces that are the staple of textbooks and catalogs, their value to dealers and collectors is, in most cases, virtually negligible.  Consequently, in far too many cases, unless someone has taken some pains to see that these collections – and some record of where the pieces came from – are preserved, they are 'landfill bound.'  They may be handed down for a generation or two to grandchildren, nieces and nephews who have good intentions but really don't know what to do with them.  Perhaps the collection is divided up and relegated to the junk drawers of a dozen or so households, junk drawers that are eventually cleaned out and the conents sent to the landfill.

That scenario is enormously regrettable because these collectons are irreplaceable documentation that little out-of-the-way places also have important stories to tell, stories that should be of interest to archaeologists and, in particular, to the people who live in those places.

To print the booklet you do not need a special printer, so long as that printer has at least 300 dots per inch of resolution and prints on 8.5X11" laser or copy paper.  It will not work with any printer that uses continuous paper with the perforations on the side.  An HP-LaserJet III or better or an ink-jet printer works fine.  To make a copy of this booklet do the following:

1. Download this PDF file and save it to your disk: www.prairienet.org/prairienations/lithbook.pdf
2. When you view the file displayed on your monitor, it won't make much sense.  It is regular letter sized pages made up of four smaller pages.
3. Go to the print menu and do the following (Don't get in a hurry and overlook any of these steps.):
4. Make certain the Auto-rotate and center pages option is checked.
5. Make certain the Print all 10 pages button is selected.
6. Change the Print Odd and Even pages setting to Print Odd Pages Only.
7. Click on the OK button to print the pages.  Make certain you do not change the order of the stack of pages when you take them out of the printer.  Turn the stack over and put it back in the printer to print on the other side.  Make certain you place it so that the top of the pages will be the same on both sides of the paper.
8. Go to the print menu and choose the following:
9. Make certain the Print all 10 pages button is selected.
10. Change the Print Odd Pages only setting to Print Even Pages only.
11. This is important:  Don't overlook it:  Click on the Reverse Pages box to select that option.
12. Click on the OK button to print the pages.  Take the stack of pages out of the printer.  They should be printed on both sides with the top of the page the same on both sides of the sheet.
13. With a ruler and knife or a paper cutter, cut the pages horizontally exactly across the middle between the top and bottom pairs of pages. Do not cut them vertically between the left and right pages.
14. Assemble the double-page layouts in this way:  Lay down the "References" page face up  That is the cover.  Put page ii/29 on top of it, page iv/27 on top of that, page iv/25 on top of that, page 2/23 on top of that, and page 4/21 on top of that, page 6/19 on top of that, page 8/17 on top of that,  page 10/15 on top of that, and page 12/13 on top of that.
15. Fold the stack vertically in the center so that the front cover is facing up.  If you followed all these steps correctly the little booklet is paginated correctly.
16. Put a staple or two in the spine with a regular stapler.

Note:  You are invited to make as many copies of this booklet as you wish and pass them out as you wish, provided you not use them for any commercial purpose or alter, edit or deface them in any way.  In particular, you may not remove or hide the copyright notice or publication information on the back cover.

You (or your organization) may distribute them non-commercially with a handwritten notation or small gummed label on the top of the back cover with such things as a name, organization, event, phone number, etc.

I would appreciate it if you emailed me, letting me know how well it worked (or didn't work).  I would also appreciate knowing about any use anyone is getting out of the booklet.

Thanks.

DOCUMENT INFORMATION
This document: http://www.prairienet.org/prairienations/lithbook.htm
Prairie Nations homepage: http://www.prairienet.org/prairienations
Author: Jim Fay, Ph.D.
Email:  jfay@prairienet.org
Posted: 6/18/04