As I said earlier it isn't like Indiana Jones but there are some perks. Here is a rundown of our typical day.
We get up at 530 AM (Ok everyone else gets up at 530, I get up at 555) and we are at breakfast by 600. The house is set up so that it has about 10 bedrooms, 3 large enclosed rooms we use for labs & office space & 2 large sitting room/living room areas. There are also sets of bathrooms, it's an open room with sinks then three smaller rooms with toilet, shower, and sink all in there. We have three sets o these. The house is two stories and sort of divided in half. Each half has a small kitchen that is used for laundry or storage. The dining room is actually in another building a few feet to the north of the house in the courtyard. It has the dining room, usable kitchen and another room for the permanent cook (see I said there were perks.)
So at 600 we are at the table in the dining room. Breakfast is a fend for yourself kinda meal with fruit, juices, coffee, tea, cereal, etc. The four of us typically stare and each other over coffee... it is 6 AM after all! At 630 we have applied sun screen and gathered our supplies & we walk to the site. Its very close to the house. The house sits inside the Park and we happen to be digging in an area that is across from the house, so no need for golf carts or cars.
This is a hazy mid morning shot & those little dots on the hill are Sarah & a workmen.
Our workmen show up at 630 on the dot and are usually waiting on us. We have to take photos, make plans, etc so we really get going about 645 or so. Now that we've been at it for a week we have a system. Lamya & Sarah start the workers in the trenches (the site is gridded into 5x5 meter squares) they are learning how to excavate. We dig across clearing entire squares before going further down (called stratigraphy) & all large items are collected. Things like pottery, metals, bones, shell, etc.
Every piece of dirt is inspected to make sure we aren't missing anything vital. The dirt is brushed into buckets. The buckets are carried to the screens (think window screen on a frame) and sifted. All the small artifacts are collected this way. Each square & layer (stratigraphy) has it's own bag and own artifacts. All these items are taken to the lab at the end of the day & sorted, cleaned, labeled and either stored or marked for further analysis. This is my job. I have been in charge of the screening in the field for the last few days & then I'm also in charge of the lab. I have trained about four of the workers to recognize things that are artifacts (used or made by people) versus things that are just rocks or shell or whatever (jokingly referred to as schlock.)
Here is a picture of my hands after a few minutes at the screens.
Krista is usually floating around helping in all places and keeping track of labels, logs, notebooks, etc. There is an amazing amount of data collected along with all the actual stuff that comes out of the ground. Not only do you have to keep track of this data (& stuff) you have to be able to analyze it now & again in the future so it takes a lot of organization. This requires a database of some kind, so that it can keep track of everything & also be searched. We are actually in the process of trying something new & different here using iPads to collect data, notes, & even pictures. We are in the early days but it seems like it might work and be very cool. It will be set up to link back to a main database every time you come into the lab. It should save us time, paper, and stress if it all works out.
Here is just one little list (among many) that shows our Lots--which are artifacts from specific locations that help us keep track of things that are going between the field and the lab. Complicated I know, see why we want it nice and neat in a form on the iPad.
At 1000 we have a tea break, just like in colonial times. The workers wander off for 30 minutes and we sit under a makeshift tent drinking hot, sweet tea and eating biscuits (cookies) while we make notes and stratigize (is that a real word?).
I tend to break off by then and go back to the lab (more on that later). The others keep digging, sifting, sorting, & mapping.
We stop about 1230-100 and call it a day. It's very hot and even more humid right now. We are getting very close to monsoon season so the air is very thick... and did I mention hot.
The workers go home and we head inside to shower then work on notes & processing & analyzing items in the lab. At 200 we eat lunch as a group. It is buffet style provided by the cook. We work some more (and occasionally nap) until about 500. Then it depends, sometimes I go play tennis, sometimes we have errands to run, sometimes we go swimming, sometimes we keep working. There is a break here, kind of a siesta, from 1230 to 430 so everything closes down during that time. Dinner is at 800 PM and most of us are asleep by 1000 so that we can be up at 530 (or so) again in the morning.
Oh and another perk... while we are in the field there is a fantastic lady that does our laundry including ironing (!) and a man who cleans the entire house top to bottom everyday. Now if I could only get a cheeseburger and a glass of wine life would be complete!
I will have a whole other post on food--it's good, it's bad, it's orange!
We get up at 530 AM (Ok everyone else gets up at 530, I get up at 555) and we are at breakfast by 600. The house is set up so that it has about 10 bedrooms, 3 large enclosed rooms we use for labs & office space & 2 large sitting room/living room areas. There are also sets of bathrooms, it's an open room with sinks then three smaller rooms with toilet, shower, and sink all in there. We have three sets o these. The house is two stories and sort of divided in half. Each half has a small kitchen that is used for laundry or storage. The dining room is actually in another building a few feet to the north of the house in the courtyard. It has the dining room, usable kitchen and another room for the permanent cook (see I said there were perks.)
So at 600 we are at the table in the dining room. Breakfast is a fend for yourself kinda meal with fruit, juices, coffee, tea, cereal, etc. The four of us typically stare and each other over coffee... it is 6 AM after all! At 630 we have applied sun screen and gathered our supplies & we walk to the site. Its very close to the house. The house sits inside the Park and we happen to be digging in an area that is across from the house, so no need for golf carts or cars.
This is a hazy mid morning shot & those little dots on the hill are Sarah & a workmen.
Our workmen show up at 630 on the dot and are usually waiting on us. We have to take photos, make plans, etc so we really get going about 645 or so. Now that we've been at it for a week we have a system. Lamya & Sarah start the workers in the trenches (the site is gridded into 5x5 meter squares) they are learning how to excavate. We dig across clearing entire squares before going further down (called stratigraphy) & all large items are collected. Things like pottery, metals, bones, shell, etc.
Every piece of dirt is inspected to make sure we aren't missing anything vital. The dirt is brushed into buckets. The buckets are carried to the screens (think window screen on a frame) and sifted. All the small artifacts are collected this way. Each square & layer (stratigraphy) has it's own bag and own artifacts. All these items are taken to the lab at the end of the day & sorted, cleaned, labeled and either stored or marked for further analysis. This is my job. I have been in charge of the screening in the field for the last few days & then I'm also in charge of the lab. I have trained about four of the workers to recognize things that are artifacts (used or made by people) versus things that are just rocks or shell or whatever (jokingly referred to as schlock.)
Here is a picture of my hands after a few minutes at the screens.
Krista is usually floating around helping in all places and keeping track of labels, logs, notebooks, etc. There is an amazing amount of data collected along with all the actual stuff that comes out of the ground. Not only do you have to keep track of this data (& stuff) you have to be able to analyze it now & again in the future so it takes a lot of organization. This requires a database of some kind, so that it can keep track of everything & also be searched. We are actually in the process of trying something new & different here using iPads to collect data, notes, & even pictures. We are in the early days but it seems like it might work and be very cool. It will be set up to link back to a main database every time you come into the lab. It should save us time, paper, and stress if it all works out.
Here is just one little list (among many) that shows our Lots--which are artifacts from specific locations that help us keep track of things that are going between the field and the lab. Complicated I know, see why we want it nice and neat in a form on the iPad.
At 1000 we have a tea break, just like in colonial times. The workers wander off for 30 minutes and we sit under a makeshift tent drinking hot, sweet tea and eating biscuits (cookies) while we make notes and stratigize (is that a real word?).
I tend to break off by then and go back to the lab (more on that later). The others keep digging, sifting, sorting, & mapping.
We stop about 1230-100 and call it a day. It's very hot and even more humid right now. We are getting very close to monsoon season so the air is very thick... and did I mention hot.
The workers go home and we head inside to shower then work on notes & processing & analyzing items in the lab. At 200 we eat lunch as a group. It is buffet style provided by the cook. We work some more (and occasionally nap) until about 500. Then it depends, sometimes I go play tennis, sometimes we have errands to run, sometimes we go swimming, sometimes we keep working. There is a break here, kind of a siesta, from 1230 to 430 so everything closes down during that time. Dinner is at 800 PM and most of us are asleep by 1000 so that we can be up at 530 (or so) again in the morning.
Oh and another perk... while we are in the field there is a fantastic lady that does our laundry including ironing (!) and a man who cleans the entire house top to bottom everyday. Now if I could only get a cheeseburger and a glass of wine life would be complete!
I will have a whole other post on food--it's good, it's bad, it's orange!
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