Category: Field Season 2016
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Ending the Season
Well, my field season is officially over (Cue “This is the End” by The Doors). Friday was my last day digging at Sainte-Candie. A tiny part of me is saying Hallelujah; the other, larger part is a bit melancholy about leaving the field. I’m feeling the same nervousness I had when I was leaving Aeclanum…
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Appreciating the Little Finds in Life
Stratigraphy can be a fickle beast. In a previous post, I explained at length how it can become a nightmare. I’m sure I’ve alluded to the stratigraphic terrors that I’ve been unveiling here at Sainte-Candie. Nevertheless, here’s a quick refresher for the newbies or the ones who were sleeping in the back of class: Stratigraphy…
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Tools of the Trade
Frustration continues near the summit of Sainte-Candie as we struggle to excavate through increasingly difficult stratigraphy. Compact brownish silt has given way to soft fine-grained pink sand, which was easily removed and underneath was compact grey clayish silt, which, when excavated, was mixed with pinkish sand and a grittier reddish sand. Underneath all of that…
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Layers
So you may have detected that my account of the past couple weeks has turned somewhat grim. I must admit the differences between sites I’ve dug before and this one, not to mention the lack of certain comforts derived from living in a tent were really bringing me down. I’ve done some adjusting and I’m…
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Lessons Learned
So another week has passed here in Frejus, France and I must admit I’ve found some frustration at the summit of Sainte-Candie. The week started with doing something that every archaeologist should find at least a little heartbreaking: we closed and backfilled the trench we were excavating. Our team’s work week started by recording postholes…
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A Familiar Feeling
Greetings from Le Clos de la Tour, in Frejus, France. It’s safe to say I’m not in Italy anymore (I know, I’ve been in France for more than a week but go with it). My mini-vacation in Nice was absolutely enjoyable, despite catching a sinus infection, which I only get when I’m living in groups,…
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R&R
Apologies for the delayed post. As the title of this post suggests, I’ve been enjoying some (in my opinion) well deserved decompressing time. Nevertheless, I’m still here and I haven’t totally succumbed to the sweet repose of the French Riviera…yet. Last week was my final week at the Apolline Project. It was a bit melancholic to…
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Transitions
At the beginning of last week, we finally concluded digging to the bottom of our rubble context to find a “preparation layer.” While digging in a hole that was getting deeper than I am tall is my idea of a good time, both Ferdinando and the hard-packed surface of concrete stopped us from going any…
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“Another day, another context”
The past week has been a bit long. We’ve continued digging our trench and gone more than a meter below the surface. We’ve been moving through a new context every day, each one approximately 20cm thick. In terms of moving soil, that is kind of slow. In terms of doing paperwork and making drawings of…
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“If the context extends to China, then dig a hole to China”
The past week can be summarized by some sage words from the Apolline Project’s director, Ferdinando: “Well in archaeology, we must dig by following to the end of a context. If this context goes all the way down to China, then we must dig a hole to China.” Remember that never-ending context I talked about…
The Starving Archaeologist 