Tag: Art History
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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…
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“Is This a Rock?”
Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting. I’ve been a little ill, but I’m feeling better after a week of cold and allergy medicine. Also, I want to give a shoutout to my Fraternity brothers gathering in NYC for the national bi-annual governance conference called the Grand Arch Council. I wish I could be…
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Rain Delay (means long weekend!)
What to say about the past week digging at Aeclanum… Perhaps I’ll start from the end and work my way to the beginning, just to keep everyone on their toes. As the title of this post suggests, the Apolline Project’s team of students and supervisors at the site of Aeclanum were rained out Thursday afternoon.…
The Starving Archaeologist 