Tag: Fieldwork
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Happens Every Time
What a whirlwind! I’m writing this post after finally making it home to Baltimore from a tiny detour in Rome and, before that, blazing all around the island-nation of Cyprus, where visits and trips included places like the Cyprus American Archaeological Institute (CAARI), and the ancient sites of Kourion and Paphos. These were all after…
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The Plow-Zone
The past couple of weeks have been quite busy at Aeclanum. My trench (Saggio 8) received two, bright eyed, bushy tailed new participants who were eager to dive deep into all the mysteries that the archaeology of Aeclanum holds. What are those mysteries? In case you missed my post from the last block, our trench’s…
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Charles IV, a couple Alpine border crossings, and a quagmire of red tape.
Well everybody, it’s been a long time coming but the field season is finally here (and after too much delay, the first blog post of the season as well!). I’m finally in the field…digging. There is a verifiable amount of dirt on my trowel so it’s official! It has (quite literally) been a long road…
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The Apolline Project is looking for participants!
Hey everyone! The Apolline Project is now accepting applications for participants in a variety of programs designed to teach archaeological skills, including excavation, ceramic analysis, and even Human Osteology! If you read my blog posts from the past season, you’ll know that The Apolline Project is doing some great work at Aeclanum and provides some great…
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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,…
The Starving Archaeologist 