Tag: late antiquity
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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…
The Starving Archaeologist 