Today has been a very good day! The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, the sky was gorgeous, and the worst thing that happened to me was being stung by a wasp. I would also be surprised if ANYONE on site today was not sunburned to some degree, probably me included, but so far I can't tell through the dirt. My friends and I have decided that mud/dust is an effective sun block anyway.
Today I didn't do any more trench work. I organized and cataloged small finds, but I also studied a geological map of the Orkneys in preparation for gathering my samples. Hopefully we will get underway with the actual gathering soon.
Jul 29, 2013
Jul 28, 2013
Nowhere to go but Up
It's been a rough week. A cold has been going around the hostel, as has strep throat. I have been off of site with the latter since Wednesday, not including Friday morning when I was overly optimistic. I went to site, but by the end of the weekly tour I was done for and my professor took me back to the hostel. I didn't know it was humanly possible to sleep so much.
Yesterday (Saturday) morning I felt pretty good. I walked around town with some of our Willamette group and we had a great time exploring. This week was shopping week in Stromness, which seems to be a week of celebration and --get ready for it-- shopping! There were dancers, bag pipers, and a parade. There were vendors with food, ice cream, and candy floss and it was all very festive.
After dinner when the others went to watch the parade, I was too exhausted and went back to the hostel, where I proceeded to get a migraine bad enough that our professor had to take me to A&E (Accident and emergency) part of the hospital in Kirkwall. Needless to say, the rest of the night wasn't that fun.
Sorry there hasn't been a lot of archaeology here so far. Here's to a better week!
Yesterday (Saturday) morning I felt pretty good. I walked around town with some of our Willamette group and we had a great time exploring. This week was shopping week in Stromness, which seems to be a week of celebration and --get ready for it-- shopping! There were dancers, bag pipers, and a parade. There were vendors with food, ice cream, and candy floss and it was all very festive.
After dinner when the others went to watch the parade, I was too exhausted and went back to the hostel, where I proceeded to get a migraine bad enough that our professor had to take me to A&E (Accident and emergency) part of the hospital in Kirkwall. Needless to say, the rest of the night wasn't that fun.
Sorry there hasn't been a lot of archaeology here so far. Here's to a better week!
Jul 23, 2013
Ness of Brodgar, Year 2!!
I'm back at the Hamnavoe Hostel in Stromness, Orkney, Scotland.
I arrived in Scotland on July 23 with my family and friend, then we toured around Scotland until the 20th when I had to report to work.
Today was our second day on site and so far I have been digging in trench T, a new trench that was only opened up a few weeks ago. So far we have been finding rubble and worms,. but the geophysical survey of the area shows the sides of two fairly well-defined circular walls. Our site director and trench supervisors are hoping this is the top of a chambered tomb, possibly like Maes Howe, or Cuween Cairn. If this is the case, we would not open the chamber this season, but perhaps next year. I am impatient to see what it turns out to be. Easily my favorite archaeological sites have been the Neolithic chambered tombs here, even though I had to do the "inch-worm" on my side in order to get into some of the burial chambers. Now that's saying something, because that wasn't fun. It was tempting to just stay in the chamber once successfully within.
Later on this trip I will be gathering samples of Galena and Hematite from various locations around the Orkneys, in an attempt to find the source of pigments used as paint on site.
Today I did get to use the XRF machine (X-ray fluorescence) to test the composition of a floor in Structure 10.
Also, I wrote the "View from the Trenches" part of the orkneyjar site today. Feel free to read that.
Until tomorrow! Or maybe the next day if nothing too exciting happens.
I arrived in Scotland on July 23 with my family and friend, then we toured around Scotland until the 20th when I had to report to work.
Today was our second day on site and so far I have been digging in trench T, a new trench that was only opened up a few weeks ago. So far we have been finding rubble and worms,. but the geophysical survey of the area shows the sides of two fairly well-defined circular walls. Our site director and trench supervisors are hoping this is the top of a chambered tomb, possibly like Maes Howe, or Cuween Cairn. If this is the case, we would not open the chamber this season, but perhaps next year. I am impatient to see what it turns out to be. Easily my favorite archaeological sites have been the Neolithic chambered tombs here, even though I had to do the "inch-worm" on my side in order to get into some of the burial chambers. Now that's saying something, because that wasn't fun. It was tempting to just stay in the chamber once successfully within.
Later on this trip I will be gathering samples of Galena and Hematite from various locations around the Orkneys, in an attempt to find the source of pigments used as paint on site.
Today I did get to use the XRF machine (X-ray fluorescence) to test the composition of a floor in Structure 10.
Also, I wrote the "View from the Trenches" part of the orkneyjar site today. Feel free to read that.
Until tomorrow! Or maybe the next day if nothing too exciting happens.
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