Today was the last day of the
first week of excavation. The dirty clothed, blistered hands and sun-burnt
faces of this crew is a world away from the people I met on Monday. They have
moved from students to dig bums and are now starting to become addicted to the
dirt. Like most last/travel days, we only worked half the time which
always makes for an interesting rush. I took my crew back to the site to finish
up one last unit. This unit was being taken to 70cmbs in dense clay, roots and
rock. While the remainder of the class had moved on to the bigger, “sexier”
sites, my crew was learning the lesson about finishing a job you started and
that even the small sites need your full attention. We had two hours to finish
a level, profile, take a column sample and backfill. The crew I met on Monday
wouldn't have even sunk a pick in the ground, but these dig bums were throwing
dirt like pro-archaeologists. I found that I didn't need to micromanage
anymore; they knew this unit, this dirt and their team members. To say the
least, we finally finished CU 9 after 5 days! We cleaned up as a team, ate as
we worked and were finally ready to go home. However, it didn't seem like
people were itching to leave. They wanted to stay with their new friends.
A
family they will have throughout their careers. Welcome to the Archaeology
Family.
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