Excavation 1: Off to a Good Start

Today I started my own excavation from the very beginning with a partner as opposed to working on excavations already in progress with the TA's. Ill be working in a pair for the first week or so, as it is easier for the TA's to keep an eye on us.

First we split into groups - Emily and Gen are in the next room over from me, which I was initially bummed about, but now I am quite happy as it means we have more to discuss over lunch and dinner. Anyway, I have an amazing TA. She has been working on this project for a few years and has a ton of field experience, which is wonderful.

Anyway, my first excavation had lots of loose soil associated with it, so I thought the whole thing might be a "sieve job," meaning there is no real "excavation," instead, all the soil goes through a series of screens and we pick out the bone fragments from the screens. We ended up have about 1/4 of the ball stay intact, and after we pre-screened the loose dirt using our eyes we started excavating the ball. It ended up crumbling into 2 so I took the smaller. I didn't think it had much in it, and boy was I wrong! Today I located and exposed 6 longbones, a series of cranial fragments, half the rib cage, and 3/4 of the vertebral column. It was a very successful day. Tomorrow my plan is to finish exposing the bones, lift and clean them, and then run all the soil through the screens. Ideally I'd like to be mostly done by tomorrow, but I'd rather go slowly and do a good job than rush.

Lab Sweet Lab

Excavating is frustrating in a way because the state of the remains is not good - many of the bones are difficult to recover and every time a small piece of bone flakes I feel terrible, and apologize to the little baby. Its not like there's a better way, I just feel bad. On the other hand, there's a great sense of accomplishment knowing that the remains of this tiny little baby are being preserved and are in tact because of your hard work.

Anyway, after work/school Gen and I went for a swim. The current was super strong today, so my legs felt like absolute jelly after only 1/2 the bay and back. I ended up making it to the 3/4 point and back which was good, but I have a sinking feeling that my legs are going to hurt when we walk up the demon hill tomorrow morning.

Tonight Em and I are studying for the big anatomy bell-ringer style test on Wednesday. I am very nervous as this test is one component of an independent study I will receive credit for through the University of Toronto. This is a huge bonus as it means I will take one fewer class this year, which will give me more time to focus on my research.

The field school staff told us there would be a field trip on Wednesday to reward us for the test... I guess it'll be a nice surprise!

Anyway, off for dinner and to study!