The flies are incredibly annoying. There’s a wall in the cave that is coated with them and if you walk too close, the wall literally comes alive, buzzing and swarming. These African flies go places no American flies would dare, like up pant legs and down shirts. They are so irritating!! But luckily only really come out in the afternoon sun... The dust was bad too the first couple days during backfill removal. It make our noses run and our throats hurt (occasionally) and made me cough and sneeze but now its not that bad.
We’re done with work for the day. Jessica and I managed the data catalog and numbered new artifact bags and I’m hoping we rotate excavators soon.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Today we actually began excavating. I am working in unit M15 with Andrew and Clemont, a French archaeologist. Our unit is the smallest, only 1 meter square and only about 2 feet deep. The level we are currently working in is believed to be from the Holocene Era and it is so cool to be unearthing things no human eyes have seen in nearly 10,000 years!
(photo by Andrew)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Today we finished digging out the units and I got to brush off dirt/dust from the excavation site in one of the units. I’m happy that the all of the units have finally been dug out and excavation can finally begin.
We got to take showers afterward! The water was cold and the flap to the tarp did not close all the way so we only spent roughly 20 seconds in the water on average, but it was worth it. It feels amazing to be clean.
As the sun was setting, we played with the kids. We took their pictures (and a few adults asked to have their photo, too), but after a while we had to say enough. The kids begin to grab at our arms and cameras, eager for us to take and show more photos. we met a few of the kids and tried to learn their names. They played volleyball and patty-cake with us. Eventually it was pretty dark and an older guy told them to go home.
(photo by Andrew)
We got to take showers afterward! The water was cold and the flap to the tarp did not close all the way so we only spent roughly 20 seconds in the water on average, but it was worth it. It feels amazing to be clean.
As the sun was setting, we played with the kids. We took their pictures (and a few adults asked to have their photo, too), but after a while we had to say enough. The kids begin to grab at our arms and cameras, eager for us to take and show more photos. we met a few of the kids and tried to learn their names. They played volleyball and patty-cake with us. Eventually it was pretty dark and an older guy told them to go home.
(photo by Andrew)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Good news – no one has gotten miserably sick yet! We were all exceedingly worried about this after all the stories we heard from last year but so far so good. Today we continued removing the backdirt from the site. The entire cave was hazy with a fine cloud of dust making it difficult to see and breathe. It was really hard work. We were all commenting on how tan we were, until we went to wash our hands for lunch and realized that our “tans” were really dust!! Most of the excavation units had sandbags and tarps to protect the fragile walls and there were many large rocks thrown into the pits as well to provide stability.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
our first day
Emerging from our tents this morning, we found ourselves confronted with a breathtaking view of the rift valley with the Gamo Highlands shimmering in the distance. It was slightly shocking to realize that there were houses where we thought was total darkness the night before and how close to the edge of the mountain we actually were. We walked down to the main camp area and assisted in setting up the research tent and organizing all of the supplies. We had noodles for breakfast/lunch then made our way down to the cave for the first time. Upon walking to the cave, we were struck by three thoughts –
1)the cave was much bigger than we expected
2)the cave was so beautiful! Especially with all the overhanging greenery and the trickling waterfall across the mouth
3)the overall wow factor – the sense that, yes, we really were here in Africa.
We spent the morning learning how to use the Total Station that we will be using for plotting artifacts and mapping the various stratigraphy levels and structures. In the afternoon we began the tedious task of removing the entire fill deposited at the end of the last dig season to protect the site.
1)the cave was much bigger than we expected
2)the cave was so beautiful! Especially with all the overhanging greenery and the trickling waterfall across the mouth
3)the overall wow factor – the sense that, yes, we really were here in Africa.
We spent the morning learning how to use the Total Station that we will be using for plotting artifacts and mapping the various stratigraphy levels and structures. In the afternoon we began the tedious task of removing the entire fill deposited at the end of the last dig season to protect the site.
Monday, February 7, 2011
We left Addis early after another delicious breakfast and headed out to the cave. It was about a 5 hour drive and it was so interesting to watch how the scenery changed from an arid rather barren landscape, to miles of farmland as far as the eye can see, to a more tropical lush highland landscape. We napped on and off but never for long because there was always something new to see around the corner. Driving through the various towns was especially interesting. They all had signs saying ‘Bon Voyage!’ when you exited the limits.
A few times we had to stop and wait for sheep or donkeys to cross the road and as we drove through Hosanna, one of the larger towns, we saw several people crowded around a huge dead hyena, though whether it was roadkill or hunted we didn’t know. We arrived at the base of Mount Damota and had to wait for the others to go pick up food and benzene for the generator in Soddo. While waiting, we got to meet all of the school children who attended school at the base of the mountain. Christopher bought a foot of sugar cane stalk and the children showed us how to eat it. It was really quite hilarious.
Later, it was a dark and stormy night…no, really, it was. We arrived at the Moche Borago campsite just before sundown. The land cruiser had overheated 40km back so we had a late start getting up the mountain. The ride up the mountain was quite exciting. Not only was the scenery of the farm and countryside beautiful, but the terrain was rough and it was not unlike a ride at a theme park. Once at the top, everyone was in a whirlwind of activity. The Izuzu had arrived before us with all of our gear and we were all in a race against both the sunset and a brewing storm. The crew and workers were hurrying to put up the large dining and kitchen tents to store all of our supplies before the storm hit. While they were doing this, we, the students, set out attempting to construct our own tents further up the hill. At this point, it was nearly pitch dark out and the winds were gusting up around 40mph. They were using all of the hammers and tools to set up the larger tents so we used stones as hammers to set our tent stakes. “We’re using stone tools!” We were so proud of our ingenuity and the fact that it was relatively successful. We managed to get settled without falling off the mountain or getting lost in the dark and we curled up in our tents and fell asleep.
(photo by Andrew)
A few times we had to stop and wait for sheep or donkeys to cross the road and as we drove through Hosanna, one of the larger towns, we saw several people crowded around a huge dead hyena, though whether it was roadkill or hunted we didn’t know. We arrived at the base of Mount Damota and had to wait for the others to go pick up food and benzene for the generator in Soddo. While waiting, we got to meet all of the school children who attended school at the base of the mountain. Christopher bought a foot of sugar cane stalk and the children showed us how to eat it. It was really quite hilarious.
Later, it was a dark and stormy night…no, really, it was. We arrived at the Moche Borago campsite just before sundown. The land cruiser had overheated 40km back so we had a late start getting up the mountain. The ride up the mountain was quite exciting. Not only was the scenery of the farm and countryside beautiful, but the terrain was rough and it was not unlike a ride at a theme park. Once at the top, everyone was in a whirlwind of activity. The Izuzu had arrived before us with all of our gear and we were all in a race against both the sunset and a brewing storm. The crew and workers were hurrying to put up the large dining and kitchen tents to store all of our supplies before the storm hit. While they were doing this, we, the students, set out attempting to construct our own tents further up the hill. At this point, it was nearly pitch dark out and the winds were gusting up around 40mph. They were using all of the hammers and tools to set up the larger tents so we used stones as hammers to set our tent stakes. “We’re using stone tools!” We were so proud of our ingenuity and the fact that it was relatively successful. We managed to get settled without falling off the mountain or getting lost in the dark and we curled up in our tents and fell asleep.
(photo by Andrew)
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Layover Adventures
We had to change planes in Amsterdam, so to cut down on jetlag and get additional stamps in our passport, we decided to stay the day/night. At first I was enthralled by the city. It's so quaint and old-fashioned. As time went by though, I realized I was absurdly homesick. Not for America, but for Paris! Amsterdam is extremely similar but I was starting to notice the differences. Firstly, everything is English and considerably touristy. Secondly, the people are friendly. While both of these helpful when traveling I found myself distinctly missing the isolated "island unto oneself" feeling. Weird, but true. We went on a wonderful free tour (some new Euro-promo deal, they have them in almost every city and I highly recommend them) led by this hilarious Australian which basically took us around and through the red light district, the various coffee houses and churches eventually ending at the Anne frank house. I remember reading her story in eighth grade but it was still fascinating to actually see where it all took place. The steps hidden behind the staircase were so incredibly steep that it was like climbing up a ladder. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult it was to live during those times. The second day we went to the rijiks and van goh museums. I loved the rijiks because it was multi dimensional. There were sculptures, pottery, weapons, boats, silver pieces, and massive dollhouses in addition to paintings. It kinda showed a history of dutch artistic culture which I thought was really cool. The van gogh was whatever. I am not a huge fan of paintings so I kinda zoned out after a while, but I did like how the museum was arranged so that you followed his life from beginning on the first floor to end at the top floor. We also went to the I AM AMSTERDAM sign which was super cool.
Outside it is absolutely FREEZING! all that cold weather blowing in from the North Sea. Taxis were no where to be found and would have been expensive anyways so we basically museum/restaurant hopped our way back to the hostel.
p.s. fun fact learned on the tour: there are more bikes registered in the city than there are inhabitants of the city.
Outside it is absolutely FREEZING! all that cold weather blowing in from the North Sea. Taxis were no where to be found and would have been expensive anyways so we basically museum/restaurant hopped our way back to the hostel.
p.s. fun fact learned on the tour: there are more bikes registered in the city than there are inhabitants of the city.
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