14th
The pace quickens!
Wednesday 14th September 2011
Today was one of our busiest days! We started at 7.30 as usual and since yesterday have been joined by our 10th student - one of the students from the local university. Everyone is thoroughly immersed in the work and seems to be enjoying the work and learning a lot day by day. Most of the teaching will take placed in the field, however, we will have sessions every Saturday afternoon in the local university in order to give some specific details relating to the site, to previous excavations and to certain excavation, analysis and conservation techniques.
Today, the second trench was opened which will investigate the results of the radar survey carried out some weeks ago. Thus far only the surface layers have been started, but there is some interesting information coming up - particularly relating to a previous excavation at the site some years before.
In T9 work continued at quite a pace in the cemetery - with students working in three main areas and the supervisor and teacher circulating between the group to advise them on the best working practice, to answer questions and give mini-lectures in the trench as certain issues arose.
Over in T10 the workers were kept busy, as they were mostly no longer required in T9 - with the exception of a couple of workers on the sieves - all looking at material from different burials - and keeping their eagle eyes open for baskets coming with material from the different grave numbers! All were doing well and the students learning quickly as to the importance of keeping the material from different features separate.
Drawing commenced in T9 as well, and the levels were taken and the students shown how to use the total station. After Friday - the day off - they will also work with the theodolite so that they are aware of the different types of equipment for various tasks. Everyone is most keen to learning about the surveying equipment and we are teaching the students now two by two on the total station!
Let us see what tomorrow will bring - it will certainly be another busy day!
Students learning how to set out a new trench and create a right angle using tapes!
