After almost a week of near perfect weather for survey, we have had to deal with morning fog, rain, and now cold and wind from the north. Tuesday, it rained all day so we stayed indoors and turned to the analysis of the artifact collections that we had made during our first week here. The next day, the ground was still very wet so we took the morning to visit collections at the Rizhao Museum. We were shown excavated materials (whole ceramic vessels and jade ornaments) from the central site of our study region, Liangchengzhen, as well as elaborately decorated bronze containers from the site of Gu He Ai. The latter materials are especially important this year as we mapped a small, peripheral piece of Gu He Ai on one side of the Gu He River last week, and will get back to finish mapping and collecting the site tomorrow afternoon or Saturday.

By late morning Wednesday the sky had cleared sufficiently and the ground dried enough that we were able to resume our survey. Despite a dramatic turn toward winter, we also were able to get a full day in today. We were all worried this morning as sleet gently fell on our cab as we waited to start at the southern edge of Rizhao. Fortunately after a brief delay, the falling moisture ceased, and we were able to go to work. Although we did not find many sites on Wednesday or Thursday as we walked mostly through low-lying alluvial land, we did discover a significant Longshan period settlement each day. Both clusters of Longshan pottery were situated on low piedmont rises above the flat bottomland where rice and winter wheat are now grown.

Even when we do not find many sites, walking through the Shandong countryside is both informative and fascinating. For example, earlier this week we saw three women weaving stands of cane into thin beams for making roofs of houses. At other times, we have witnessed noodle-making, ceramic production, the mending of fishnets, rabbit hunting, among many other activities. We also see a wide variety of agricultural strategies and crop regimes, many dependent on different irrigation techniques. The astonishment (and sometimes amusement) of local people as they watch us tramp through their fields and orchards is at times humorous. Yet once in a while, we have almost caused accidents as bicycle riders turn their heads and crane their necks to see us and lose their balance or control. Over the years, I have become more and more cognizant of trying not to catch people unawares, and of being aware that you are almost always the center of someone's gaze and attention. Sundays generally attract the largest crowds as students are out of school and seem to have time to follow us (sometimes in groups) from one side of a village to the other.

For lunch, we look for restaurants that are close to where we are surveying. Consequently, we often pick out small rural places, where they have told us that we are the first foreigners ever to set foot in the place. Nevertheless, we have been fortunate in generally finding good food. In fact, I have usually found that I enjoy the lunches that we eat in rural settings during our fieldwork better than the suppers that we have in the restaurants near our hotel in Rizhao. Perhaps, that is because by lunch I always have built up a hearty appetite!