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Field Dispatch 12.
Wednesday, 25 June 2008 |
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Photograph 1
Photograph 2
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Analysis in the Lab.
Consolidating and backfilling our 2008 excavation area took longer than other years, as our back dirt pile included about a season and a half's worth of excavated sediment. Since we started excavating Platform 11 in 2007, we started by digging out last year's fill. So, when we backfilled this year, we, of course, had to move that sediment as well. Following days of moving dirt to cover and protect the prehispanic buildings that we exposed earlier, laboratory work has seemed easy and engaging so far.
I have spoken in year's past about the reasons why we always cover the excavations. But to make a long story short, we are obligated to do so by our permits with the Mexico government since sufficient funding is not available to make El Palmillo a permanent, guarded, and reconstructed archaeological zone.
In addition, by first consolidating and then backfilling, we protect the prehispanic architecture that we exposed. If we did not backfill, our pits would fill with trash and water, and the prehispanic architecture could rapidly deteriorate. We also could invite unauthorized digging into the ruins.
Over the last weeks, our North American field team has grown larger as we gear up for analysis. Hilary arrived prior to the end of the field season and is now helping with various analytical tasks in the lab. Scott and Heather are now also here, analyzing the human remains and fauna remains respectively. This year, we have found far more human burials than we did during any of the prior three seasons.
Soon, our Field Museum illustrator, Jill, is scheduled to arrive to assist Meghan with the backlog of artifact illustrations that still have to be drawn. Marijke has been working on the maps of the excavated architecture, and now has turned to coding ceramic information.
As usual, Linda and I have focused on the analysis of the artifacts from the excavations, first the pottery (the most abundant class of material), then the stone artifacts, and finally the shell (of which there is not much). Soon, we will be starting the photography of key artifacts.
We feel fortunate that we have moved out of the field as the last three-to-four days have been very soggy. Although I adore the field, particularly in relation to the lab, one of the few benefits is that we do not have to concern ourselves as much about the rain.
Likewise, I miss our daily interactions with our great Matatlán crew, but I do not miss the weekly, night time preparations for payday when I have to write out pay stubs and arrange the exact change for more than 20 members of our crew. Moving to the lab makes this task is much easier as our crew is so much smaller.
Because I so much enjoy the process and discoveries of field study, each year I look for the silver linings that help make the lab study more enjoyable. Discoveries, such as Heather's identification in the faunal remains of a bobcat bone that was worked into a bone tool, help make lab days interesting.
The word of the day is hueso, which means “bone.”
Image captions:
1. 2008 field crew under the “palmillos.”
2. Field equipment now in the lab.
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