Survey involved pinpointing the exact location of artefacts
while the excavators worked away
Dear Dig Diaries
After waking up refreshed from a deep sleep in a tent (who would have known) we dived into another day of uncovering New Zealand archaeology on Great Mercury Island. With trowels, spades and developing blisters the excavation teams went on their way. The survey teams, on the other hand, were already underway, setting up for an eventful day two. Our job as members of the survey team was to ensure the spatial position of all subsurface finds were recorded and they were entered into a database which will wait patiently for when we get back to the mainland to analyse. Some of the awesome discoveries in excavation that were made, which we in turn recorded, included postholes, a drain and even a potential rua (storage pit)! What we learnt very quickly whilst surveying is that when you’re on survey you are a very popular person, and in high demand amongst the various excavators. When we weren’t frantically running between trenches we found ourselves immersed in registering the hundreds of artefacts.
The stunning view
we were treated to
while we surveyed
throughout the day
Ingrid, as we affectionately called our total station (refer to previous blog post) tends to be a tad grumpy in the morning and today was no different, making an already difficult task even worse. By the afternoon however, Ingrid was friends with us again and we were back to recording like crazy. The major benefit of survey was that we got to keep an eye on everything that was happening in all three trenches. This meant we were often the first to find out about any big discoveries and could help by circulating this info around to the other excavators.
Regardless of Ingrid’s behaviour we ended the day on time, happy with how the day had gone and with the finds that were made. With grubby bodies and the reddish tinge of sunburn there was nothing else to do but head down to the beach and jump into the crystal clear water. For now we can rest our bodies and only wait in anticipation for tomorrow and the finds we might make.
– Bailey and Corrine