It is our 6th day on the island and time is going insanely fast. If it wasn’t for our built up dirt layer, the sunblock grime, blisters and awkward tan lines (sock lines are all the rage) reminding us of how long we have been here we would swear its only been a couple of days. Unfortunately, illness has started to spread through the camp (avoid Leisa). Leisa will tell you that excavating under the hot sun with dust and dirt coating your entire body while spluttering and snivelling is not a pleasant experience. For the rest of us “healthy” people the work is tiring but extremely rewarding. There is something amazing about unearthing and handling material that may not have been seen for hundreds of years. Leisa and I were fortunate enough to have spent the last 5 days excavating in our respective trenches and have been able to see the entire process from de-turfing with spades to troweling out the bottom of pits and postholes, or in my case a modern drain pipe. We uncovered a range of materials from a shiny obsidian blade to the more abundant fire cracked rocks and even a few fragments of a modern metal rake thrown in just to confuse us further. Today we were both moved from our beloved trenches, which after 5 days we had become quite attached to, to a survey crew. The total station, named Ingrid (previously referred to as R2-D2) and her partner in crime the prism were our temperamental tools for the day. We can tell you now it is incredibly difficult to learn how to use a total station for survey in gale force winds as everything has to be level. As soon as you got it level and about to shoot in your location the wind would throw it all askew and you had to start all over again. Oh, and lets not forget the absolute power that comes with being on the survey crew as we set the pace of the excavation. As we have experienced it becomes increasing difficult to excavate around a large amount of artefacts and are incredibly thankful when the survey team arrives to record these artefacts and clear the space. Despite the difficulties we faced today it was a great learning opportunity to witness all the work being undertaken all over the site in different excavation areas and gaining a greater understanding of the site as a whole.
– Emma and Leisa