The average day in the field for the students on the GMI project includes excavating, recording, and surveying at the site, registering artefacts, forms, and photos after the field work has finished, and doing cooking and cleaning chores if it is their turn. However the work for the staff of the project does not stop there. For months before the season some staff are organizing everything from the supplies to the equipment being taking on the project, checking food quantities and booking the laptops and other electronics needed. Some of the staff even came out a week early to prepare for the field school and make sure we had a good site (full of interesting artefacts and features) for the students to excavate. For months after the project staff and volunteers are working on organizing the data and artefacts, cleaning and analysing them and guiding the students in their projects.
During the season staff are busy helping students throughout the day and building their knowledge in the evenings with lectures. After the days work is done there is always more project related work to be done on the databases as well as other personal work, whether it be writing applications for grants, keeping up on everyday work, working on a PhD, or preparing to embark into graduate studies. Often in the quarters someone can be seen working late into the night, only to get up early the next morning to do it all again.
The staff on the project, be they professional staff or graduate volunteers, gladly take on the work because as hard as they fall into their beds each night, the work is in an amazing place and the students are grateful for the opportunities and experience shared with them – and that makes it all worth it. Also, we get to avoid Auckland traffic for a few weeks!
– Josh