Surveying the dunes
Before the field school begins, an advance crew is working out on Ahuahu getting the house ready, preparing the site for excavation, and completing some outstanding tasks. Because we host up to 30 people during the height of the field school, organising the house is a really big job. For me figuring out menus and food shopping lists is one of the biggest jobs. Food shopping for 30 people for two weeks, on an island with no shops can be challenging.
Josh, Matt, and Patricia (survey crew) have been setting up permanent stations around the tombolo (central area of the island) for total station set ups. This saves us time later. Because they are set up in positions with good visibility across the tombolo, when we move to a new area we don’t need to worry about discrepancies in the spatial data. Because there are stock moving around, smaller pegs get moved. Now we have very large, deep wooden pegs as permanent stations.
Louise explaining to graduate students how to record eroding areas
We also worked on a survey along the dune recording areas of eroding archaeological remains. These areas are exposed due to a range of processes including stock movement and wind erosion.
Recording large exposures
We’ve also had the privilege of working with Veronika Meduna (of Radio NZ fame) this week on audio and video clips about our research on the island. We have greatly enjoyed working with Veronika and look forward to the results of her hard work.
Veronika talking to Rod Wallace
We eagerly await the arrival of the field school students and are excited about the work ahead!
Stay tuned for more updates 🙂
~ Rebecca