Kurly Tlapoyawa
October 16, 2016
Today was a long day. Or at least it felt that
way. I didn't get much sleep last night because for some reason I kept
waking up every two hours or so and checking my phone to see what time
it was. Now I feel exhausted, but I suspect a nice long shower will perk
me back up until dinnertime.
Today we continued to work on our test units.
Sitting in the sun on our knees, hunched over, and slowly scraping layer
upon layer of earth away with our trowels. I love it. I read a Calvin
and Hobbes comic strip once where Calvin was pretending to be an
archaeologist. He sat in the dirt, meticulously excavating a patch of
his backyard with a gardening trowel and his dad’s shaving brush. After a
while he looks up and says something like “archaeologists have the most
mind-numbing job on the planet.” As much as I love Calvin and Hobbes, I
would have to disagree.
Sure, not everyone would find archaeology as
enjoyable as I do. But I find the act of digging with my trowel to be
highly meditative. I love the feeling of slowly pulling back each layer
of earth as if it were the page of a book, wondering what forgotten
secrets may hide just underneath. It is as if I am reading the site like
a history book. And when I uncover an artifact, I feel a sense of
satisfaction knowing that I am the first person to hold this object in
many years. Today I found a handful of prehistoric pottery sherds, and I
can’t help but wonder what the story behind each one may be.
Were they owned by the same people? Was the
finely painted sherd I found part of a gift, given to a loved one? Or
were these trade items that travelled hundreds of miles before arriving
in my little test unit? This curiosity about our past is what drives an
archaeologist to do what we do. So yes, the wind can be a nuisance. And
nobody likes having sand blown into their face all day while they bake
in the sun. But the work itself is what makes it all worth it. So, sorry
Calvin. Maybe you just aren’t cut out for the field.
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