10/05/16
One of the coolest things about growing up was
that my Grandmother read comic books. She started reading them in order
to get better at speaking English, and her tiny house was littered with
stacks of them. In fact, nearly every table in the house had a small
pile of comic books, waiting to be picked up and read. My favorite
comics growing up were Archie and Spider-Man, and my two favorite
characters were Peter Parker (Spidey himself) and Dilton Doiley
(Archie’s super smart friend). They were my favorite characters because
they often relied on their intellects and love of science to outsmart
their adversaries. I knew I wanted to be a scientist, ever since I was a
kid.
Archaeology is a science that relies on human
interpretation as much as it does on technology and methods of testing
and measuring our findings. We not only make technical analyses of our
discoveries, but we must rely on our own knowledge and experiences to
help us make our interpretations. And this, my friends, can only come
from life experiences. For example, today we hiked up the Northern Rim
of Chaco Canyon to a location known as Pueblo Alto. It was beautiful and
tiring. If I had to work on a project about Pueblo Alto, I would have a
distinct advantage by having made this journey, as opposed to having
only read about Pueblo Alto in books.
This is what makes archaeology so exciting. We
don’t just sit in libraries or labs, analyzing data and conducting
research. Our work is informed by real-world experiences that enable us
to make interpretations based on more than just raw data. And if our
interpretations are shown to be wrong, we accept the newer, better
information and move forward with this new information. This is my
favorite part of archaeology in particular, and science in general.
Once we returned to the site, we measured and
plotted the location of some walls we discovered, using a machine known
as a total station. This device uses a laser to get accurate
measurements. This data, when combined with the real-world experience of
excavating the walls and collecting artifacts, will help us understand a
great deal about the site. We found some amazing things today, and saw
some incredible scenery. Unfortunately, we missed our cookie break. Yes,
archaeologists love cookies.
After we got back to camp, we rested a bit before
heading into the lab. In lab we sorted our artifacts, and entered our
data into a computer before putting everything away in bags. Now, we get
to eat dinner and relax a bit. Luckily, the wind has died down. The
past two nights were extremely windy and cold. You know that movie “The
Thing?” A group of scientists are trapped in freezing weather and have
to fight off an alien. I keep hoping the same thing will happen here. Or
at least that we get our cookie break tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment