| Entry: | Day 14-
Really hot day today- I'm feeling a bit dehydrated.
As a side note- I just tried to open the daily sketch, and it took 20 minutes to do nothing.. This computer is too old..
I spent most of today with Ben taking down the rest of the bulk in unit 14213. Pretty unexciting really. We found a harder area to the south of, and encompassing unit 14277 (that we now have concluded is a unit that was created arbitrarily, and actually isn't a pit), that interestingly lies under the area where the tiles are (to the north of this). The south area of the bulk area where we were working consists of very loose soil, with a lot of root and animal disturbance, so we took this down to the level of the eastern units (formerly trench 5's extension). To the middle of the area we were digging, the soil was more clay like, potential mud brikish material??? Unfortunately we couldn't take out all of this area due to the fact that we were getting very close to Alex's grave, and because of the new revelation that the skellies may be Muslim, we couldn’t take it out.
As we were beavering away doing this,. Peter kept coming over and putting forward the fact that once we had finished we could go dig in the house (Alex's house.. The man has all the luck!), unfortunately, every time we thought we had done the unit sufficiently, we were asked to take out more,. Frustration!!
However, after lunch, our time came- we got to dig in the room!! Eva and Frank had been digging out unit 14279 (the second infill), so all that was left for us to do was clean the area. However, the sun blasts onto that side of the trench by afternoon, and the heat was stifling. So Ben and I decided on a strategy- one cleans, and the other rests until the one cleaning gets too hot. Unfortunately after all this effort, the sun was too immense, and our 'shade making apparatus' (i.e. tall people, a tarpaulin and an umbrella) was insufficient, so that a photo wasn’t taken. Tomorrow morning job.
All in all a good day. Everyone seemed in good spirits, and I got to dig something INTERESTING!
Ok, now for some random blethering -
I'm finding the way that the burial situation is being dealt with fascinating. All those identity issues and heritage issues that were bought up in my course this year. Its interesting that if 10-12th C burials were uncovered in England, no one in the general public would probably blink an eye lid. It definitely emphasises that heritage is a fluid concept, and the concept of heritage differs form country to country. Well, can we say country to country? Maybe between cultural groups is a better phrasing? But then how do you define cultural groups? Interesting. Which reminds me, Ben raised an interesting point about NAGPRA in America- how the archaeological remains are a lot older than the cultural group trying to claim ownership and ancestry to it. Issues are raised about cultural continuity- how old is this group? Have they always been there? Can they really say that its part of their ancestry??
In relating this back to England- the example of sea henge springs to mind. Where Buster the ''hippy'' (as he is known) refused to remove himself from the central wood of the henge in protest to its being removed from its sacred intended place. This raises another question- is it better to use a monument, and it be destroyed, or for it not to be used at all?
After all, heritage is a concept often used as a political tool, and is therefore extremely intrinsically entwined within issues concerning identity.
Anyways. Enough rambling. All I have left to say is ''Meep''.Entered By: RJW |
