| Entry: | Yesterday I started a diary entry, and unfortunately the power went out before I could get it posted. It is saved on a different computer, so I will be posting this and then later when I can get to the computer, I'll enter the other one. Ok.
Today was spent trying to make sure we had defined the edges of the pit we were digging (cut- unit 15305, fill- unit 15306). We decided to wait on figuring out how the next area to the west (below unit 14218, the old animal burrow) connected. We ended up with pretty clear mud brick on all sides of the pit and were able to define fairly well the cut of the pit. We had to cut a bit more into the southern area that was part of the unit that Ros and I worked on with all the animal burrows (15300).
The idea was to make a plan of the cut after getting it cleaned, but unfortunately, no one brought the drawing boards out to the site, so Ray and I decided to shoot in all the points for the unit before lunch and get ready to make the plan after lunch. However, after lunch, there was some confusion about the stone that had been sticking up on the eastern side of the unit. Before, this was assumed to have been part of a grave that had been excavated last year, but then it became clear that there was something problematic with our mud brick wall since after the big rock was removed, there was another rock inclusion. When the top layer of that wall section was taken off, we found another rock, so decided that part was not mud brick. It looks also like there is another pit abutting that part of the wall from the east side. Peter and Eva think it might be another grave located above the one that was excavated last year.
Anyhow, Ray and I worked on making the plan of the unit while all of this was going on. He was taking measurements while I plotted the points. This was my first plan since being on the site this year, so I was anticipating a big screw up. However, it went well till the end when I accidentally erased one of my nail points after reorienting the paper for the third time. I plotted a few points wrong, but luckily it was an easy fix that I took care of this afternoon (this is graphics number 07/526)..
There apparently has been some discussion about the issue of these diaries being public, with regards to defining what the purpose of the diaries is, and concerns that the reading of the diaries for people not on site amounts to voyeurism. This doesn't really concern me for a number of reasons, the main one being that, due to my own preference, I rarely write things in here that I would be uncomfortable with anyone seeing. In defence of the diary concept in general, I do think that, if people write in the diaries and they are read while the excavation is going on, they can be a useful tool for understanding problems on the site that can be addressed more quickly. This doesn't really address the issue of making them public, per se, but I think another reason the idea of being public doesn't bother me is that I think archaeology as a discipline should be as transparent and as public as possible.
This sort of ties into what Katie H. was saying the other day, in terms of talking about how archaeology gets presented to the public and that we tend to pick a certain interpretation just for simplicity's sake. While this is practical since a general audience may not always understand some of the discussion that takes place, I don't really have a problem with having a more public acknowledgement that there is questioning that goes on while we interpret. In the most basic sense, that is what science involves. I think we tend also to worry a lot about how we can get funded if we aren't providing concrete results, etc. However, if there is a place where people can see the thought processes, discussion and progress of an archaeological excavation from a site that does have a high degree of notoriety, as well as one whose excavation is taken seriously, then I think that is a positive thing.
I would hope that people would try to be as open as possible while using discretion in regards to what they are talking about. While I agree that a private or even an anonymous entry option might allow people to be freer with their thoughts regarding issues they have, I also think that the type of problems that should potentially be dealt with via a diary entry (I mean here personality conflicts, procedural disagreements, etc, not really serious problems) can (or should) be brought up and dealt with in as diplomatic a way as possible. In terms of simply describing daily life on the site in a way that the public can connect to (I'm thinking of what Ray described), people should just write to the level that they are personally comfortable with.
Obviously, there can never be complete transparency or translation of ideas. What I have written now is not everything that I think, but a critical translation of my thought processes. If some poor person wants to spend his/her time sifting through all that, that's fine with me. However, probably the most acceptable solution to this problem is to just have a way for people to make their entries public or not however they choose, since in reality that's what people do with their own thoughts anyhow.Entered By: KJK |
