Why should you study archaeology?Archaeology is the ideal subject for those of you who are torn between science and art subjects, since it contains an exquisite mixture of both. Of course, you may be tempted to do the MSC, but this course should still contain an amount of theory, otherwise you are just making lists. This is what some of us do if we are not careful. (There will be a theory post as to why theory is important, and some of the different strands that provide a framework for interpretation.)

An interest in the past and how the populace lived, thrived and died is useful, and if an element of prehistory doesn’t grab you, then something historic or exotic to you in another land other than Britain, if you are sick of Stonehenge and castles, will appeal. If you want to do be an Egyptologist though do check they have an Egyptologist in the department, and this goes for any other niche interest. 

Still, why? There is the detective cliche, sorting out strands of evidence, making analogies and using your imagination, if you want. Then there are all the pictures, of sites, artefacts, maps and plans, which are brilliant if you are dyslexic (like me). I’m not kidding, there were a higher proportion of dyslexics on my archaeology course in Lampeter than on other courses. Even if you are not dyslexic, it has great visual and kinetic appeal. Think of all the archaeological fields, digging, drawing, artefacts, experimental-the latter of which involves various activities reproduced as best we can to discover how the past was done, what it might have looked like. Then there is ethnography and anthropology, where you can spend some time studying modern analogues.

 Archaeology has so many facets, some of which you can learn to ignore the more specialised you become, others not. You may find you regret this when someone asks you a question about something you used to know at the beginning, but hey, if it is Roman British Pottery you’re after… Of course you don’t need to specialise too much in the degree, but there is an element of it, because of who you have there in your department.

Archaeology though, analysis, synthesis, communication and imagination, and measures of science and philosophy, you can’t beat it!

Easter Island UCL picture

I’m sharing a survey via the Cardiff University archaeology Facebook page about personal protective equipment (PPE) and the problems faced by women obtaining and wearing it. It has some very pertinent questions https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=146286844343.   When I was a digger finding smaller than size 6 steel toe-caps was a problem, but not impossible (steel-toe capped wellies for chainsawing was another matter). Fluoro jackets were unisex, or rather male, so the small or extra small sizes were what you got. Donkey jackets and vests, likewise. The length of the arms and chest size tended to be a problem. I wonder if this has changed?  I look forward to the survey results.

I thought they were joking about the pink. No pink in my day. Is it a good thing? If it fits, do I care? It is rather odd gender stereotyping.

http://www.thesafetysupplycompany.co.uk/c/276225/1/pink-ppe.html?crtag=dgh&gclid=CPWH3bO55swCFUKZGwodeYwFPg

http://www.capefearsafety.com/blogs/news/14818889-the-importance-of-personal-protective-equipment-specifically-fit-for-women

http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/10602-Women-and-PPE-Finding-the-right-fit

Eygptology 

(or why I never really got into it but am finding some of it more interesting now.) 

Egyptology always seemed to me to be about wealthy people investigating other wealthy people from a long time ago, somewhere hot and sunny and with cheap labour. I could never see the attraction to studying long lines of aristocrats enslaving others and building big monuments to prove their divinity, as I understood it then. However, what experiences have I had that counter this? 

Along time ago, as a child I saw the Tutankhamen exhibit in London. I remember buying a postcard. Then again in a museum in Dorset, there was a complete replica of all the objects and the tomb chamber, which I found strangely moving. More moving still was the Dorchester Museum exhibits of Maiden Castle. Archaeology was winning, but the prehistory of this country remained uppermost. My opinion of Egyptology altered little, toffs doing toffs, at least at the beginning, until I went to the Egyptology gender conference at Swansea University, where they discussed the New Kingdom tomb builders homes and lives, particularly women’s, at a place called Deir el -Medina. However, still a lot of obsessions with hieroglyphs and visuals i noticed. Understandable, when there is a lot of it about, I suppose, but as a British Prehistorian, I also want interpretations of artefacts and spatial relationships etc. (By the way Egpytologists seemed like lovely people).

Volunteering at the Egypt Centre at Swansea did nothing much to alter my views, somewhat based in ignorance perhaps,  of a profession seemingly obsessed with the upper echelons and their artefacts. I am a British Prehistorian at heart and had studiously ignored Egyptology. I shared my opinions with an Egyptology Student at Cardiff, who said she had felt the same until she actually went to Egypt, and had an epiphany. 

Recently, there has been a series about Egypt and the tombs on the BBC . It was made more apparent that the workers were well looked after, employed by the state. It is the story of these cogs in the wheel that continue to interest me. True, I am beginning to see the fascination with some of the spaces and beliefs created and maintained, the tomb rooms, the passages, but it is the ‘doing’ of them by the people that really engages me. 

The female Egyptologist stood in the chamber with the empty tomb, and I got the feeling of being with the dead similar to my experience of finding skeletons on British sites. I was reminded of the past and figures who’d tended to the last rites of the person interred there. Quiet, quiet. Maybe instructions and the sound of effort, and then leaving, all quiet. Their presence was there. 

I do not know if I will ever get to Egypt, the pyramids certainly seem impressive, mind boggling even, and that is quite a journey I have made to admit that. In the desert, beneath the sand are earlier tombs, not so big, and whole villages or towns perhaps, where once was supported populations from the richness of the Nile, and other water sources, until maybe the floods failed. When or if it is ever safe to go, perhaps I will, and be ‘converted’ fully. 

http://www.tutankhamun-exhibition.co.uk/the-exhibition

Tutankhamen

Deir el Medina

Wiki, Mountenlearning, 

1st November 2015

In the Library

 I was sat last week on a modern sofa, with an organic hot chocolate in a paper cup,   in my local university library looking at the abstracts in Antiquity and The Cambridge Archaeological Journal. Should you have access, these caught my eye, but not enough at the time to read them fully. I think i really should. But call it a lazy research moment. 

Antiquity vol 89:347 Oct.2015- visuals in archaeology. As it points out, “Archaeology is a very visual subject”, and i have always said it attracts more Dyslexics because of it. But not every archaeological report or book does itself justice re quality of illustrations, says the author. (I am also interested in how illustrations reflect and create gender identities and roles, especially in prehistory.) There is also an article on Stonehenge diet to get to.

Next, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Vol 25, No 4 Nov 2015. A journal i once briefly helped edit in a very small way, when i was at Cambridge, and so there is an issue with my name in it. 

There was plenty in here, including some reviews of Hodder and Shank’s fairly but not so recent books, but also articles on evolution, i.e. that the human became distinct through its teaching abilities as much as its learning ones, naming us Homo Docens. Another article that looked juicy was one on Neolithic “objects, stamps and figurines” as did an article explaining that modern humans, and perhaps Neanderthals were the first to travel by water in the Palaeolithic. Would it explain some speed of movement east, in some cases? I’ll have to read it fully to see if the author considers this.

Again, i did not read enough to explain everything further, but it whets the appetite. So maybe i will get back to you. Or you can find the journals online. http://www.journals.cambridge.org/jid_CAJ and  www.antiquity.ac.uk/ .

10 October 2015 Mainly Women

Homo Naledi was recently excavated from a South African cave (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34210330)and (http://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=homo%).

 The women excavators, BBC news

Aside from the importance of the new finds was the fact that it had been excavated mainly by women. I was immediately reminded of the photos of Dorothy Garrod’s excavations at Mount Carmel in Palestine from 1929-1934, which were also largely women staffed digs, including local women.

Dorothy Garrod and her women staff.

Dorothy Garrod was the first woman appointed professor at Cambridge University and the director of the excavations. Her work led to a greater knowledge of prehistory. ww2.arch.cam.ac.uk and trailblazers.com are interesting sites about her and other women archaeologists although the coverage and portraits in the latter are not necessarily comprehensive, sometimes leaving some important information out. (For example, that Mary Leakey, the discoverer of Lucy and the Laetoli footprints from c. 3.5 million years ago amongst other things, in Africa, had a major falling out with her husband Louis Leakey, which i believe led to solo digs before his death, not just after. But i digress, and it is still a good site.)

The Homo Naledi excavation was run by a man, but it is interesting that the television coverage made something of the fact that women were the excavators, when many women have been and continue to be involved in the field anyway! I suppose being ‘entirely of women’ is the unusual thing here. But it is not the first time.  I hate this photo below though, it looks like a very patronising hug from the director to one of the diggers.

Digger and director in harmony? Guardian newspaper.

But perhaps i am being harsh and cynical! http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/sep/10/homo-naledi-small-spelunkers-required-how-an-advert-led-to-the-discovery-of-homo-naledi .

Anything that raises the profile of women in the field must be a good thing?

20th September, Harry Stoke my first dig

My first archaeological excavation experience was in July 1986 (or 87) working on a Bristol City Community Programme for the long-term unemployed. I joined the excavation in its last two months, a medieval country site with some stone surface and possibly a bit of Roman tile. It wasn’t huge, and was staffed by a crew of either interested and sometimes archaeologically qualified people and the reluctant and petulant. It was run by the Bristol City Museum’s Rod Burchill, or ‘Rod the Pot’, an expert in medieval pottery, short, pot-bellied, with a bad stutter and archaeological beard, combining strict marshalling of the workforce and a ready laugh. 

I knelt on the surface we were cleaning off (nothing there by the way) barely knowing how to hold and use a trowel, watching the others in hope of revelation.  I tried to copy their movements. Likewise using a mattock was difficult at first, it seemed to have a life of its own, but with instruction i learnt. I also learnt the mattock swing could become a golfing shot, thanks to one unenthusiastic digger, but keen golfer*. I did a little planning (i.e. drawing the stone surface to scale). 

We sat in the site hut doing crosswords at tea-break and there was the ritual of putting the kettle on the large gas rings beforehand. I discovered steel-toe capped boots, how heavy they were, how they must be cleaned before entry into the hut. I was a fit cyclist, so i coped well physically. There were very few women on the site, and i was part-time, (3 days), which is very unusual on a dig, because you want to keep continuity as you dig features, but we handled it, and i don’t see why archaeological units could not do this now. All you have to do is communicate on the switch day. 

Other things I learnt was to make sure i was on time, to clean the tools after use at the end of each day, and not to walk on the trowelled area! I was also terribly scared of making a mistake as i first trowelled, but this can ease. However, i don’t think you ever lose that fear completely, say when you come to a type of feature you have not excavated before. They are all unique even when they are similar. 

After the dig was over, some of us were transferred to the wildlife conservation unit, where i learnt new skills. It was a bit of a shock at first, but i grew to value that work as well and it became important in my understanding of the work of our ancestors. Experimental archaeology, as it were. 

 Rod later recommended me to another archaeological project a little while later, for which i am grateful and was kind to me whenever i saw him subsequently in the Museum. He died a few years ago. 

*actually i’m not sure whether this wasn’t a spade now i think about it but either way lumps of stone and mud went hurtling across the site and over the hedge!

Mortimer Wheeler, Sean Riordain, Gordon Childe, BBC Pictures, above.

  13th September “Animal, Vegetable or Mineral?”  

I’ve just watched an episode from the 1950’s of “Animal, Vegetable or Mineral” on the BBC website. It was a programme in which archaeological experts were shown objects and had to guess what they were and the time from which they came. Regulars were Glyn Daniel, Sir Mortimer Wheeler and Gordon Childe, the biggest names in archaeology probably of the 20th century. I’m sure i remember seeing this programme as a repeat when i was a child. 

I enjoyed watching this today, seeing the wonderful accuracy of their dating, including a quip about radio-carbon dating from Childe, who had a lot to lose from it! Objects included a female figurine from Dolni Vestonice, and a Neolithic pot-“you could tell it was Neolithic because it was so bad”. It had feminine features. It was interesting that the “goddess” interpretation of the figurine was not mentioned, and there were various jokes about the pottery vessel, i.e. not seeing a woman ever looking like that. Of course the “goddess” interpretations are not without problems, given that there are various figurines in different contexts, and not all female. The jokes are of the time, and i wondered if they would be made now? Possibly. Still, it was lovely to see these icons in action.

The objects came from a Museum in Prague and were to be displayed the coming week in the British Museum. What a shame we do not have such a programme on television now, telling us of what is due to be shown. It was also great to see the figurine, and realise how small it was!

Here is a link to the programme http://bbc.in/1wUdfmC 

Here is the figurine from Getty Images

Tips for clothing on digs

Summer    

1.Make sure shirts are long enough to cover your bottom when you are crouched over

2.Wear long sleeved cotton shirts which you can usually buy from oxfam etc, or splash out on some technical ware from a walking shop. A vest underneath gives you the option of stripping off if it is dull but warm, otherwise just the shirt will do. Do not have a low-necked top unless you don’t mind exposing yourself. Make sure the shirt is thick enough to keep the sun from getting through.

3.If you are not wearing a helmet, get a wide-brimmed hat

4.Wear sunscreen

5.Wear trousers not shorts-again lightweight cotton/combats or technical trousers

Winter

1. Layer up, then you can strip off as you get warm. Thermal thin underlayer, slightly thicker mid layer, top layer. Thicknesss depends on whether you are getting kit from a walking shop, or just buying a cotton sweat-top for the middle, which will work fine.

2.gortex or other waterproof over -socks or socks like sealskins are fab, or just go for a thin and thicker woolly pair and keep the boots well-proofed. Big socks over trousers. 

3.Use wool mix or other technical fabrics close to the skin, long in the back again! Wool stays warm when wet.

4.Woollen boot insoles are simply magnificent when it gets cold. They make a huge difference!

5.Cycling shops sell under helmet beanies. I never had to wear a helmet when i dug, but i always wore a hat, usually a woollen beret. 

Generally

1.Make sure your trousers are strong and flexible enough in the seat and knees, otherwise they will split! They will go in the knees eventually though. Army surplus combats can be useful. Low waists will leave gaps, but this can be made up with longer shirts. 

2.Always wear steel-toe capped boots. Riggers will fill with dry mud/stones but are easy to take on and off on a muddy site. I have not tried the modern boots with steelies, so can’t comment.

3. Neither can i comment on fleeces in the field. I have used them walking and cycling and they are lighter than wool and can be quite technical, i.e. breathable, waterproof, windproof. Cheaper options include wool mix jumpers from charity shops. Ordinary fleeces are cheap and plentiful, see charity shops again.

4. I have not normally had to work with high vis vests and the like so you may well hear better advice re that. I’ve worn a Hi-vis coat, and if you can afford it go for gortex, or similar, it is excellent. You will sweat like a pig otherwise. 

I welcome suggestions from current diggers working in more recent, highly defined corporate environments on the expectations of employers and the merits of technical kit from outdoor shops for use on digs.

Daniel Jackson in SG1. Sensitive, intelligent; an expert in ancient Egyptian style languages, who also goes into combat and handles himself pretty well. Why does he know so much about everything? Or are we yet to have him confronted by a British Iron age hill-fort on another planet and have him fail to lecture the rest of the team on ritual rubbish deposits, iron bars and round houses? At least he wears glasses. 
Indianna, well, what can i say that is new? The swashbuckling, and over informed sarcastic lecturer. How would you feel if he turned up in the office with his whip and sweating, only for him to disappear off set chasing men in uniform? At least his father had the beard and tweeds. Of course, we loved them both, and never tire of being told we remind someone of them when we wear our sun hats.

Unfortunately there are few females. There was Lara Croft with unfeasibly lifted chest and acrobatic turns. There was also a female tomb-robbing archaeologist in Star Trek, the love interest of Captain Picard, sci fi’s most famous ex-archaeology student. A bitter Professor also makes an appearance in the show, again suggesting that most of archaeology is subterfuge, resulting in dodging politically or financially motivated warriors across the galaxy. 

This blog is a place to explain and share aspects of archaeological theory and practice, and discoveries and themes that interest me and might interest you. I have been a commercial digger in Britain and an academic student of archaeology at Lampeter, Cambridge and Cardiff, U.K. to Masters level. I studied mainly British archaeology, including prehistoric and medieval landscape, but also expanded my interests into Europe and the World through gender. Maybe i will list the modules! I am particularly interested in prehistoric gender archaeology or gender archaeology generally as well as the history of women (and men) in the profession. I devised and taught a course called ‘Women of the Past’ which explored both themes.   I have also studied the presentation of archaeology and theory in archaeological introductory books. I therefore have seen and own more copies of Renfrew and Bahn than is wise! It’s an iconic book important to so many archaeological students. More on this to follow…in the mean time, check out http://www.bajr.org for your portal to jobs, training and ‘from the pit’ comments. They also have a news link. 

Photo Below ITV news. Stonehenge