1 July, 2017
Mosselbaai, South Africa
I’ve spent serious chunk of time
in the lab (thanks to a bout with malaria, but that’s a story for another post),
which I initially found disappointing, because I was missing several weeks of
excavation. However, that has given me further opportunities to participate
in more depth in this project than just the field portion of our
work. This is partially responsible for my recent decision to continue with the project
as a graduate student (starting in August!).
Lab
has a bit of a reputation for being boring. I don’t find this accurate, as lab is often where we make some of
our most exciting discoveries. Excavators might not know what they are removing
from an ashy hearth or black sediment, but as we clean, prep and analyze
plotted finds, we knowledge of the site and its inhabitants grows exponentially.
When we are not working on the materials, they are stored at a facility in Mosselbaai. The cavernous, frigid room is full of metal shelves reaching nearly double my height (I realize this isn’t extremely high), and bolted together with lengths of steel, and stuffed full of boxes. The shelves make excellent but dubious ladders, for anything above the height of the ladder; or in case the ladder is buried under mounds of sediment. The Knysna project has numerous boxes of archaeological material, equipment, and other crucial items, all of which are grouped in several different locations in the building.
A
trip to storage is usually a great chance to meet all of the spiders you didn’t actually want to know existed.
I exhibit caution when lifting boxes, which can slow down our operation when
trying to move them all. Our first trip, we gathered about 15 boxes of material, in
addition to the 10 or so already moved to the MAPCRM lab or the house. After some
rearranging, moving, and searching tubs and box labels to locate various items,
we loaded the van and took everything away.
The
MAPCRM lab is currently full of other specialists, so we are using the house we
are renting, a three story locality with an amazing view, and extensive common
area, complete with a massive wooden table, which is perfect for analysis. We
rearranged the house slightly to accommodate three additional tables
and insane numbers of boxes. I’ve
enjoyed having lab here (instead of going to lab), although it means longer
hours, it also means I can grab breakfast anytime, and stop and cook something
for lunch, instead of packing it. Additionally, it’s close to our favorite coffee
shop, Blue Shed, which means we can walk down there during teatime.
Our next
task was to cart all the boxes of rocks up the rather steep driveway leading to
the back door. We accomplished this by forming a box chain, which worked so
well we did it again for the stairs. The stairs are set in a shaft, with a
window overlooking the courtyard. Made of slick wood planks, set slightly away
from the wall, and bolted via several metal beams, they lack any sort of railing.
We’ve dubbed them “the true sobriety test,” and have caused me moments of
terror. I tend to creep up them with, one shoulder against the wall, hoping no
one will fall onto the stone tiles below. Whenever we need to carry numerous
heavy items, we station one person on each flight, and minimize the amount of
moving around that is necessary (a strategy which has worked so far).
A lab
season is critical for keeping up with the excavation. In addition to cleaning
materials, we complete initial identifications, separate them by type, and make
sure everything is accounted for before sending them to our specialists. During
the field season, we run a lab to clean, ID and enter the plotted finds into a
database (more on that in coming weeks). However, during this lab season we
were focused on the reducing volume of boxes.
However,
any material which is anthropogenic needs to be kept and analyzed. We have an
amazing lab crew this year, who have not complained about sorting box after box
of 10mm. Invariably, we make fascinating discoveries. Sara, our lithics
specialist, has been teaching everyone how to identify the material used and
the features of a lithic (see below). We also look for FMR (fire modified
rock), a task made difficult by the reddish hue of the roofspall. We are
naturally suspicious of FMR. We have also found ochre (colorful pigments used
for decorative purpose), fauna, ostrich eggshell, shell (we dug through part of
a shell midden, which generated boxes of mostly fragmented shell), and much
more. This is a great way train everyone in the recognition of anthropogenic material, which ensures that more of it gets plotted and does not end up in the screens.
Photo Credit: google images
I have
not gotten to do as much of this as I would like, instead being in charge of
keeping track of everything as it comes through the lab. Naomi and I have been
working on checking and sorting plotted finds from earlier seasons. I have also
started learning how to submit permits, a process which I find engaging but am
warned that I will grow to dislike. It does have a lot of redundant paperwork…..
We are
heading out to Knysna tomorrow, which means our focus will shift slightly, from
10mm sort to plotted finds.
Also, now we have to move these boxes again.
Also, now we have to move these boxes again.
Read more
about our lab season at Dr. C’s
blog:http://naomicleghorn.weebly.com/blog/why-quality-lab-time-matters
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