As I am heading back to the States on Tuesday for my Ami’s wedding, this will be my final post for this trip. The last week of excavations at Vix (last week for me that is) was by far the best for me. I was talking to one of our field supervisors last Saturday night when I mentioned I have had quite a bit of experience in the field and was a trench supervisor at my last excavation. I also tried to phrase, in the most polite way possible, how much I hate cleaning postholes. My supervisor was quite pleased with this knowledge and said on Monday I would be working with the documentation team come Monday.
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard
07 August 2011
C’est Fini
As I am heading back to the States on Tuesday for my Ami’s wedding, this will be my final post for this trip. The last week of excavations at Vix (last week for me that is) was by far the best for me. I was talking to one of our field supervisors last Saturday night when I mentioned I have had quite a bit of experience in the field and was a trench supervisor at my last excavation. I also tried to phrase, in the most polite way possible, how much I hate cleaning postholes. My supervisor was quite pleased with this knowledge and said on Monday I would be working with the documentation team come Monday.
31 July 2011
"Allez la France!"
23 July 2011
“The [American] Cheese Stands Alone”
Well, excavations began on Monday and went better than I anticipated. “Why do I say that,” you might be asking. The weekend was a bit rough for me after I arrived back in Châtillon. There were a bunch of people at the school when I returned, none of whom I knew. I put my stuff away and came back to introduce myself to German speaking folk (we have Germans, Austrians, and Swiss all staying at the school, so I had no idea where this group was from). It was pretty awkward even though they all spoke English easily. Turns out they were from the Swiss team and there was even a Vikings fan among them. After a short while, I saw a German I met from the week before return to the school with his son. I went to say ‘hello’ and ended up chatting with them most of the night since I sort of knew them and they are on my team. After they decided to turn in for the night, I returned to the Swiss who were still up. I’ll chalk it up to the excessive drinking they were doing, but they weren’t as welcoming as before and some decided to go off on a long tangent about American politics (as if I have any control over that) as well as the general stupidity and ignorance of many Americans (and yes, some points were valid). There was one member of their team who did have enough honor and kindness to defend me and my country (he was actually born in another country but grew up in Switzerland and his family is quite fond of the States I learned). After a short time I grew tired of hearing about NASCAR and Chuck Norris, so I went to bed and tried not to think about it anymore.
16 July 2011
France - 1.5
Anywho, I wrapped up my preliminary study and said my good-byes for the year since I will likely be back next year – hopefully with better French! I asked permission from the museum for something I really wanted to have, but I will have to wait a short while before I tell you all what it was (my Iron Age archaeology friends will be a tiny bit jealous I think). I did promise the curator that in exchange for this thing I wanted, that I would spread some propaganda about how great the museum is! It is no lie, the Musée du Pays Châtillonnais is pretty fabulous! It is only about 2 years old and holds the famous Vix Krater that I blogged about last year. There are also great Gallo-Roman collections from the surrounding areas. It is definitely worth the visit if you are ever traveling in Burgundy. I did help a few Americans find what they were looking for in the museum my second to last day there, which proves it is possible for Americans to survive in that part of the country :)
The hill where we viewed the fireworks...
And the Grand Finale!
On Tuesday night, before I left Châtillon, I changed from what I think of now as my third floor penthouse down to a lowly apartment so that I would be on the same floor as my excavation team. The room has most of the same features, except only one window and it is lacking the non-functioning shower. I have a better pillow, which made me happy! None of the other students had arrived yet when I left, but our artist for the site and a former archaeologist turned politician in Germany turned up this week as well as an old French ceramic specialist who looks at the Attic pottery from the site. We all had dinner Monday and Tuesday night at the director’s house where I was “encouraged” to try a glass of wine from the various different bottles we had each night. Ugh, you know you are getting old or you enjoyed your college years too much when you only get an acidy stomach without the buzz from three glasses of wine. Sigh. I was also told by my director that I need to practice my wine drinking as much as my French. We’ll see how that goes, ha!
14 July 2011
For Those of You Who Would Like A Little More Glamor With Your Archaeology...
I moved on from this object to continue my studies for the day. I heard a strange noise coming from behind me where I set the object down just a short time earlier...
A shadow fell over my workspace, and when I finally looked up, I was face-to-face with this!
09 July 2011
Being An Archeologist Isn’t Always Glamorous…
Anyway… I said au revoir to Sarah on Monday and caught a bus to Châtillon-sur-Seine. Luckily the empty-for-the-summer boarding school at which I’m staying was very close to where I exited the bus. The lunch hour was just wrapping up when I arrived and found someone right away to get me into my room. I’m staying in a lime-green bedroom on the third floor of a boarding school. No one is here right now, so it is super quiet and all the lights are timed, so it’s dark every time I open my door to the hallway regardless of the time of day.
I have a sink in my room and a shower that doesn’t work, but works well for draping my freshly sink-washed clothes (see where the not so glamorous stuff is starting to sneak in?). I have the room to myself at the moment, which is nice. I throw stuff on the other bed occasionally, but don’t really use it. I do use the other desk for my food storage and eating area (my desk is used for its intended purpose). I have a little armoire/closet-like thing that has some useful shelves, so I’m no living out of my bag for once. I have to walk down the other end of the long hallway for the toilets and functioning showers. I don’t have a kitchen, or microwave, which leaves me with limited food options at the moment since I’m fending for myself before the excavation – mostly baguette, stinky cheese, fresh fruit, canned or dried meat/fish, and peanut butter from home.
After I settled in at my new home, I decided I should check out the museum just in case it is closed on Tuesdays like most national museums in France. I arrived at the main desk and muddled my way through some French asking to speak to the conservator because I was here to study some stuff (I’ll fill you in momentarily). As my good timing had it, his assistant walked in and took me up to the area I’d be working. I essentially have a desk in someone’s office that is apparently never around or it is just sort of everyone’s office to hold random things for the museum. The assistant’s name is Patricia (said with a French accent) and I like her a lot. She is very sweet and was really good about immediately speaking French slowly so that I understood. I hadn’t really planned on looking at anything, just wanted to check things out, but she had me downstairs a short time later and was pulling things from the display case for me to look at. We took them back up and I sat with the objects looking pensive for a while (couldn’t do much without my computer). After a short while, the curator, M. Coudrot, walked in and greeted me and talked with me briefly about my research. I felt I could sneak away after that and told them I’d be back tomorrow. I found a supermarket, ate some dinner, and fell asleep.
Now begins the really glamor-lacking, unsexy, and dull part of being an archaeologist. My plans for this summer are split between museum research and an excavation (you’ll hear more about the excavation as it begins). The museum research is cataloguing, photographing, and researching objects from a spot in the city I’m staying called, Source de la Douix (the spring/source of the Douix [river]) that later joins the Seine river which runs all the way northwest through Paris. The city of Châtillon sits on the Seine, which is why its full name is Châtillon-sur-Seine (Châtillon-on-[the] Seine) – Hopefully you all don’t mind the French lesson! The objects I’m looking at come from an excavation where they literally pumped out and diverted the water as it came out of the ground so that cavers could explore the caves further back and underground and also so archaeologists could have a peak at what was in the cave area because water sources traditionally had religious significance to prehistoric people. This is the sort of thing I’m writing my dissertation about and why I’m here to look at these objects.
I was told before I arrived that there were about 30-40 sculptures, about 70 coins, and then a handful of miscellaneous objects that I would be able to examine. When I arrived and said I had 12 days to examine it all, they laughed because there wasn’t that much in the display cases, which surprised me too. My first day of work was spent looking at objects, but mostly me thinking, “How am I going to drag this out that long…I’m going to be bored out of my skull if I get this all done in a few days…” The next day I talked with the curator some more and he said there might be some objects on reserve and that he would go check. He returned with three boxes of small finds. At this point, my mind went from worry of being bored to panic, “How am I going to get all this done before I leave?” And to make my panic worse, I found out both the curator and his assistant are leaving on Wednesday for vacation and that I will have to be done by then. I’m currently still in a bit of panic mode since now I have about a hundred small objects to catalogue in the next two to three days.
“What do you mean by catalogue?” you might be wondering. Cataloguing involves some very boring and tedious tasks. Basically I have categories of information I need to collect. My database includes: catalogue number, object type, sub-type, museum location (storage or display), inventory number, period, dates, material, preservation, measurements of all sorts, description of the object, excavation location, photos, comparanda, comments, additional bibliography of the object, and several other similar categories. I have currently completed this for 86 objects in the past four days. I spent most of yesterday sorting the new small objects that I will have to fly through, but they don’t require as much description as sculpture does, for example, so I should be able to get it all done. On top of this stuff, I have to keep notes as to points where I take measurements from on an object, keep photos in order so I know which objects are which in the photos, and the worst job so far has most definitely been sketching both sides of the coins because photos don’t really capture most of the details on these, especially when they are worn away.
Now that you have a better idea as to what most real archaeology and research is like, I’ll leave you with the visual of me sorting, writing, typing, and photographing a whole bunch of objects that are about the size of the tip of my finger. Enjoy!
07 July 2011
Travel Woos! and Woes
Its summertime, which means I’m back on the road, skies, and rails once again! I’ve literally taken all of those to bring me to my current and main destination for this summer – Chatillon-sur-Seine in eastern France. Knowing you are about to leave your house, boyfriend, and kitty all for over a month is a bit overwhelming, not to mention the whole packing for research, an excavation, a vacation, and pre-packing for a wedding (my Ami is getting married a few days after my return!)…I had a lot on my plate this year. Needless to say, my rational and irrational travel anxiety fears were in high gear the Sunday night before I began my travels and didn’t allow me much sleep. My travels began at 7AM on June 28th when I left glorious Minneapolis and my super sweet boyfriend, who got up before the sun to drop me off just before 6AM, via the not-as-bad-as-you-might-think Greyhound Bus bound for Chicago.
Chicago, you might note, is not in France. Why Chicago then? I can give you a $500 answer! Yes, the difference in airfare for me to leave from Chicago vs. Minneapolis was a $500 difference. *Take this as a tip when traveling on a budget – check around to other nearby airports for better rates. Usually it is the bigger airports, but sometimes it can be the smaller ones, like Lansing or Flint for my Michigan followers, or Chicago or Milwaukee for those of you west of Lake Michigan.* Since I purchased it in advance online it was only $23 – check Greyhound’s website for Advance Purchase rates, which can save you sometimes more than 50% or Megabus which have fares as low as single digits! – and the bus ride itself was eight hours, which isn’t so bad if you board at an early hour like I did or if you have some reading you’d like to catch up on! I took an express bus, which was quite comfortable and only stopped twice. It arrived on time and it was great not having to drive through traffic in Chicago. Moral of the story here is, taking a bus has a lot of benefits: me time to do whatever, technically its multitasking since you are traveling and doing something else, you don’t have to worry about other stupid drivers, you might meet someone really super and friendly like I did and learn about a life you would never have known otherwise, and the obvious two, its ecofriendly and economical.
Another tangent, sorry. I arrived in Chicago and waited a short while at a Starbucks for a friend of mine who I met on an excavation in Greece four years ago! We hadn’t seen each other in at least three years and I learned after I arrived she will be moving to Boston soon, so it was quite lucky that our paths crossed again! We had a delightful evening of catching up, chatting, grabbing some Greek/Mediterranean food for dinner, and walking around her historic neighborhood/city of Oak Park. I absolutely love staying with friend when traveling. You always get to see things or a place that you normally would not have visited or experienced if you were staying at a hotel. Thanks again, Lady Gray, for having me and showing me all the beautiful homes in your neighborhood!
The next day, June 29th the day of my flight, I was lucky to get to spend the day with another friend, my old roommate/co-worker from my video store days! He picked me up and we grabbed some super yummy Italian food and visited for a couple hours. He was nice enough to drive me out to O’Hare International Airport so I could catch my flight. It’s a lifesaver not having to navigate public transportation when you have big bags, and its always much better to have someone send you off on a big trip with a hug than going on your own.
Security at O’Hare is slow and delayed just like everything else at that airport. It took me an hour to get through everything from the time I arrived at the airport until I grabbed my seat in the waiting area. After making some last minute phone calls to family I boarded the plane and took my seat next to a smelly man. I didn’t notice as time went on and I’m glad I wasn’t the smelly one in the seat, since I worked up quite a sweat with my bags! The flight overall was uneventful, which is always a good thing in my book! I watched two movies and slept only about an hour, which is unusual for me on overnight flights.
I was pleased as pudding, pie, peaches, whatever, to see that my bag arrived this time! Yay! Huzzah! Victory, victory, sweet, sweet victory! All it takes is a direct flight apparently. An ATM was not visible anywhere and I didn’t have enough cash leftover for a bus to the train station, Gare de Lyon. After searching for a while, I finally found one and worked my way on to a bus heading into Paris. Within the first ten minutes of the hour and a half ride I knew I was going to get sick. Traffic was terrible, stop-and-go, stop-and-go. The air was on, but it didn’t help and I had a window seat and couldn’t look straight ahead. I had the forethought to go up and ask the driver if he had a bag for me to get sick into since I was already feeling my stomach squeezing and wanting to heave. The woman I was sitting with was nice enough to trade seats and let me sit in the aisle instead. I managed to fall asleep for some time and woke up as we were entering the city. I was feeling good and thinking to myself, I’m going to make it without vomiting in public, alright! But then the stop-and-go, stop-and-go started up again and my stomach demanded it stop. It took a strong offensive and won. Now I can’t blame it all on the traffic, airplane food always makes me sick or at least makes me feel crappy, but never of the vomiting sort, and I think the lack of sleep didn’t help either. The bus made it to the train station ten minutes later – I was so close!
Still feeling like crap, I checked the departure boards and saw I could make a train to Dijon in ten minutes. I tried one of the automatic ticket machines since the purchase counter line was really long, but it rejected both of my credit cards, damn. I hopped in line knowing my chance for the 11:30AM train was not going to happen. Once I got to the counter I learned that all of the second class/cheap tickets for the next train leaving at 12:58PM were sold and that the next train I could catch at the cheap rate wasn’t until 2:34PM. I inquired about the first class rate because, feeling super tired and not wanting to sit around feeling sick at the train station, paying more and at least getting to my destination seemed like a better idea to me in that moment. I pay an arm and a leg and maybe my first born for that 80€ seat on the train, but I’m pretty sure it was worth it.
I rested and relaxed while on the train and arrived in Dijon about two hours later. My friend Sarah, who I met and stayed with in Dijon last year, was waiting for me when I got off the train. Seeing a familiar face in a foreign land is a huge comfort, especially when you aren’t feeling 100%. We got back to her flat and she headed out to work for a few hours while I slept peacefully and deeply for the first time in days.