By Ashley Paling
Our second week of work here in Madaba has flown by, and included many long lab days – as well as a few birthday celebrations! As each of the participants of this study season is working on separate projects, our typical day involves us being scattered throughout the dig house surrounded by our respective collections (piles) of pottery, bones, technology, and drawing equipment – not exactly the romantic aspect of archaeology that is represented in the media.
Ashley hard at work in the dig house (photo by H. Birdi)
This summer I am working on a project with a collection of pottery from our site, and preparing research questions I can answer through petrographic (thin-section) and other forms of ceramics analysis during my upcoming MSc. This means that throughout the course of the day you can find me collecting information about the hundred or so pieces of pottery spread out in front of me. This includes taking measurements, documenting colours, taking photos, and describing forms, meaning I have a new love/hate relationship with Microsoft Excel. Photo by Ashley Paling. Some of the tools I’ve been turning to most this week.
Tools of the trade (photo by A. Paling)
A little birthday surprise (photo by A. Paling)
I also had the lovely opportunity of kicking off our weekend by celebrating my birthday! Although it was a work day, I had a nice reminder at my desk that it was my special day, and what better way to spend it than working with pottery? That evening we visited a restaurant in Madaba for dinner, which turned out to be the oldest two-story building in the city – a very appropriate choice for a group of archaeologists. My birthday was celebrated Thursday evening, which turned into our Director Deb’s birthday at midnight, which very conveniently fell on Friday, our day off! We had a barbecue Friday evening with friends from around Madaba as well as some fellow archaeologists working in Jordan – and of course a cake!
Photo of Deb’s birthday cake with a photo of Tel Madaba Site on it (Photo by D. Foran)
Although it was back to work on Saturday we had one more birthday to look forward to – Aseel (the son of our Logistics Manager – and close friend – Mashoor) was turning 13 on Monday! We bookended the weekend with a celebration with more cake and baklava than we could ever finish in one night, which was a great way to start another week! As each of our projects unfolds I look forward to seeing what progress we make – and can’t wait for one more birthday celebration for Harpreet in August!