By Gary Hung
By the third week of our study season here in Madaba, everyone has gotten so much closer than
Field trip to Jerash City (photo by Jamal)
the first two weeks. Although there are only six of us, we still tried our best to enjoy our time to the fullest. While we have less than two weeks left, we are starting to conclude our project and getting ready for the final stage of our assignments. This is my first time in Jordan and I am so excited to be here working with everyone. Being the youngest team member in this study season is quite intimidating at first, considering that I am working with all the alums from previous years. However, everyone has been so supportive and encouraging, which made the project so much smoother.
Mended bone piece ‘from 17 pieces to 1″ (photo by G. Hung)
This summer I am working on all the previous faunal remains from our site. Being the first one to take on this project, I was granted the liberty to come up with my own system of the recording process. It’s quite challenging looking at all the zooarchaeological remains and determine the animals, but after going through thousands of bone fragments, you get used to the routine and become a lot more comfortable with what was given!
The cool aspect about my job is that I get to use fancy dental tools, which made me felt like a total pro! Sometimes, I would spend a good few hours doing puzzles, putting all the broken bone pieces back together, which we all know is the best feeling ever! While the first two weeks were solely dedicated to more indoor activities, this week we got more freedom as we are coming close to the end of our project. We visited numerous sites, including the Burnt Palace, Martyrs Church, Amman Citadel, Jerash, and Umm ar-Rasas! Up next on our bucket list includes Jerusalem, Petra, and the Dead Sea!