Business continues, free time decreases

Hey family,

Sorry for being so lax (again).  The field has been a hectic place the last few weeks.  We have continued to excavate the top of structure 1, after uncovering all the walls that are left (some have eroded into the Pool, and others were broken into by looters).  We have found at least 4 rooms, which is exciting.  There were interesting deposits left on the floor of one of the rooms, and I will tell you more about those when I return.  Mostly, we are finding lots of pottery fragments and a few stone tool remnants, but nothing too crazy :)  The sun is hot and the bugs are worse, but everyone is so great to work with that it makes it all worthwhile.

Jess and I are going to a conference with Lisa in a couple of weeks.  So, we only have one more week of excavations and lab work and then one week of backfilling, mapping and writing up our conference paper before we go.  Time does fly when you are hectically busy!  I have been the chief photographer this trip, since I have such a swag camera!  So, I have been busy getting camera angles perfected.  I even laid down on the floor of our excavation last week to get the best shot.  Haha.

Today, we all got a "day off" from the field and lab because Jess' fiance, Roberto, came to visit her.  So, since we wanted to include her in lab work, we all took the day off.  I am spending it catching up on high-speed internet on all my web things, including Facebook, blogging, and window-shopping, and also seeing Belmopan free of agendas and timetables :)

Week 3

We are already nearing the end of the third week of field work. We opened 2 units today, Rooms 1 and 2 of the water shrine. Room 2 is an interesting structure, under a collection of stones that are arranged in a circle, and all fell the same way. So, we are assuming that it was an intentional placement and not an ordinary roof collapse like we have seen in other locations. So far, we have been finding what you would expect: chert and pottery sherds. 

Today, we took photos of the whole water shrine from the top of a ladder that the men made for us. We did that before we started excavating the units so we could get a better idea of what we are looking at, and of course to document the unique placement of the stones before we removed them. 

Yesterday, Jennifer Choc came to the field with us, our first female assistant! She didn't find anything to her taste, but she did manage to stay all day and even walk to the field with us. We also got our road fixed, after walking into the site for the past week. That was one long, sweaty, muddy kilometer that I will not miss walking!

Week 2

It's hard to believe that it has been over 2 weeks since I got to Belize. Our days and evenings have been packed with work and fun, so it has been difficult to get back to blogging :(

Update on excavations: we have uncovered all outside walls of Structure 1 and will start working on the roof tomorrow! Jess and I have been working on profiling walls, which takes a lot more patience and long-suffering than I possess. That involves mapping in each and every stone in a given wall, no matter how long the wall, how small or large the stones, etc. But, we are getting through it. 

Update on weather: It was really nice weather up until last Friday, when it poured on us in the morning. And now it hasn't stopped, and now there has been long and intensive downpours which have drowned everything. This morning, at exactly 248am, I woke up to find my bedskirt soaked. I still don't know where it came from, but the cleaning ladies replaced the skirt today, so perhaps I will never know where the leak came from. We had to walk into the field today, which was a long and very muddy hike. The road has deep gullies in it from all the rain. We will have to continue to hike back, instead of driving straight to the site, until they fix the road again. In other and related news, the mosquitoes will soon be out in force. 

Day 3

The field work is going well, and we have located two of the walls of the shrine. The going is slow for me though, as I have not made any significant discoveries.  Yesterday, I was a bit sick after the field and went to bed early. I attributed it to stress, sleepiness and trying to eat too fast. I might have to pack my breakfast instead of cramming food in 15 min. 

We finished working in a looters trench today, and then made a quick trip to Belmopan for supplies. I purchased hand sanitizer and wipes, Doritos, tomatoes, chocolate milk, and dove soap. So, I am set until the next town trip ;) We have dinner in 20 minutes, so I will try to write more this weekend. Life is moving so fast, I barely have time to relax!

I arrived!

Not much to say thus far, other than I am pretty tired and yet still excited to be back in the field. Jess and I arrived on Sunday after a whirlwind finish to Spring semester. Lisa picked us up from the Belize City airport and we got back to Banana Bank just in time for a quick unpacking and dinner. 

We headed out this morning to the field, with a quick planning session at 545am. Luckily, there is no Daylight Savings here, so it was only 645 Illinois time! We had a quick breakfast at Mrs. Chocs and then headed to Yalbac with Cleofo, his son Stanley, Ernesto, his son Jose, Juan Antonio and Telio (son of Don Luna who died 3 years ago and was a long-time Lisa employee). We worked finding the walls of Structure 1 near Pool 1. We basically screened and carried debris all day, but Stanley found a wall and a plate (with the base nearly in tact), and we did locate quite a few sherds of pottery and some chert flakes. We met up with another archaeologist who works in Belize at Banana Bank and are waiting for supper to be served. 

I am looking forward to catching my breath this weekend!