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I was brought up and schooled on the east coast, graduated from the College of Forestry at Syracuse and, after a bit of military service, joined the U.S. Forest Service on the west coast. I was with the Forest Service for over 35 years as a forester, an engineer, and a contracting officer. Since retirement, I've spent many volunteer hours with a local literacy project, with a small business advice organization, with the local public radio organization, and others. Somewhere along the line I found out about archaeological digs. My first dig was in 1996 with the Madaba Plains Project. In 1998 I returned and plan to again in 2000. In 1997 I dug in Belize which made me appreciate the Madaba Plains Project all the more. In 1999 I dug with the Kerak Research Project. On the last two digs, I operated as a square supervisor. At least I tried. There are so many things to discuss when thinking about going overseas to a dig that I'm not sure where to start. A good sense of humor is needed. Things are not going to go well all the time. There will be little things which will seem monstrous at the moment. In preparing for my first dig I asked for information about footwear. "Sturdy boots," is what I got. The first day during orientation, the dig leader, an august personage, said quite brutally that any footwear with treads was not wanted or appreciated. My boots were heavily treaded. I was immediately worried I'd not be let on the site and maybe relegated to scraping bones back at camp. Things turned out just fine but I had a mean day or two there. Both me and my boots were assigned to a square. There was a valid reason for the tread thing. Treads can tear up earth floors and other delicate features, as well as leave confusing marks in photographs. I agree with it now, but wish I had known earlier. [Editor's note: This information is now given in volunteer preparation materials. Many excavations now warn inexperienced diggers in advance of such things. If the dig you are interested in does not, ask!] Square is one of many terms which were new to me. Each dig has already been divided up into squares. Each square is 6 meters to a side on our excavation. You will not dig 36 square meters at first. As the square is delineated on the ground, a meter wide strip (balk) is left on the north and east side. This helps insure a lack of contamination between your square and others so that materials do not fall in which do not belong or can confuse the interpretation of the site. So, at first, the area dug is square, 5 meters square. Locus is another word that pops up about the first instant you start to dig. And dig is why you're there. Your method of digging will be under constant scrutiny by both the square supervisor and by the field supervisor. In my case, way more by the field supervisor - I have a lot more to learn. One trait to avoid is letting your toes dig more than your hands. Locus means something that is unique unto itself. In some cases it refers to the dirt layer, in others to a wall, fire pits, foundation trenches or any other feature which is in some way different from what is around it. Loci (pl.) are numbered in sequence within the square. Contamination is respected as you would a good adversary. Many steps are taken to avoid it (Re: the balk above.) Other protections include the practice which says "Only one locus can be dug at one time and only one locus can be sifted at one time." Abiding with that philosophy means, diggers quickly encounter times when the locus being dug/sifted is too small to accommodate more than one digger. Basically there will be many times when you'll not dig. Other tasks come along. Sifting was mentioned above. This is done away from the square and in a place where there will be no excavating ever (it's hoped) where the sifts are put up. I'm sure you've seen pictures. Everything needs to be sifted. This job is usually shared between the diggers. The local Arab help would enjoy sifting also. Much of the help is way better trained than I am. One helper in 1998 was a recent archaeological graduate from the local university and was on his 6th dig in as many years. His expertise with the trowel was wonderful. Some digs will allow the locals to dig while others do not. Much of the latter is because the leadership wants the students to get as much digging experience as possible. Physically, I am not a lean mean digging machine. Actually I qualify for the overweight label, have type II diabetes, and stumble some. It takes me 7 to 10 days to recover from the flight, adjust to the heat and the change in diet. That's the reason I signed up for the entire season each time in Jordan. It takes me so long to adjust I want some time to know and enjoy what's going on. At the end of each season, I've been very glad to see it end, sorry it was ending, and looking forward to the next time. One of the joys has been the people I meet. Not often do you stand and look at strange writing on the face of a ruin and have it read for you. Then there is the broadened book reading that would probably not happen unless you were trying to train yourself for the trip. Lastly there are the language tapes -- something to do while you're on the trotter trying to get into some shape. Enough of this meander. If I can be of any further help, feel free to write, call or email: Donald Mook, 4850 Glendale St. Duluth, MN 55804, (218-525-3362), or Mookduluth@Juno.com
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