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Student Spotlight: Olivia Adams (ANTH ’15)

Posted by: Melissa Page | January 21, 2010 | No Comment |

Adams, OliviaThis summer I had the unique opportunity to travel to Cabrerets, France where I spent approximately five weeks on a prehistoric site (Petit Cloup Barrat) learning how to excavate this type of site as well as familiarizing myself with the archaeological material of this time period. The excavation was run by a team of French and Swiss professional archaeologists. The majority of the people of the dig were students: French, a couple of Swiss, a French-Canadian, and one American (me!). The trip was thrilling and eventful from beginning to end, and it helped me to grow in both professional and social ways.

The language barrier was of course one of the hardest things to overcome; everyone there was fluent in French, and most people spoke at least a little English. When you are just learning a language even small victories are as exhilarating. I love nothing more than a good challenge, so learning an entire scientific method of excavation in another language not only gave me an obstacle to overcome but it made me focus more exactly on the material and the process. I feel that being in a situation where, it was not always perfectly clear what I was supposed to be doing made me increase the attention I pay to detail even more than I already did. This is an incredibly important skill in archaeology, and I am confident that it will stick with me throughout my professional career.

Also, along the professional growth track, I learned various types of identification and assemblage interpretation. Spending hours sorting through trays of tiny fragments of bone, flint, dirt, rocks, and the very occasional bead, I was able to hone my skills in identification. Also, excavation at this type of site is a lot more specific than the historical archaeology I had had previous experience with before this excavation. Prehistoric archaeology requires the recording of the exact location of certain artifacts. This requires that when excavating it is important to be able to identify what you are uncovering as you uncover it, so that the precise location on a three dimensional axis can be recorded. Thus, by the end of my time at this site I was highly proficient at determining the composition and importance of the material being uncovered, another lifelong skill. I also learned about how the archaeology done at the site was interpreted and just what exactly all these tiny little bone fragments could tell us about the people of the past. Of course interpretation is one of the most important parts of archaeology; otherwise it would be just glorified treasure hunting. Learning how the archaeological material I was helping to uncover was understood made the connection more relatable because I got to see the material in situ.

I also had the opportunity to work with the public while at the site, namely French, English, and Canadian tourists. Due to the close location to Pêche Merle as well as the close association of the archaeology research team at Petit Cloup Barat and the staff at the Pêche Merle museum, there was a high traffic of tourists to see the site.  When there were English speaking tourists visiting the site, I had the job of explaining a bit of the history of the site as well as the ongoing excavations. I think this helped increase my awareness of how important it is to involve the public in archaeological research. History belongs to everyone not just the scientists, and educating the public makes archaeology only more relevant and important. It was really rewarding to be able to share our enthusiasm about the site with people who had traveled almost as far as I had to see it.

Falling under the non-professional category, I was impacted in a number of ways that may not necessarily relate to archaeology as a career and a science. First of all I spent my entire time sleeping in a tent, learning the hard way the importance of good sleeping and camping gear, a lesson that will not be readily forgotten.  Also, I learned the importance of group dynamics. I am naturally an observant person, and not being completely fluent in French for 100% involvement in every conversation I was awarded the ability to sit back and watch the dynamics of group interactions. This of course helped me to determine some of my own ideas on what kind of a group should be chosen for an excavation, and how to communicate with the members of your group in an effective manner.

All in all, I had an amazing experience, and I really have broadened my view on archaeology and how it fits into my life. After this trip I am even more excited for what adventure and knowledge archaeology can bring me in the future, and I intend to discover what that is. I am incredibly grateful for the people who made this a possibility for me as well as the Jon Morter scholarship for making it a financial reality. I am confident that this trip has not only founded a basis for my future endeavors in this field, but has yielded me tons of valuable information that can only be acquired first hand. This trip has provided me an authentic and valuable initiation into the field of archaeology, and I am very thankful that I had the chance to take on this educational, cultural, and archaeological challenge.

Olivia’s trip was funded in part by the Jon Morter Memorial Award.

under: Student Spotlight

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