my archaeological chronicles have come to an end. i am in utah now. but i woke up to a beautiful rainstorm this morning. it's very nice.
ok last day of class i spent 6 hours screening backdirt. as the other students finished their stuff (stratigraphy profiles and paperwork) they joined me. we did not finish it all. there was also filling in the units and trenches. first 2009 quarters, then plastic, then large rocks, then screened dirt. the supervisors had set up a total station on their datum to map in the site. using a gps a point can be anywhere within 3-7 meters. not useful for units only a meter wide. so the total station stays in one place and another person moves around with a pole that has a reflector. the lazer from the total station shoots out and reflects back and it catalogs the distance. so even though the total station uses gps for its location, the whole site moves around in that 3-7 meters instead of every point within it moving like they would with just a gps. the total station is one of those tripod things that the guys use on the road for surveying and such. anyway i got to help a bit with that. yesterday was a day of questions. i asked questions all day long. i was screening dirt and bored. so i entertained myself with questions. we stayed late trying to finish everything but we didn't make it. there was still a trench to fill, backdirt to screen, a unit to profile, and my unit that was waiting to be excavated. the wood and metal were still sitting there, waiting. the supervisors went back again yesterday to finish up. i hope they managed it. it was just the 3 of them, and maybe the 2 supervisors from Barbary.
4 comments:
Did you help with the laser, eLASERbeth?
no i did not get to use the total station itself but i did hold the refector
You say "WE" - did most or all of the workers stay late? Did everyone have a hard time leaving things "unfinished"? It figures you cannot have a deadline and have everything "done" since the pace varies and you have to have enough to do to keep everyone busy for the whole month (or whatever it was).
Glad to hear it was worthwhile experience!
MW
most did stay late. there were things that HAD to be done that day. the supervisors went back the next day to finish up my unit. but that was the only thing left unfinished.
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