Life as an Archaeologist

Hello everyone! My name is Rose and I'm a Greek and Roman Studies major going into my third year at the University of Victoria. As EBAP is my first archaeological dig, I had no idea what to expect once I arrived. Our daily routine starts off with our 6:00 am departure for the acropolis of ancient Eleon. Our convoy of three vehicles (one of which is a massive 9 person van) arrives on site at 6:30 am. We have two very welcome cookie breaks throughout the day, and at 1:00 pm we pack up and head home to Dilesi. In the afternoon it has gotten too hot to work, so we have free time (usually used to catch up on some sleep or go to the beach) until 5:00 pm. Then we wash all of our pottery and bones we collected that day and take a look at what other trenches found. At 8:00 pm we have dinner at a local waterfront taverna. We work from Monday to Friday on this schedule, and Saturday is a half day. We have Sundays off to explore Greece or relax on the beach in Dilesi. After the first two weeks of excavation I have learned how to use a pickaxe, scarper and trowel. We've gotten experience with surveying equipment and some of the team have even picked up carpentry to construct invaluable sunshades. We've also learnt how to differentiate different kinds of pottery, and what time periods those pieces come from. Now that we all have settled into our routine we are making a lot of progress and we are all looking forward to the next month of excavation!