EBAP blog III: The Wagner Edition

We have reached the last week of our excavation at Eleon, and what I thought would be an excruciatingly long six weeks actually flew by and I'm going to be sad to leave. I could not have asked for a better first experience at archaeology and although I'm not opposed to finding out, I cannot imagine any other excavation being as fun and full of incredible people as EBAP is. I'd like to first thank Brendan, Bryan, Stephi and Vicky, for the opportunity and teaching me so much. To my beautiful roommates, thanks for being so chill and not using black magic on me in my sleep when I wake you up from my coughing fits. Sam and Roleen, I've never met two people who laugh more than I do and I can't wait for our outings in Victoria. To the Matt's: if you guys ever need an audience for your jokes, you know how to get a hold of me. To Stavroula, my Greek mom, for the great lunches and offering up her bed and pjs when I got sick. To Pep, thanks for being so awesome and a huge gentleman. This trip wouldn't have been the same without you, not just because we'd all be dying without sunshades. And finally, Biscuit, arguably the best stray in Dilesi. Although he is pretty disgusting when he's coughing up blood, I always enjoyed his company on our beach nights. I'd like to mention everyone but this is cheesy enough as it is; however, you're all fantastic. Between all the late nights, cheap beer, bumper cars, messing with the Americans, purple ideas and sunburns, I've learned a lot since being here. I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm never going to be an expert on pottery or be the best digger. I do know that I'd like to learn more about bone analysis or conservation. My favorite find this year is nothing spectacular or particularly museum worthy, it is simply seeing a pottery sherd with a fingerprint on it. Digging in the dirt all day and finding hundreds of sherds makes the process somewhat redundant and impersonal. But seeing a fingerprint always reminds me that people lived their lives here and these objects were important to them in one way or another.