It has been a very humbling experience following my first discovery of the skeleton that I mentioned in my last blog post. Digging up feet and what turned out to be an entire skeleton: that is a very unique experience to say the least. Yet going through the last two weeks of my time here in Pollentia yielded a lot more interesting experiences. Firstly, I don’t think I have ever been pushed so hard in my life, especially when it came to being part of the tandem “digging and cleaning crew”. We had a group of Moroccan diggers who were machines to say the least. Using pick axes to dig up large piles of dirt, leaving I and my other cleaning crew partners in a ferocious scramble to use the Mallorcan shovel to scoop as much dirt into buckets, into the wheelbarrow and repeat. It was painful to say the least because the side that we were digging on is believed to be the site of the a basilica from antiquity that may have its ruins there(this has not yet been confirmed as we were on the search for it and later stopped our shoveling). The side we were digging on, had no trees, no shade and was in the direct face of the sun. Now imagine that I had to do this for multiple days in a row, as for some reason, I was chosen to work on that side multiple times in a workweek while my other colleagues were rotating out of what is now called “the hot side”. I never understood why I was selected to work that same side so much when other colleagues of mine were rotated out every day it seemed like. But it taught me a lot about resilience and goal setting.

If it makes any sense, I started to appreciate being under the bearing heat of the sun and the relentless humidity that Pollentia was offering me as I ferociously shoveled, dumped buckets and occasionally moved the wheelbarrow. It actually became something I started to enjoy as I started to realize that it was more than just a menial task–It was literally part of the bigger picture. Sometimes it seems that we forget that everything we do as a part of that particular dig site in Can Fanals is part of a bigger picture. The bigger picture is trying to excavate the history of the old roman city of Pollentia. The rich history that occurred in such short time with the appearance of first christians, then Muslims in this area, is the main goal. When you lose site of that, then everything you do is such a hard task. Everything that you do will be something that you do not even enjoy because all it is, is a bunch of hard work to you. Once it sinks in that you are a part of the bigger picture, then you will be like me on the last day of the dig, where I was sad that it was over. I was super amazed at how quick the entire experience went by so quick, with so much that had to be done in such short a time. We had uncovered multiple new graves(and new skeletons) and stumbled upon a floor of a 4th-6th century building 3 days before the program ended. So much was being discovered, but I could no longer be a part of the process as my time in Pollentia had come to an end.

What it had taught me is that there is honestly no way to ever be sure of what you are doing until it honestly sinks in that what you are doing is part of a bigger picture. When I had discovered the skeleton that I did previously, it wasn’t as impactful I think because I never truly understood the magnitude of what I was doing. I note that even in life, unless you truly understand where you are standing and know where you fit in the entire process, you will never truly get what you are supposed to out of the experience. I learned to become more purposefully engaged, not simply leaving myself to just sit around when my task was done, but try and do my best to figure out where I could pitch in without being asked. Taking the initiative, that proactive first step to making a difference. These are things that people don’t realize are some of the most important things that one can take away. I have been wanting to work on this habit the entire time of this trip and it didn’t seem like I had made much progress until the final two weeks, once I started to figure out my place in the whole picture of what is an archeological dig site. This is something that I will forever remember for the impacts that it has had on me.