The Daily Dig
For twenty days in July, each morning we trekked to the site. For those staying in the Artists House, each wakeup was the same: breakfast together, gathering in the street, and going through the routine of the checklist: hat, sunscreen, gloves and water-then we were off!
The crew from the Artists House: Jonathan, Kevin, Riley and Cesar
Once at the site, we split off to join our dig groups that were composed of high school students from ArchaeoSpain, masters degree candidates in archaeology, academics, and volunteers.
Riley, Cesar, and Kevin were assigned to continue the on-going work at Can Fanals. This year Dr. Miguel Cau decided it was time to expand the search zone! For Triona and Jonathan this was an exciting opportunity to break new ground!
Jonathan and Triona at a test site!
The new site was named Can Baltasar. The UP team was eager to get to work, but first was surveying, staking and photographing the area. Archaeology is all about patience.
New meaning to photo shoot!
During the next two weeks, there was much anticipation, scraping, and sweeping at Can Baltasar! Among the finds were numerous pieces of pottery, bone fragments, and even a Roman nail that caused quite a lot of excitement. The site did not yield additional insight to life in Pollentia, and the team relocated to the Forum.
Digging it UP in the Forum
As in Can Baltasar, there was an abundance of pottery; we also found iridescent glass that was as delicate as a butterfly wing, a variety of animal teeth, a loom weight, and three coins!
Jonathan has the eye for finding coins!
After siesta, it was time to head over to the excavation house for washing the day’s booty! It was a great opportunity for everyone to kick back and visit with the Spanish students while learning to sort the various types of pottery; amphorae, Roman, African cookware, and Islamic. A resume-worthy skill is the ability to write 17 numbers and characters on a shard of pottery with felt pen! Imagine-the shard is no larger than the fingernail on your pinkie!
Pottery sorting and labeling
While some of the UP team were learning about ceramica and fauna, the rest of the team were working in the lab identifying the metal content of ancient coins and identifying artists’ pigments.
High-level finger pointing
Kevin analyzing pigments; Cesar looks skeptical
After Hours
A daily reward for surviving the heat and dust was to head over to Es Mercat! Weekends always involved water and a trip to the produce market!
Market day with Cesar and Riley
Kayaking off the coast of Pollenca
A highlight of Pollentia 2017 was the soccer defeat of Team Spain. A large crowd gathered to support each team on the asphalt field. The final score was 4-3. Cesar scored three goals and Kevin kicked in the final goal of the match.
TeamUSA
Who Knew
- it was possible to dig up 5 cubic yards of dirt basically with a spoon and a dustpan
- that figures from mythology, Icarus and Sisyphus, would be a topic in the trenches
- that YouTube had instructions for making a Roman toga
The awesome UP PURE group!
Front row: Valerie Walters, Tess O”Neill,Triona Matheson, Andrea Nelin-Roth, Cesar Cornejo Ochoa, Kara and Andrew Breuer and Sara DePaula
Back Row: Jonathan Wiley, Fr Mark, Riley McCammon, Kevin Jones and Ben DePaula
