The seismometers were nestled all snug in their beds
With most of the field dirt removed from their heads…
field work
Field Notes: Ethiopia 2.0
Rough-backed mountains with strange straight-sided peaks and pinnacles of rock recede into the misty distance, and the umbilical thread of what will be the world’s longest river spills out of a round-bellied lake. Nestled invisibly within the landscape are castles, monasteries with secret treasures, and Christian churches cut from ancient stone, though the most prominent Highland scenes usually involve sheep and cows ranging over the rocky slopes. These are the Ethiopian Highlands, not the Scottish, however, and in November blue skies and balmy temperatures reign. Continue reading
Where the Winds Come Spinning Down the Plain
Field Notes: Adventures in the Temple of the Moon
In the middle of a sand-filled plaza surrounded by decaying walls, a coarse jumble of black boulders spills out of the ground like it was just disgorged by the volcanic peak above. A crowd gathers at the edges, peering at the strangely garbed figures processing with agonizing slowness across the sacrificial platform. An ominous sound fills the air.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Other than sweat and possibly tears or blood, there are no sacrifices today, just scientists in robotic get ups working to figure out what lies beneath the surface at Huaca de la Luna, the Temple of the Moon. You’ll have to forgive the title that sounds like a lost Tintin book; this is where I spent two weeks of my summer this year, listening to the near constant “beep” of ground penetrating radar pulses, hauling equipment, and in between, exploring one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the Americas.
Rules for Fieldwork, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Benefits of Mud Baths.
Everybody’s got to have to have rules to live by, right? Here are a few things that seem to have recurring usefulness for this sort of thing.
1. Never pass up the opportunity to eat, sleep, or use a toilet.
2. Batteries: fear them, and their potential ability to blow you and/or your car up should you forget to tape the terminals.
3. Just because it’s not your mess doesn’t mean you don’t have to clean it up.
4. Never take anti-malaria meds on an empty stomach, particularly before 6 hour car rides. And if you do, hope there are barf bags available.
5. Why pack multiple pairs of pants that will just get dirty when you can wear the same pair for 2 weeks straight?
6. If you don’t wear a wide brimmed hat and sunscreen of the appropriate SPF, Indiana Jones appears and beats you with his whip.
7. Field notebooks – it’s only science if you write it down! No joke here, the slow march of dirt and destruction across formerly pristine notebooks is one of my favorite things.
8. No matter what you read in outdated textbooks, don’t actually lick or eat your field samples.
9. Never go anywhere without your knife.
9a. Or duct tape.
9b. Or your own personal roll of toilet paper.
10. In case of dinosaur attack, remember to remain motionless at all costs.
11. And in case the Ark of the Covenant actually does turn out to be in Ethiopia, unleash on the nearest neoNazis or bigots of your choice!
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