Fri, 09 Feb 2024 21:27:10 -0800WeeblyFri, 29 Apr 2016 21:53:07 GMThttp://kakabish.org/field-blog/twas-the-night-of-departureThis was originally written in 2010 but for those who might not have seen it I thought I would repost it.

​‘Twas the night before departure, and all through the place
We were dashing about at a frantic pace.
The equipment was all packed by the door with great care,
Pity the rest of our stuff still wasn’t there!
No one was sleeping and the beds were still made,
Forgetting or missing things had us afraid.
In jeans and old t-shirts were the students and me,
Getting ready to drink our fourth pot of tea,
When out on the road I heard a loud horn
The taxi’s arrival it meant to forewarn.
I flew to the door to silence the sound,
Before the neighbours could all gather ‘round.
The night was quiet as such evening all are,
A moment of peace in a night quite bizarre,
The silence was shattered again then some more,
As the driver got lost on his way to my door.
As I muttered and cursed at his GPS lack,
I ran in the house to continue to pack.
As rapid as texters our fingers did fly,
Throwing in things packing quickly we try
More socks and some undies! More bug spray too!
What only one can? We will have to make do!
Pack the first aid and lotions as well,
Gravol is best if nausea to quell.
Like the palm trees in storms that don’t break but bend
To our luggage and packing we bent to attend.
Around the house we flew in a tizzy
‘Till all but the dog was tired and dizzy.
Then, with a flash of beaming head light,
The taxi had found the house all right.
I threw in my passport and turned around,
One final check for lost thing to be found.
The cabbie was quick, and fell to his work
Moving the bags with a yank and a jerk,
Soon the stuff was all stacked for the taxi to fill,
All that remained was my air sickness pill.
From my house to the airport he drove in a flash,
I held on quite tight for fear we would crash!
On his cell phone he chatted the entire way,
No fear of the fines if caught he would pay.
The airport was chaos, we had not a clue,
Volcanoes or bombers each could be true!
Customs and check-in, security points next,
Huge line-ups and wait times for tempers to vex.
At last in the end we sat by the gate,
Yet boarding by rows, we still had to wait.
We wish as watch the dawn end the night,
A good summer to all and for us a safe flight!]]>Fri, 29 Apr 2016 19:17:18 GMThttp://kakabish.org/field-blog/long-distance-logisticsArchaeology is a wonderful profession. We get to travel the world, discover exciting things, and for all intents and purposes seem to have a rather unfettered existence living out of tents and backpacks . . . or so it seems from the TV shows.  The reality of archaeology is much different. Far from ‘travelling the world’ we often commit years, if not decades, to research in one country, or even one site! And while we do get to discover exciting things, it comes with a considerable amount of planning, and the larger the project the more planning is required.
                What most people don’t realise is the amount of logistic work that goes on behind the scenes before a project begins. And I’m not talking about booking airline tickets, or getting passports and visas. In many cases equipment must be cleared before it can enter a country (which involves letters written and received, documents filed, etc.), and some types of equipment (i.e., XRF, drones, etc.) require additional paperwork to even get them on planes and through customs. And these days, with the proliferation of drones in archaeology, aviation departments are getting involved requiring the filing of documents, passport copies, and gaining permissions and licenses to use them in country. Fortunately, we are not bringing an aerial drone with us to Ka’Kabish this year so that is one less worry for me. Although there was a brief flurry of emails over the misunderstanding that we DID have one. 
                What I have been working on behind the scenes for the past month is making sure that our application for an excavation permit is filed (all 66 pages of it including CVs and budget).  Along with submitting our permit application, we need to file our reports on last year’s excavation work (four hard copies and one digital). This year Kerry Sagebiel has taken on the unenviable task of serving as editor and getting us all to submit our chapters on time, as well as getting the entire document formatted. We have learned over the years that the people at the Angelus Press in Belmopan are terrific about receiving our digital file and then having the requisite hard-copies printed and bound for our arrival.  While this may sound rather odd, it becomes clearer when you realise how heavy these documents can become and the toll they can take on your luggage!  Particularly when you are already trying to pack a host of other equipment, documents, notes from previous excavations slated to be reopened, and sufficient clothing for three months!
                As we are not allowed to commence work until we have met with the Director of the Institute of Archaeology, Dr. John Morris, and received our permit, pre-season/pre-arrival logistics also requires trying to book an appointment.  As Dr. Morris is responsible for all the archaeological sites in Belize, those know to us now as well as those that get discovered during the course of road construction and development, he can be anywhere in Belize on any given day protecting Belizean heritage.  As we live 3 hours away, it is very important to co-ordinate timing. 
                On a more personal level, as the village we live in is quite small, and the people are my friends, I know how much they plan on our project coming back to the village every year.  As such, I try and give our support people (i.e., ladies at Las Orquideas who cook for us, the people who run the hotels we stay in, the men who come and work for us) as much notice as possible about student numbers and requirements.  I am also trying to ensure that the vehicles we used have been repaired, licensed, and insured (one of which requires co-ordination with Dr. Graham in England as well as Mr. Masson in Belize so it is not just a long-distance logistic issue but also a multi-national one!).
                I never thought I would be so grateful for technology, but long-distance calls, e-mail, and more often Facebook messaging has proven to be a god-send!  Now for all the stuff that has to be done once I arrive tomorrow! Wish me luck!!]]>Sun, 03 Apr 2016 13:40:34 GMThttp://kakabish.org/field-blog/the-best-laid-plans​3 June, 2013
It has been three weeks since excavations started on site and despite the best laid plans this is the first blog for 2013 excavation season.  I would like to say it was because we haven’t had internet access, but we now have limited and erratic connection in Indian Church; the truth is that we have been so busy that I regrettably haven’t been able to write as I would like. 
 
What has kept us so busy you wonder?  Well wondering is exactly what is kept us busy.  We joke that the catch phrase for Ka’Kabish is “curiousier and curiouser” (in that nothing seem to be what we expect) and this season has proven to be the model and not the exception for that phrase.
 
First, as Ka’Kabish is now an official field school (in that students can get credit for participating) we have more students that before which have allowed us to open up a series of units in the Plaza D south area where we excavated last year with great success.  Our students, while drawn largely from Trent University, also hail from UCalgary, UWinnipeg, and McGill, with Graduate students from Trent, UCalgary, and Northern Illinois University. 
 
We started with four units this year plus excavations into a second chultun; these units, and their purposes, are as follows:

• the second chultun is to provide Toni (see staff page) with comparable material for her Master’s thesis on the possible function of chultuns in this section of Belize (she excavated a Chultun in the B-Group in 2012 [see the 2012 interim report available on our website for details]);
• a 2x2 m unit to the west of our Unit 3 from last year (Unit 4) intended to follow the line of the building westward to locate the northwest corner of the structure (we found the northeast last year in Unit 2);
• two 2x3 metre units to the south of Unit 2 (Units 5 and 6 north to south) designed to locate and follow the corner of the building and expose the east wall of the structure;
• a 2x2 metre unit (Unit 7) 12 metres to the north of this cluster of units intended to help find where the platform construction might change from the dense floors and secondary middle fill found in the 2011, and 2012 excavations into the plaza on the south side of the D-5 building to the heavy loose laid Terminal Classic fill found in the  2010 units on the north side of D-5.

 
Where to start with the curiosities . . .
 
Unit 7 hit bedrock a scant 50 cm down along the northern side of their unit.  The bedrock did dip to approximately 1 metre down on the south side, but was still far higher than the roughly 2.3 metres that was documented in Units 1 and 2 in 2012!  This suggests that the original Middle Formative terrain may have been hilly and that the D-5 building may have been constructed to take advantage of a natural rise.  More work will be needed excavating this building to determine the extent of the bedrock.
 
Unit 4 found the building . . . but it continued into the west wall of the unit, meaning that we still have not located the northwest corner of the structure and therefore have no dimension for that side of the building.  It is currently now at 6 metres wide with no idea of how much longer the building will go. Moreover, it appears that there is a heavy concentration of white stucco on the front the building.  This concentration runs under the north wall of course and as there is not enough time to excavate another 2x2 metre unit we will have to wait until next year to see what this white stucco means. 
 
Units 5 and 6 are perhaps the most enigmatic of the units.
 
We have found a SERIES of platforms in these units starting with what were likely Post-Classic domestic platforms just below the surface.  These platforms (small single course constructions) were commonly used to elevate pole and thatch structures above the ground level.  Many sites, including Lamanai, have these platforms and they are often evidence of the common people moving into the open plaza spaces after the site was other abandoned. The area would have been above the general ground level, has a good breeze and is flat and open so it would be natural that people would want to reoccupy the area.
 
What gets weird, however, is that below these we have been UNABLE to find the edge of the building discovered in 2012.  As of this writing we have actually removed backfill from Unit 2 to expose the tarp that covers and protects the previously discovered surface of the structure. While we did find what we believe to be the SURFACE of the structure in the immediately adjacent Unit 5 we have been unable to find the corner!  It appears that the building may NOT head south, but may curve back eastward (right under the wall of course!) making the platform far more complicated and possibly multi-leveled!!
 
Our plans for tomorrow are to extend the north wall of Unit 5 by 40 cm and see if we can’t find what happened to our corner and if there is another curve to the wall and twist to our ideas about what this structure looks like.
 
Stay tuned!! 
 
 
]]>