There are many jobs on an archeological dig site, especially when a new trench is being opened. So much dirt has to be moved, and it requires a lot of people to move the dirt, transport the buckets, and sift through the dirt. Sifting is often a two person operation: one person pours the dirt, the other shakes the sifter, and both pull out pottery. Excavating itself is another crucial task done on a dig site. Due to the cramped spaces in the trench, excavating is often one or two people per context, as you have to be very careful and there is not very much space. Paperwork, making artifact bags, and taking points and photos are often things that have to be completed, although they are often completed by the trench supervisors. Needless to say, there are many jobs to be filled on a dig site. The cool thing about this is that, if needed, people can switch jobs if they get really tired. For example, if someone is pickaxing and they are exhausted, they might switch with a person who is sifting which is a less strenuous job. That is one of the unspoken rules of the dig site. If you are doing a less physically demanding job and someone else is doing something very demanding, when they need a break, you should switch with them.

            Anyway, I digress. We at any point have around fifteen people on site, so there are certain times where there are slow points.  On this particular day, there were a few trenches open with people switching off from excavating to sifting. I was in the new trench, and we had gotten to a point where we found five contexts (five areas in one trench that need to be excavated separately). There were eight of us, and all eight of us were not going to fit in the trench to excavate. It became clear that this would be the time when some of us would part ways with this trench. I knew that many of the people in the trench wanted to be archaeologists and were really excited to excavate, so I opted out. I enjoy digging and learning, but this is not my career path and I wanted to let those who were amped do it. So, two of my peers and I ended up not being able to be in the trench. This was one of those days where everyone was doing a job. Sometimes that happens. So, our trench supervisors tell us to take a beat as he gets those in the trench started. We got some water and were hanging out when a few minutes later Brandon tells us to find the rocks that get chucked out of the trench and to line the trenches with them. Was this an ultra-important job? No, but it needed to get done, so we did it. My peers and I were quite tickled with being rock collectors, so as we walked around and picked up rocks, we named ourselves “C Team.”  As only a C team would pick up rocks. This is a very fond memory for me as it was funny and now we still refer to ourselves as C team. It also shows how much a dig site can ebb and flow and that all jobs, even ones that seem silly, are important. Our leisurely job of picking up rocks did not last long. Dr. Olson arrived about 30 minutes into the formation of C team and quickly put us onto the task of clearing brush from two new trenches, one of them being the wall which is where I ended up being assigned.

Madi Barber