Chelsea and I have made it through the first leg of our journey. We checked into the Cleveland airport with over 200 pounds of luggage, mostly equipment and supplies with a few clothes used as packing material around the computers, total station, electrical restivity meter, etc. Needless to say, archaeologists present a rather unusual challenge for TSA and the airlines. We found out the hard way that a stripped-down frame for an RM15 resitivity setup is NOT allowed as carry-on by TSA. They were unimpressed with my detailed explanation of its use and value. It was a bit of a mad dash back through security to check the frame and get to our gate.
I suppose I should introduce Chelsea Jalbrzikowski. She is a former UAkron undergraduate, now enrolled as a graduate student in Forensic and Biological Anthropology at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania. This is Chelsea’s third season with us and is coming out to collect information for her M.A. thesis, studying a collection of Assyrian skeletons, including some very unusual cremation burials found buried under the courtyard pavement of the Bronze Palace. Chelsea also has learned a lot (perhaps more than she wants) about Assyrian pottery and completed a geophysical survey for us in 2009. One of the characteristics of a good field archaeologist is versatility; it’s important to be able to take on whatever tasks need doing.
We have a few hours more in Chicago, then it’s on to Istanbul. We are meeting up with more of the crew in Diyarbakir tomorrow night, but I’ll wait to introduce them.
7 replies on “Well, we’re off!”
Tim,
Next time, attach guitar strings to the RM-15 frame and call it an instrument… I bet it would sail through. Enjoy some Diyarbakir sac kebap for me!
Hi Andy. I should have thought of that! The frame made it through as checked luggage. I had, wisely it turns out, taken all of the electronics off the frame and packed them separately, so it looks like the system will be up and running. I hope to have some spectacular imagery to share with everyone once we start surveying in about a week.
How thrilling for me…a mere Mom…to be able to keep in touch with you and your summer’s work…and to know you’re safe and sound. THAT’S the part I REALLY like.
All of this will keep my mind a bit easier thinking about you so far away.
Thanks. Love, Mom
Wait – you went from Cleveland to Chicago to Istanbul? You went west to go east? How counter-intuitive is that????
The reference I promised you is Jennifer Crusie, Lani Rich and Anne Stuart. Dogs and Goddesses. Sorry – I have no publisher or date. But Akron Public has it…
Hope you have arrived safely by the time you read this.
Hi Liz,
It is a bit counter-intuitive to fly west then east, but to be completely honest I have had so many problems over the years with flying through JFK that the extra two hours spent flying to O’Hare and then avoiding JFK and New York are well invested. Thanks for the reference. We made it safe and sound.
Regarding the burials that Chelsea will be studying, how many have been found at ZT so far? Do you know any demographic parameters from them yet?
Hi Stuart. The burials that Chelsea will primarily be focusing on are the Assyrian cremation burials, of which we have five excavated. The human bones are very poorly preserved so it will be a real challenge. We don’t have any real idea of the demographics of those graves. Broadly, we have don’t have many graves recovered at Ziyaret Tepe and, of the ones we do have, they are scattered among several different periods. We are hoping that the new excavations in the southern lower town will yield a better population of Assyrian graves that will enable us to directly study issues of health and diet among the inhabitants of the city, c. 882-611 BC.