{"id":2051,"date":"2018-07-15T03:27:01","date_gmt":"2018-07-15T08:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/?p=2051"},"modified":"2018-07-15T03:27:01","modified_gmt":"2018-07-15T08:27:01","slug":"how-to-wield-a-trowel-for-dummies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/2018\/07\/15\/how-to-wield-a-trowel-for-dummies\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Wield a Trowel for Dummies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Potential employer:<\/b> So, you have archaeology in Turkey on your resume. <\/span><\/p>\n

Me<\/b>: *smiles* Yes! <\/span><\/p>\n

Potential employer<\/b>: That must have been a fun vacation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Me<\/b>: *confused* Um–<\/span><\/p>\n

Potential employer<\/b>: Why did you waste your time on a vacation? <\/span><\/p>\n

Me<\/b>: *shakes head* Allow me to explain. This was no vacation\u2026 though I did have a great time. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s assume that this interview is for my dream job in the British heritage sector.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though I might be pursuing another, more specific avenue of historic preservation (i.e. historic houses and collections management in the UK), I now have a greater appreciation for efforts worldwide towards the protection of any kind of heritage. Just two weeks into the internship I have gained a working knowledge of this process, which includes the excavation, recording, and conservation of artifacts and archaeological sites. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m able to explore the larger field of historic preservation and gain exposure to many different opportunities therein. This trip is not a vacation, nor is it simply digging in the dirt; I\u2019ve collaborated with professionals in both surveying and ceramic pottery, and excavation. With these come certain technical skills. My teammates and I discuss using terms like \u201cleveling\u201d and \u201carticulating,\u201d we take elevation measurements, and we consult each other on the nature of the items we find on site. One can spend several minutes determining between schist and ceramic, or a nail and a stick, or a bone and a root. <\/span><\/p>\n

My experience here in Turkey has been rewarding <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> in the sense that I\u2019m able to \u201cvacation\u201d abroad this summer. Rather, I wake up at 5 a.m. everyday to dig in 100\u2109 heat, obsessing over an ancient puzzle piece with a team that\u2019s as absorbed in the project as myself. Discipline and patience may seem like rudimentary skills, but the fact that I willingly share a bedroom and shower with five other girls speaks volumes. And, I like to think that intensive manual labor builds character. I certainly don\u2019t count myself \u201cabove\u201d hauling dirt and rocks around for hours each day. It\u2019s at least a much better learning (and humbling) experience than internships that require you to go fetch coffee from the Starbucks down the street. <\/span><\/p>\n

Besides technical experience and character-building, I\u2019ve learned quite a bit about working with other people – Oles, supervisors, professors, directors, volunteers, tourists, and Turks. As much as the introvert in me prefers to work alone, I know that teamwork will always be necessary in a future working environment. This trip is another, very intensive lesson in teamwork, and I\u2019ve grown close to the people (shout out to Bria and Gabriel!) in the dirt next to me. On the other hand, there\u2019s a degree of responsibility and autonomy here that has prompted team members to take more active roles in their dig site. Leadership is on an everyday scale. I may not be the director of the excavation, but I have the choice each day to help determine the course of my team\u2019s dig site. <\/span><\/p>\n

In short, I hope to convince this blog\u2019s readers and potential employers alike that this internship is not the “vacation” one would expect. There are so many valuable skills I\u2019ll continue to cultivate during my time here. <\/span><\/p>\n

If nothing else, I now know how to use a pick ax and trowel\u2026 I\u2019m unstoppable! <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Potential employer: So, you have archaeology in Turkey on your resume. Me: *smiles* Yes! Potential employer: That must have been a fun vacation. Me: *confused* Um– Potential employer: Why did you waste your time on a vacation? Me: *shakes head* Allow me to explain. This was no vacation\u2026 though I did have a great time. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2867,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Iz8A-x5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2867"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2051"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2078,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051\/revisions\/2078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}