A Day in the Lab with Mr. Armstrong

OR:  TOUR OF THE BONE CAVE

When I tell people that my hubby's an archeologist, I can see it in their eyes.  They think:  Indiana Jones!  Or:  The pyramids!  Or:  Mayan blood sacrifice!  So then I quote trusty ole' Indy, (from one of my favorite childhood movies, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) "70 percent of all archeology is done in the library.  Research.  Reading."

Basically what I'm trying to tell them is that it ain't glamorous.  In fact, the entire time we've been here Aaron has been holed up in his lab ... so ... I thought I'd give you a little tour!

Here it is, in all its Bone Cave Glory:

6 days a week, usually for 8-9 hours a day, he's been here, doing this:

I tease him all the time, about being uber nerdy and bone-obsessed, but the fact of the matter is that he's worked damn hard.  I mean look at the size of the fragments that he's working with:

What is he doing with them exactly?   As I first explained many months ago, Aaron studies the complexity of human diet in the Middle Stone Age, specifically how (and if) we used small animals and how that impacted our diet, economies and culture.

He studies these tiny bones (thousands and thousands of them) under a microscope, looking for evidence of human interaction (butchering, burning, etc.)  When he finds something, he photographs it and catalogs it. 

It's painstaking work, as I've come to learn.  I've helped him a few times in the lab: drawing, sorting, numbering and cataloging bones.  His results thus far have been really interesting, so all the time in the lab has been worth it.  In a few month's time, Aaron will pack up his lab and we'll be heading home so he can finish his PhD dissertation.  I just hope he doesn't have separation anxiety. :p

So there you go, a quick tour and explanation of what it really means to be an archeologist.  It's much more about microscopes and patience than playing in the dirt with all the other dirty kids archeologists.

And I know this is all nerdy.  In fact, quite recently I met someone and explained Aaron's work and got my favorite response ever:  A completely pretenseless, unapologetic and un-ironic, "That's weird."  But that's all right.  I'm weird.  And I'm really, really proud of my weird archeologist dude.

Road Trip!: Of Cradles and Caves

Boo!

Listen, around here you gotta get used to bones, skulls and such.

OK, so last time we had spent a hectic 2 days seeing many of Cape Town's iconic sites.  Then it was a quick flight to Jo'burg and we were off to see The Cradle of Humankind. 

The Cradle is a Word Heritage site about 50 kilometres northwest of Jo'burg where some of the oldest fossils of early human ancestors have been found, some dating back as far as 3.5 million years ago.  Given Aaron's profession, it was clearly a "must-go-to" for us.

The Cradle is made up of several different locations, we went to 2.  The first was this:

This odd, seemingly innocuous grassy hill houses a very large underground complex including a water ride and huge museum.

Here we are during the water ride:

The water ride was supposed to represent the evolution of the earth, from molten ball through tectonic shifts, etc.  To be perfectly honest, it was cheesy.  I'm sure it's fun for kids and all, but um.  Yeah.  Moving on:

The museum that followed the ride was very interactive and included a lot of fascinating facts -- ranging from evolution, to the vagaries of race to the current challenges we Homo sapiens face:

Also, there was this:

I don't know what's more bizarre, the male hominid's shocked expression (perhaps because his genitalia has been, uh, tucked away) or the Amazonian pose of the female hominid behind him.

There was a lot of good info, but it was almost too much.  It was overwhelming -- all the videos and noise made it all a bit "much" for me -- but it would probably be great for young kids.  I guess I just enjoy more traditional/simple museums.

Anyhoo, then we were off to the Sterkfontein Caves.  Now THIS was cool!  Sterkfontein alone has produced more than a third of early hominid fossils ever found.

Unfortunately, it being caves and all, it's very hard to take decent pictures.  Happily though, we did get this one, of the "Elephant Cave."  Can you see the elephant?

This chamber was absolutely stunning.  As large and echo-filled and awe-inspiring as any cathedral (more, actually, if you ask me.) 

The tour took about an hour or maybe even an hour and a half.  There were a lot of stairs and it was a little tough, but we had a blast!

As we emerged from the caves we saw this bronze statue of Dr. Robert Broom, who discovered the famous "Mrs. Ples," a 2.3-million year-old fossil of Australopithecus africanus in 1947.  I told Aaron, "One day honey, if we're lucky, there's gonna be bronze statue of you somewhere ... except you'll be holding a teeny tiny mole rat skeleton.  Or maybe some owl pellets.  Bronzed owl pellets."  

And then I noticed the look on his face so I took some pictures of some flowers:

And we were off to our hotel for a quick night's sleep because the next day we were off to KRUGER!  Next week, it's all Kruger, all the time!  So many ellies and lions and rhinos ... oh my!

Have a lovely weekend kids!

Last Days of the Dig ...

So the last thoughts on the archaeological dig ...

I guess my first thought is -- what an insane 2 weeks!

It was great, rough, tough, inspiring, informative, tiring, fun -- all of it.

I've already mentioned (OK, whined) about the some physical difficulties, in my case made more acute because of the IBS, not being able to eat what everyone else was eating at times, etc.  And did I mention how cold it was?  How very, very cold it was?  And the primitive bathroom facilities?  I digress ...

But there is also the thing of being the only non-archaeologist in the group.  It's not easy when they are all talking shop and you have NO idea what they're going on about (and, truth be told, some of the minutia is ... well, boring ... sorry dudes!)  And they talk about it all the time ... and you come out of your room and find people making stone tools in the living room or sorting big bags of bones or shooting dead animals with stone-tipped arrows ... and you throw up a little in your mouth ...

Here's just a sampling of what our living room contained:

But how can you possibly blame them?  Archeology is not just a job for them, it's their hobby and passion, and to get a whole group of them together -- they just can't help but revel in their archaeological-nerdom.

And in any case, even though I was the odd duck out, it was just such a lovely group of people, so funny and friendly, that in the end, it didn't matter that I wasn't an archaeologist, they welcomed and helped and taught me.

There was Irene, from Catalunya who taught me the most on site and with whom I was gleefuly able to speak in Spanish.  And there was Luando, Struan, Cindy and all the local team as well as the South African students, House, Chantal and Alex (they of the amazing braai.)  There was Chris from Texas, who was known alternately as "Texas Chris," "Trench Foot Chris," and/or "Tetanus Chris," who explained a lot of stuff on site to me and whose "The first time I got trench foot" story nearly made me pee myself.  There was Cory, an enormously tall and happy-go-lucky Australian with an intense love for Vegemite.  Hans, perhaps the most eloquent person I've ever met (even several-many-lots of glasses in, if you know what I mean ...) Naomi, who stayed with us in Cape Town and whose passion for bones is matched only by her passion for Matt Damon.  And of course, there was Kyle, who despite being in charge of a whole bunch of sh*t always made sure to ask how I was doing, and who is one of the genuinely nicest people I've ever met (except when he's on a go-cart, he's a fiend on a go-cart!) Anyhoo, there are too many folks to go into individually, but sufficed to say that this was a remarkable group of people.

I think that the best part of the whole experience is how much my understanding and appreciation and respect for their work grew.  I have always known that Aaron's work entails the kind of patience and dedication that I don't have, but I feel like I now have a REAL understanding of how hard he works.

 

So I met an amazing group of people, I learned a bunch, I got to hold millenia-old artifacts in my hands ... what else could I ask for?

Dolphins, of course!  The last day I was on site, there was a pod of dolphins who spent hours upon hours surfing on the waves ... My pictures suck because they were pretty far out -- but it was SO amazing.

And getting to see things like this every day was such a privilege ...

 

One last rainbow at Pinnacle Point...

And here we are, saying goodbye to Kyle and Naomi in Cape Town:

So yeah, I survived ... I don't know if I'll ever do it again, but I would not have missed it for the world!  I feel super lucky and very grateful to have had this opportunity ...

My First Braai

Remember when I was so excited to experience my first braai?

Well, during our stay at Mossel Bay, I finally got my wish!

The braai we went to was prepared by the three South African members of the Pinnacle Point team ... and I think it's safe to say that they did their country proud!

Here's the braai master, Chris, a.k.a. "House"

Did I mention that braais are strictly done over wood fires?  The mention of charcoal -- or the worst blasphemy of all, gas-fired grills -- causes every South African I know to shudder in horror.  The results are flipping delicious!

 

They made pork chops, bacon-wrapped chicken skewers and broewurst, and there were delicious salads of all kinds ... as well as this:

Braai Bread!

SO GOOD.  I never would have thought that grilled bread would taste good -- but oh, ohhh, oooohhhh, good doesn't begin to describe it.  And because I couldn't have a lot of other things because of the IBS, I had 2 of these lush, soft, slightly smoky fluffy wonders of bready love.

Chantal was the one who made the bread (she was so busy running around all night that I never got a picture of her -- boo!) and she also made this:

 Pap-en-Sous, basically a corn meal mush with a thick tomato and onion gravy.

This is another South African staple I kept reading about and it took a moment to get used to.  The gravy was finger-licking delicious ... but the pap itself was different than I thought it would be.  I was expecting a texture more like polenta, but this was a bit dry and crumbly -- but that's how it's supposed to be.  Anyhoo, once you swathed it in gravy, it was scrumptious!

Beyond the food though, the atmosphere is what a braai is all about.  Lots of laughs, insane stories, a plentiful supply of wine ... and well ... I can't actually write about or post pictures of some of the things that went on that night.  Careers could be shattered ... I tell you, these archeologists play hard ...

All I'll say is that this individual (you'll notice he was lovingly wrapped in a blanket so the bathroom tiles wouldn't give him a chill) may or may not have woken up with "Thug Life" Sharpied on his stomach.  I'm just saying.

All in all, a perfect "first braai!"