Digging Archaeology

Dear Diary,

Amidst all the hardships, strife and life's little hurdles that the good Lord seems to throw in one's way their is one solace that gives pride, joy and a sense of self-hood: the privilege of labour. Now, most people would find digging holes in the rain to be an arduous task. For an archaeologist, it's his or her idea of a good time. Only archaeologists put the work in to exhume the artefacts which adorn all our museums and private collections the entire world over. They get their hands dirty, they put the work in, they do not simply sit around reading reports and researching (even though that forms a large part of scholarship) they do the business. They are the real heroes and heroines, they are the men and women with the guts to actually get out there and make it happen.

I have the utmost respect for all historians, I see them as peers, contemporaries, colleagues. People who have heard the call, followed the very same discipline as myself. Even so, many simply read (I like reading, for the record) and don't actually get down and dirty, with hands in the muck, putting the spade and trowel into the earth and doing the real business. History in the making.

This evening I have been hired for my second (and quite possibly third) day as a professional archaeologists assistant. This is great! It is as though my dreams as a little boy are coming true. I am overjoyed by the fact that I have managed to find something (which I consider) sacred: a profession which I adore.

"It is the application of the learning which is important, more-so than the learning itself" (Dr. Didier Deman). Archaeology alone can dispel mythology (Greg Woolf).

I don't know where we are going to be (Durnovaria iterum spero), we could be in Bridders, we could be anywhere in Dorsetshire, but it doesn't matter. Just to be involved in such a project, however small, however seemingly insignificant, is a great honour. Only study and then experience can make one an archaeologist. I love Dorset, and I love archaeology. This evening I am elated to be called to do something more meaningful than playing music, reading or working for the Chairlady Mao at Won's Westwon. Doing good service is most laudable (an honest day's labour) but to do something you love, is infinitely more rewarding.