Happy Friday the 13th everyone. Lets just jump into the morning’s writing shall we?
Day 13
He took a moment to brush the surface dust off the figuring. It fit easily into his palm and was surprisingly intact. Even without cleaning, Ames could see it was a figure that represented the Couran. He marked the location and did the required mapping and tagging before fitting the figurine into a box. He desperately wanted to take the time to study it, but know that today was not the day.
Still it was hard to let the figurine go. Broken versions of such figures, presumed to have been placed on home alters or shrines from the locations where they were found, were common but it was exceedingly rare to find one that was complete. This appeared to have all of it’s parts. The urge to study it was strong.
He squashed the feeling and continued. The feeling returned repeatedly throughout the morning. He found several more intact figurines as well as some broken pottery and a few decorative beads. There were large swaths of emptiness where there were no finds made, but even thr first walk through showed that this was a rich site.
Ames walked his section and then made certain to double back and take extra photos of all the visible features. As he thought from the LMC’s photos, the carvings on the protruding stones was exquisite. ‘It had to have been carved and then buried soon after to show so little wear.’
Ames thought about it as he worked. He wondered if this site was abandoned shortly after being build or if the stones were from a newer section that didn’t have time to wear before the building was abandoned. On other sites they found that some important buildings were buried when they were no longer being used. It was a way to preserve a formerly ritualistic site and prevent outside destruction. Or at least that was the best explanation anyone could come up with as those sites were buried with everything in place.
‘I suppose we will find out.’
While the area was large, by the time they broke for lunch the initial field walk was complete. As they ate they discussed the site and Ames was pleased to see it was a much livelier group than the night before.
‘Definitely the darkness,’ Ames thought. He reminded himself to stop and gather firewood before dark.
He looked back over the field. “It is clear that some areas of deposits were due to the rains washing through,” Ames began. It is possible that this is seasonal given the seasonal floods so there may be layers to the deposits. It will be interesting to see how that has affected the buried buildings.”
“Do you think they were buried on purpose?” Mican asked.
“Possibly,” Ames said nodding. “Many sites were so that the sites were protected from looting and preserved. What we find will depend partially upon how much of the site was buried and how much annual flooding washed away.”
“Some of the ground looks like it is deposited here,” Kero said.
Ames nodded. “That too is something we will have to determine. We will obviously be recording everything. While we will discuss theories and finds when we are done for the day, a lot of the assessments will be done when we return to the university.”
They chatted pleasantly as they ate and when they cleaned up from their meal, they began to grid off the sectors. Photos were taken at every stage and each of the grids was assigned a designation. Then each of them chose a square of the grid in which to work. They spread themselves out and each began their work in their chosen spot, the square of land momentarily becoming their entire world.
Ames saw that few worked in silence. Most put musing in their ears. One of his professors considered music a distraction, but to Ames it never had been. He found his own music helped focus him and let the square he was working become his own world. Everything else faded away. He reminded the others to signal him if something of note occurred and then he put his own music in.
They were all familiar with his habits and after reminding himself to periodically check on the others, he focused on his won square of ground. Slowly, layer by layer the loose earth was removed. Ames imagined himself sinking through time. He was brushing away not just dirt but years, decades, centuries with each inch of ground he peeled away.
The first few inches of his chosen patch were clearly debris washed down from the hills. There was dirt mixed with scree that was deposited. He could see the broken sections of unworked stone. While he was certain it was just washed down from the mountains by the rains, Ames still set it aside in buckets to be sifted towards the end of his day.
He could see the change in the soil when he reached a spot where the color of the dirt altered. He was certain this was not washed down. The earth was a uniform color and texture. There were no stone bits included. It was fine soil as though it had been sifted before being placed. In his square he could also see just the top of a line of stones.
‘A wall of some sort,’ Ames thought. He smiled and felt a soft ache in his spine. He realized he had been in place a little too long. Ames set his tools down stood and stretched. He looked around seeing the others were still occupied in their areas, oblivious to the world around them. He turned off his music, slipping out his earphones and tucking them in his pocket. Deciding now was as good a time to check on the others as any, he stepped out of his sector and made a circuit around the site. He paused and watched each of them work.
Kero chose an area where there was significant debris washed in from other storms. He was finding a few small items but mostly he was finding stones. He suspected they came lose in one of the rock slides.
‘Perhaps there will be more items under the rock fall,” Ames told him, seeing his disappointment in not finding more artifacts. Ames circled around and found that like him many of the other sectors were reaching the end of the flood deposits and were ending on the same infill like soil he had. It was an exciting find and Ames looked over the site as a whole, ideas beginning to bubble through his brain.
While burying a building was considered a fairly regular practice for important buildings. They were usually stand-alone buildings. He had never heard of a site where more than one building in a hundred years was buried in a community. Here it appeared the entire site was buried.
All of them working across the main area of the site were finding what appeared to be buildings buried in exactly the same way.
‘Lends strength to the temple complex notion,’ Ames thought. He tried to tamp down his excitement at the thought of such a find. Not just a single in tact temple but an entire complex. The thought was tantalizing. ‘Early days,’ he reminded himself.
Satisfied everything was progressing well, Ames returned to his own section. He decided that it would be best to sift the spill he removed so it could be set aside. When they reached the end of their dig, they would need to use it to refill the uncovered site in the hopes of preserving it. ‘But small things need to be recovered first.’
As he picked up his first bucket to head to the screening area, Ames heard the distinct sound of motors. This far away from everything it was surprising. Ames set his bucket down and turned, just as the first of the ATVs came into view. Ames walked over.
“Two more students for you professor,” the driver of the front ATV said. “And we have come to collect any finds you wish stored.”
Ames nodded. He directed the two new students to place their tents so they would be ready for the end of the day. He called Mican over and they put all of the finds they were sending back together, loading them into the ATVs cargo space and strapping them down tightly. As they worked Ames noticed one of the men looking over the site.
“Any questions about what we are doing?” Ames asked.
The man looked over. “Is this the area where you will be working?” he asked.
“It is,” Ames said. “This is the area that is most likely to be destroyed in future flooding so we will start here.”
“Start?” he asked.
“The site may extend past this area but it will be for future seasons to deal with. We only have time for this center space.”
“The area you have marked off?”
“Yes,” Ames confirmed. The man nodded seeming satisfied with the answer. Ames caught him glancing off into the distance but he said nothing more.
With the items loaded the ATV’s turned and headed back down the trail and towards the village.
“Do you get the feeling there are things out here they don’t want us to find?” Mican asked softly.
“I do,” Ames said. “I also noticed that the walking trail that was obliterated by the LMC’s new trail continues over there on the other side of the site. I think it would be best not to see where that trail leads, at least not until we are already packed and ready to leave.”
Mican looked at the trail and Ames saw his eyes following the narrow pathway into the trees. From where they stood they could see it curving around the other side of the mountain and out of site.
“I doubt the site extends in that direction,” Mican said carefully.
“No,” Ames agreed. “It would most likely have spread to the east and west.”
“So no reason to look that direction,” Mican said. “I’ll let the others know.”
“Good,” Ames said. “And remember we will need to stop before dark to collect firewood. I would prefer it not be as dark and desolate as it was last night.”
“It would make it a bit more comfortable,” Mican agreed.
