Morning all and welcome to Saturday. We are almost halfway through the challenge. Keep going, I’m sure we will all get there.
Day 14
While Mican went to the others, Ames got the two new arrivals settled. They got their tents erected in place and left their personal gear inside. Task complete, Ames assigned them to sections of the grid. While they had experience they were less experienced than the others currently working so he made certain to put them in sections near one of the other more experienced people. This way he would be able to make certain someone else was watching them when he became distracted. Returning to pick up the spill from his own square, he knew he would easily become distracted.
As Ames got to work he realized that this time those bringing others came earlier than the previous day. He didn’t know if the new team member’s arrival dictated the timing or if they wanted to be certain to be well out of the area before dark.
‘I suppose we will see,’ he decided. After all once the team was all in place those on the ATVs would be coming on a regular schedule to check out what was going on. ‘If we do explore other areas it would be good to mark the time of their arrival so we aren’t exploring them when they visit.’
Ames knew that the area was viewed with suspicion due to local legends, he suspected there was more going on and decided he had no desire to get mixed up in whatever that happened to be.
The day was well advanced and so after taking care of sifting his own buckets of removed material, Ames began gathering firewood. The others soon wrapped up their sections for the day and joined him.
This time, when darkness arrived tey had a large bonfire in their camp to hold back the dark. Somehow it made the darkness seem even darker. They tried for some companionship during meal times but conversation soon fell flat. The clouds were gone and the stars were out. Even though Ames appreciated their appearance, he didn’t feel like lingering.
“I didn’t sleep terribly well,’ he told the others. My body is still adjusting to the up at first light schedule so I think I will turn in early.’
He wished the others good night and reminded them to bank the fire before turning in. He then left them to the fire. Ames crawled into his tent and zipped the tent flap closed sealing himself in. He expected to hear a few soft murmurings and then as they adjusted to his absence to begin getting to know each other a little better when he was out of site. He expected to hear the starts of introductory conversations.
He heard names exchanged and a few half hearted attempts at conversation before they collectively decided to bank the fire and turn in for the night. ‘At least I know it wasn’t my presence,’ Ames thought. He hadn’t been certain it wasn’t the presence of the professor that kept them all quietly respectful or not. But there had been no relief with his absence. Not relaxing without the professor.
‘I guess I’m not the only one to feel it,’ he thought as he settled into his sleeping bag. There was an oppressive feel to the area. A sort of miasma that lingered in the air. It didn’t seem to affect the day time work for which he was grateful but it didn’t make the nights pleasant. As exciting a find as he believed this site to be, Ames doubted anyone would be upset when the dig was over.
Again if he dreamed, Ames didn’t remember it when he woke. Still there was the feeling of curiosity and anticipation that lingered in the back of his mind as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
‘It is a unique site,’ he told himself. ‘Why wouldn’t I be excited?’ Still the thought fell flat. The sun was rising and the mist that snaked through the lower parts of the forest still hung on in long loose tendrils. Ames slipped from his tent and stretched. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his spine. He moved to the edge of the camp to relieve himself and when he returned he stopped around enough as he retrieved his breakfast ration that the others were startled from their slumber and began to rise.
Ames was a little surprised to see that they looked just as bleary eyes as they had the day before. ‘Still the new arrivals look a little worse than the other ones,’ Ames thought as he took stock. Ames felt as though his body was already shifting into the rhythm work on such sites demanded, the slowing and stopping when darkness arrived and rising with the sun.
‘I’ve spent more time on digs and I no longer live a student life,’ he reminded himself. Still he found it a little strange as they went to sleep so very soon after he did. ‘Going to bed and sleeping aren’t the same thing,’ he reminded himself. ‘Give it a few days.’
Ames still felt slightly unsettled by the weariness of some of the others but decided a watch and wait approach would be better than saying anything. ‘It’s not unusual,’ he told himself as they finished eating and moved to begin their work for the day. As rational as the thought sounded, Ames found it too fell flat in his mind. He tired to put it out of his mind as he got to work.
As the day progressed he realized that it was certainly deliberate fill he was removing. The building in which his square was located was most certainly filled at the time it was abandoned. As the level lowered, Ames started to see part of a mural emerge.
‘Inside a structure rather than on the outer wall,’ he decided. Given that it looked like all the buildings were filled, Ames hadn’t been certain if the walkways were as well in order to enclose the entire site.
‘But the murals were on the inside with carved stone on the outside.’ His section held only the corner of a room and he would have to extend his sector once done in order to see the full extent of the mural as well as the exterior wall carvings, but the colors were vibrant and the details exquisite on the parts he could see. Ames paused every now and again to take pictures, worried that exposure would mute the tones.
By the time the sound of the ATV’s motor s could be heard the earliest exposed colors were just as vibrant as when he first unearthed them. As some of the pigments used in the lowlands faded within moments of being exposed to air, this was both a relief and cause for growing excitement.
While many of the old paints faded, the oldest paints used in the pre-empire sites favored different sources for pigments. Cocan for the reds, Heston for the greens and wost for the blues. They didn’t fade as quickly and often looked vibrant for centuries. They were discontinued by the various peoples around the middle of the Pre Empire age and other blends were used. Even though the newer mixes were inferior in color and longevity, they seemed to have been preferred.
These colors weren’t fading. ‘Meaning the older pigments were used.’
As the ATV’s reached the clearing Ames again left his sector and greeted the arrivals. There was only one new box of finds to send back but there were five new archaeologists arriving. ‘Only three more to go,” he told Gosa, the leader of the ATV drivers. ”They should be arriving tomorrow.”
“We’ll keep an eye out for them,” Gosa replied. He made certain the one box they were sending was well secured. He then waved his hand in a casual farewell and he and the others headed back to the village. Ames noticed that once again they looked for signs that the team was straying from their established site. Seeing they weren’t, they looked relieved and left the team to work in peace.
The new people were settled, work resumed and when the day was starting to wane, more firewood was gathered. As not much was touched the night before, there was still a decent pile available. Ames tried to be bright over dinner as they discussed their finds. He explained that the part of his mural meant that at least sections of the site were quite old. He suspected that it was added to over the years so they might find a range of ages.
There was a brief flare of excitement but Ames had to admit that in the daylight, all were more excited than now. Ames again retired early to leave them to enjoy each other’s company. Again, they were a subdued group that retired early.
