We are starting our new season of research in Nicaragua. (Of course, the "season" never really ends for me because by the time I finish my report from last season, I have to start preparing my permit request for the next year.) This year we hope to complete a fuller, more detailed ceramic analysis of the pottery we previously excavated in the Department of Chinandega. We hope that redefining some types and varieties and describing them more fully will allow us to produce a chronological sequence. And maybe, maybe, some indication of ethnic differences.
I've brought with me two excellent students, Ashley Gravlin Beman, who is working on her Master's thesis research in our Department, and Kelsey Willis, an undergraduate who is planning to write a senior thesis on a subset of these materials. I am also looking forward to working with a couple of young Nicaraguan archaeologists who will be joining us.
We had a great flight in on American Airlines. We rented the SUV without problems, got cell phones, pulled out the parking lot, and just sat in traffic. The traffic lights, which are mostly new, had apparently all gone out, and that caused a bunch of accidents, and it was a Friday afternoon, and the traffic was at a total standstill. It took us over an hour and a half to get to our hotel downtown. We missed our meeting at Patrimonio. I'm really annoyed that I missed such an important meeting, especially since I'm obsessively punctual.
A Nicaraguan friend recently wrote to me saying something like, "but pigs fly surprisingly often in Nicaragua," meaning, I guess, expect the unexpected, or the improbable is more likely than you think in Nicaragua. So, the pigs are soaring here; big flocks of them are on the horizon.
Got to hit the road for Chinandega now.
Next time: photos.
Day Sign Notes: Manik
2 months ago
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