Well, there am I, back in the northernmost part an archaeologist can get stuck. Already while landing the plane, I thought "jeez, nothing has changed here". Hammerfest was northernmost city until some years ago some other tiny place has taken over the honour. Otherwise, there is not much to tell except that one of those huge oil/gas companies has chosen this lucky place for it´s own. And there are lots and lots of reindeer annying the inhabitants, especially those trying to grow a garden around here.
But out of my perspective, this place is heaven. Not only is there a good chance to work for along period in one place and having my own apartement for the time as well - but the dig itself is awesome. Last year, there were lots and lots of finding from a period which is not very well documented and we really are writing new history here. My colleagues are some very fine people and one can walk to everything one might desire. There are mountains close by for walks and the sea right outside the door for fishing. Heaven, one might say....
But one has forgotten about the factor that makes everything rather complicated - CHAOS! And this dig is infested with it. Last year, the de-turf should take two weeks and after two months we had cleared half of the ground. Our barracks, which should have been on site before we arrived, were still in the making, pumps hadn´t arrived and the place to get from the boat to land was rather dangerous to use, along with a million other stuff that was missing or didn´t work.
This year, the first day was spend waiting...There was so heavy wind, that the boat-folks couldn´t allow us to get to the dig and we sat waiting in our rooms for the wind to calm down. Which it didn´t. Today, we were ready and excited to finally start, but as usual, there were several meetings, a lot of talk and planning before anybody did anything. And on the trip back both the boat-folks and the bus-folks were an half hour late which meant more endless waiting.
But hey, I´m back in the field, muddy cloth and dirty nails, and just give me some days and I report back with spectacular findings...and even more chaotic stories :-)
