Environmental Specialists in the desert - 1, Days in the desert - 32, Beers in the desert - actually I have lost count, Kebabs consumed in the desert - off the scale, fruit juices in the desert - has stalled somewhat, kilometres walked across the desert - not as many as some but at a respectable 5-6km an hour, dead goats - 4, dead camels - 2 (2 adults and a juvenile).
Again, nine days since my last post but we are really, really busy. Since my last post, I have done quite a bit of driving about Qatar, down to Doha and stuff. The previous weekend we said bon voyage to Lesley, Andy and Alison and hello to Kit Kat (just to seperate her from other Welsh Cat). We left Doha on Friday and travelled north via one of Faisal's 'camps', we had loads of barbecued fish and I went crabbing with Faisal's twin sons, Abdullah and Khalid. My Father would have been proud of my efforts at this as three of the crabs were actually big enough to eat. The following day we went down to the Carrefour at Landmark so Kit Kat could get some supplies and had an incredible waffle piled with marshmallows, honeycomb crunch and ice cream with chocolate sauce. I felt a little bit sick afterwards. I also had a fight with a Canadian man in queue which was a bit dramatic. He was a bit of a twat.
Anyway, on Sunday I excavated a further burial cairn at the Oryx farm which was entirely devoid of human remains. I then spent the remains of the day down at Rubayga talking to Daniel and Ifan about the environmental potential, this was largely as I thought I was going home ten days later ... This was all to change the following day. I travelled down to Doha on Sunday as I had to do some work at the QMA offices, on Sunday evening, Richard, Howell and I went dinner with Faisal and his brothers at one of these places the men gather at. We had a big plate of rice, some meaty stew (with gubgub) and loads of fish again, basically, we all just dug in. I quite like being in male dominated environments but I don't usually behave as well as I do at these 'camp' gatherings, my mother's turn to be proud of me, it is very difficult to find a modern word to describe Qatari men and the first one that comes to mind is gallant. I would really, really hate to cause any offence, also as there is no alcohol involved, I cannot do anything REALLY stupid I ate with my fingers and the gentleman who sat to my right kept giving me the choicest bits of fish, now you wouldn 't get a fella doing that in An'ster now, would you? I was also quite pleased I managed to constrain the mess, not known for being a tidy eater, I suspected carnage having to eat with my fingers ... Anyway, for desert we had a huge bowl of fruit and then Richard chatted to Faisal for a bit and I talked to Howell about stuff.
The following day I went into the office to sort out some samples to send back to the UK and to Beta for Radiocarbon, it is always a major faff packing stuff up to send away but this was relatively quick. I was also asked to stay to work on further aspects of the project which, I am happy to say, the management at Headland are very, very kindly allowing me to do. More about this project when it takes place. That evening we had a curry and the following day I changed my flight, did some work on the fish trap paper and then Howell and I headed north. This was actually the most fraught journey I have ever undertaken in Doha, Howell must have experienced my worst driving since I've been here and was quite probably in a world of pain. I drove him up the kerb three times and managed to get lost on the way out, I eventually managed to rectify the situation. We did some shopping at Carrefour (you can't go north without European bread) and had a dirty burger ...
The following day I did some walkover survey in the desert with Oskar, whilst Howell and Kit Kat worked on a lithics pick up at site 141 near the Oryx Farm and the environmental sampling pit. I have to say, this site is top drawer. The site lies to the north of Wadi Dhebaiaan, to the south, east and west lies a bowl of higher ground dotted with funerary (?) Cairns, the site is lower ground to north which shelves gently down to the shores of the wadi. Sedimentary evidence clearly indicates coastal / intertidal environments and there is evidence of peat-forming activity, probably an effect of negative sea-level trends. When the nature of the site was explained to me I thought 'Somerset Levels / Goldcliff East', I am even more convinced having seen it ... Very exciting indeed.
I also managed to get a bit of sunstroke, the first time on this trip so I can't whinge. Just felt fuzzy and a bit shite, I couldn't get my words out and had a blistering headache. In the end, it was Ed's electrolyte drink which sorted me out and I had to have two. Felt fine the following day.
Yesterday, Thursday - the beginning of the weekend - I finished the survey with Oskar and then we all headed back to do data crunching. Except myself, the grubby environmental specialist who processed three bulk samples in the shower tray. It worked really well and I managed not to block the system up. I got in a proper mess, I know that I am known for making a mess when undertaking this type of operation but god almighty, I've never got THAT wet before. I will get a pic next time I have a go at this procedure ...
Last night I started to watch 'My Life as a Dog' which is a work of genius but was so knackered I retired to bed at 9.45pm, I didn't wake up until 8.15am (mild chemical inducement ...) It absolutely p *** ed it down in the night, there is standing water on the tarmac, I bet every biting bugger in the desert is out to play today ... I reckon it had got to having been blowing an 8 or 9 and gusting 10 to 11 (Beaufort for the uninitiated), it was epic. It woke me up at 1.30am and I thought I was back at the top of Brock Street in North Queensferry until I realised where I was.
Today, we are off to Al Khor for lunch (burger, anyone?) And then to Jebel Al Jassasiya to see the petroglyphs. Possibly another camp this evening ...
P. S. The Craic is absolutely Feckin 'Mighty ...
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