It has been really, really manic up here Ruwais/Shamal, I am currently working my way around the archaeology of the North and I have been working both Team Birmingham and Team Llanbed's... The other great news is, I have found a dish I like at the Hinese... more on this later.
In terms of archaeology, I really have been working like a demon. I was seconded on to the Welsh site a Rubayga to have a look at their middens, taboons and occupation horizons. The middens are great, there are about 9 or 10 of them and they are enormous, I started with the biggest, of course, and hacked a section through it with the assistance of my new Sri Lankan friend, Faslan - a fellow cricket enthusiast - and the ubiquitous Daniel Jones... Anyway, the idea is that we compare the midden deposits to known floor and taboon (a type of oven, a bit like a really small tandoor oven)and try and establish where the midden fills came from - COOL!!! This is probably going to be a bit of an ongoing thing as my presence is required elsewhere... Also, there have been access issues so today (Wednesday 7th)is my first day back on site since Maundy Thursday. I've recorded the strat and sampled the middens, all I need now is some floor and taboon deposits... It is really, really very interesting but just at the moment, I cannot post any images of it... Managed to sieve most of the midden samples (took a total of six) there are some obvious differences and others less so... I will go into this in more detail in later blogs, I aim to keep up with myself a bit more...
The Birmingham stuff is really ace, even better - dare I say - than Team Llanbed. We have been working on a series of prehistoric cairns to the south of the site at Rubayga, it has been a real challenge in the heat (was 40C today) excavating them but they have been very interesting and I have learnt a lot about (very) dryland archaeology, including the art of mattocking... We started one off on top of the ridge and then I got sent down to work with Howell and Richard. Richard and Howell have been great teachers (both exceedingly patient with someone as hamfisted as I). We started one off on top of the ridge and then I got sent down to work with Howell and Richard on a second one which has proved less interesting. The first throwing everyone into a frenzy by producing a crouched burial which we excavated, I have just finished packaging it up. It really, really has exciting. I suspect that the individual was a juvenile, possibly early to mid teens and very, very tentatively female. The bones are exceedingly gracile and by and large, the ends of all of the long bones (the state of preservation was pretty shonky) are absent.
More entertainment is afoot at a place on the east coast at Al Khor where we have more burial cairns and fishing structures and other exciting bits and pieces to look at.
On a personal level, it has been equally entertaining, however, any real archaeologist knows that it is a bit of a challenge to split the two... Went into to Doha with Daniel at the weekend, for a bit of treat and my new mate James, the cameraman. Had a good drive down to the city, which can be a little intimidating to drive around to say the least. Went to the Irish Bar in the Sheraton on Friday night which was a bit on the rough side and had two pints of Stella and a dirty burger. Woke up feeling majorly sick (after two pints, Wuss!), had a swim in the pool at Cuttler Mansions and then hit Villagio for a late lunch and some shopping. We then headed to the Souq Waqif for a bit of tourist tat - I saw THE most dishy bloke at the Hagen Daaz, he was GORGEOUS... Anyway, I digress... We then dropped James off at the airport, got changed and hit The W for a night of excess - went into the poolside Wahm Bar and The Crystal Lounge - both full of Doha's beautiful people... Next day we lived it large again, went to the Gold Souq to look for a gift for my prospective God-daughter, Charlotte Evelyn and then we went for lunch at The W, which was AMAZING, I had Calamari, Parmesan crusted chicken with asparagus and mango tart - Yummy - Cheers Dan :-) X (I should quantify this, Dan is like my youngest brother, nothing else, I have known him since he was 19). On the way back we stopped off at Carrefour and picked up some goodies and treats, got back to Shamal and went to the Hinese with Team Llanbed - finally found a dish I like, the vegetable fried rice...
All is currently in a state of flux at the moment, a couple of new people, very good friends of Richard have been up here (Lesley and Andy) and they have been great fun. Sadly, they are going home tomorrow, as is Alison, we only have one new replacement, called Kat who arrives this evening. I shall return to my old room with the balcony, smaller and more cosy, I also like my bed the way it was facing... We are off back down to Doha tomorrow for a party and to pick her up, don't know if I'm back on Friday or Saturday yet...
I have also fallen totally in love with my V6, 4l Nissan X Terra, registration number 402810...
Anyway, working hard at the moment would just about sum it up at the moment but bloody hell, it is great fun - the Craic is Feckin Mighty...
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